There’s a certain culture that’s grown up around imported MMOs more or less since they started appearing on our shores, the idea that they’re all shameless moneygrabs that won’t stand the test of time. Games that do get hyped a great deal before they get localized, such as ArcheAge, often wind up being released to poorer reception, and one of the rallying cries I’ve seen of these games is that the real problem is the companies managing the titles, that a better company would do a better job with the game and it would be more popular.
I wonder about that myself, though. Certainly, there are companies out there managing imported MMOs with a pump-and-dump attitude, assuming that if the game launches and brings in some money for a year or so, it’s worth the effort. On the other hand, there are also fundamental differences between what people expect from some of these games compared to what they’ve always been intending to do. So what do you think, dear readers? Is management the big problem with non-Western MMOs? Are Chinese and Korean import games inherently doomed by their very nature, are they being managed poorly, or is it a combination of design philosophy and management issues?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
