Any new games coming out have now enormous hurdles to clear in terms of polish and ‘conformity’ to the perceived requirements to make a successful MMO, and the players who will trial the games have now well formed preconceptions of what an MMO is and must do.

At the same time, those games that got in the door early (UO/EQ/AO/SWG etc…) should be able to hold steady subscriber bases as long as they gradually add content. If the parent game companies recognize this, and scale overhead and support accordingly, they can make a small but tidy profit for years to come. Their games don’t match the current ‘template’ for how to make an MMO but they tend to have more depth and quirks than the bland new cookie-cutter offerings and that will hold down a paying subscriber base(nobody will ever make a new game with mechanics like the original SWG or current AO, for example).

Regarding the finite audience, I’m inclined to think that games like Spore are more likely to expand the market more than traditional MMOs are. Spore’s asynchronous social model is just the kind of thing to show non-gamers and non-MMO gamers just how much more interesting games can be when others are involved. It’s a gateway drug to bigger things. Kinda like how my mum played bowling on the Wii one Christmas, which dramatically changed her perspective idea about what video games could be. Now she wants a DS.

so im MY conclusion, if your going to write these blogs try to be a little more mature, although i love WoW myself it IS becoming swiftly outdated, its about time blizz got to work on a second new warcraft MMO if you ask me.