anyuzer: "So, Rickey. Thank you for letting me steal this bit of commentary from you. Tell me, how did you end up leaving Mythic Entertainment?"
Rickey: "I became convinced that we needed to focus on improving and expanding our RvR game, as our unique competitive advantage. PvE wasn't why our players were coming, and too long of a treadmill on the way to RvR was losing us a lot of them."
anyuzer: "Hey, no problem man. Seems fair enough. And Trials of Atlantis?"
Rickey: "At an analytical level, TOA was an attempt to make Camelot more like EverQuest 1."
anyuzer: "Right. Which backs up what you just said, obviously this would be the wrong direction to take DAoC. While we're talking about it, what do you think the future holds for the EQ Clones in that case?"
Rickey: "I really believe that in the long run the current run of ever-bigger EQ clones will burn itself out. Once every potential player has already played one to the point of burnout, we'll need to do something else."
anyuzer: "Uh. Sure. Just like FPS's and RPGs right? Nobody wants to play those games any more? Anyways, since the EQ clone is headed towards impending disaster, what do you think the future of the industry is?"
Rickey: "The big news is going to continue to be EQ clones."
anyuzer: "But, uh, didn't you just say that EQ clones are going to burn out and die? And that DAoC shouldn't be an EQ clone?"
Rickey: "Fantasy themed clones will get ever more insane budgets and continue to be the biggest games."
anyuzer: "And the rest of the market?"
Rickey: "EQ with guns, EQ in space, EQ in giant robots, those games will dominate the middle third of the market, running a step behind the fantasy games on budgets."
anyuzer: "..."
Rickey: "..."
anyuzer: "Well, as long as you're moving up in the world right? Hell, you've had a fantastic career. EverQuest, to Dark Ages of Camelot, to, errr, Wish and now I'm sure your future is so bright, you're probably wearing shades. So what are you doing now?"
Rickey: "Right now we're trying to build on our base, upgrading Virtual Horse Ranch into a..."
anyuzer: "Thank you for your time."
Okay, okay. I'm a complete bastard and I'm going to hell for it. Rickey is both a nice, and smart guy, and to completely bastardize his answers like that, is, well, terrible and the stuff of the lowest tabloids.
But, in my defense though, there is something interesting about the whole thing. The first is the future of the 'EQ-Clones'. I mean, personally, I'm getting sick of the terminology.
EQ Clone? Why is it an EQ clone? Because it's an Online RPG that works on fairly logical progressional elements? C'mon people, wake up and stop bitching. EverQuest was not the devil, it was simply a game that had enough psychological hooks in its design to keep players going. ALL VIDEO GAMES WORK ON THE SAME PRINCIPLES.
Alright, lean close, let me whisper something in your ear. Let me tell you a secret. Be ready, it's going to fucking blow your mind though.
*pssst*
World of Warcraft... wait, wait for it... is really just a bunch of small goals thrown together.
YES. That's it. Now you too can make a successful MMO. No. Really, I'm serious. That's basically what makes WoW as good as it is, and such a step up from EQ. EverQuest had the same hooks, they just weren't placed with as much delicacy and thought as WoW. This is primarily because they weren't entirely sure what the hell they were doing, and were basing their game on older games (note: also based on progressional hooks).
That's pretty much what made EverQuest work, and it's pretty much what makes World of Warcraft work. Hell, even in the title ('EverQuest') we are given the psychological affirmation that we will have a large number of goals to pursue.
Which brings me back to Rickey's comments. He is spot on in pointing out that 'EQ-Clones' are going to be the future of the industry. But what the hell is he thinking when claiming that players will get burnt out, and look for some innovative indy game? A more realistic comment would've been throwing away the retarded: "EQ Clone" label and pointing out the fact that the way the industry is likely to evolve, is being better at placing the progressional hooks, and being innovative in the design of those hooks. A comparison of this would be the RPG industry.
Some of the more recent console or PC RPGs have been so smooth in their progressional elements that playing them is much equivalent to one big long moment of goal achieving bliss. (FFXs level system comes to mind as at least an innovative way of implementing constant goal achievement from a progression standpoint).
And the next big MMOs that come out (Vanguard, DDO, LoTR, Imperator, etc) will simply either be very good at this (in which case they will do 'decently') or they'll be the best at this (in which case they will eclipse even WoW) or they'll totally ignore these basics of human nature, and fail miserably (woooo Horizons!)
Let's face it people, the future isn't EverQuest clones. That phrase has no real meaning. The future is MMOs with finally crafted worlds and brilliant design in regards to player psychology and always rewarding players with constant goal achievement.