Very interesting point about the number of people who have the power to dictate MMO creation. I had never thought about it in those terms but you are spot on. It’s too bad there aren’t more 38 studios out there.

It would be interesting if the MMO/Gaming industry was more like the film industry. Producers and money men would invest in talent rather than directly controlling the product. Also, there seems to be a heavy amount of consolidation with companies like EA owning too much of the creative minds.

I also think there isn’t a very stable, consistent or predictable profit structure for MMOs. The expectations that Blizzard created cannot be applied to other MMOs for the reasons you have stated (other MMOs don’t allow for the long-range options, and only WoW2 will be a WoW-killer). Companies believe they can invest in a short development window and then chuck the QA team at launch, even when the product is a premie blue-baby.

I do favor long-term thinking over short-term thinking but that takes a unique business model. Look at Blizzard which is their own publisher. They can afford to take their time and think long-term. Every day they reap the rewards of the investment they made in their MMO while other companies that tried to rush out their MMOs unpolished and untested are struggling if not bankrupt.

If a MMO can cater to as many different types of playstyles all at the same time and let them scale up or scale down their participation (soloer ascends to grouper, raider reverts to casual, etc.) then that is the best situation to be in. But we all know it’s pretty hard to please everyone all of the time.

I’ve pretty much given up on the perfect MMO being created in our lifetime. Think about this: there are just a handful of people that have the power to dictate how a MMO should be made and you can count them on the fingers of one hand.

Imagine if only 5 musicians made all the music in the world? What if only 5 painters did all the painting in the world? What if 5 movie directors made all of the movies in the world? Needless, to say it would be outrageous.

Right now, it’s all just a matter of luck. We just have to hope and believe that Curt and 38 Studios can create a serious MMO that we can all be proud of.

I’m hoping that the development of MMOs can be democratized. Then I wouldn’t have to waste so much time blogging.

It is almost as if MMOs are publicly traded now. Copernicus could interest me just because it is run by a private company! Of course all the other exciting things help!