Over the summer, a Twitter user replied to one of our Daily Grinds suggesting that a certain MMORPG was poised to “disrupt the MMO market,” so you know I just had to pull that quote and mull it over eventually!
I don’t think the tweeter intended it this way, but I’m always suspicious of the term because it’s usually being thrown around by folks who are trying to edge into an existing industry by destroying something important or reinventing something that already exists – you know, the “move fast and break things” start-up jargon. It always sounds like a tech investment con of some form or another.
And in the MMO genre, I’m just not sure it works that. Ain’t nobody moving fast in this genre, for starters; nothing made fast is worth playing long-term. I mean, it’s taken like 30 years for somebody like Raph Koster to finally agree that the tech has maybe finally caught up to the ’90s developer vision of the virtual world. And as for breaking things? Between WoW, F2P, gambleboxes, temports, Kickstarter, and blockchain, haven’t we broken enough?
I don’t want disruption. I just want some solid MMOs!
Are you hoping for “market disruption” in the MMO genre? What form would it even take?
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!
