The website of gamasutra released the academics interview titled "Is There Life After World Of Warcraft? " What are the major reasons that gamers go from one game to another? and what´s the MMO landscape going to look like in a few years? All of the answers can be found in the interview.
Edward Castronova heads the Synthetic Worlds Initiative, a research organization currently working on Arden, an online world based on the works of William Shakespeare. Edward is one of the foremost gaming academics in the world, and is well known for his work on the economies of MMO games, for organizing the Ludium conferences, and also for founding the popular Terra Nova blog. He has authored numerous publications, including the book Synthetic Worlds.
What are the major reasons that gamers go from one game to another?
Ed Castronova: There´s a bunch of stuff going on, and a big part of it is this social network element. You want to be on the network your friend is on, whether it´s a guild, group, or whatever. But this kind of a network is going to cap out at one or two hundred people. The network effect will peter out at a certain size.
But there are a few other reasons that we move around.
We´re going to see bigger worlds become more successful because of the production values. It´s kind of like a blockbuster movie, the ones that make the most are the ones that spend the most. So really expensive, high-quality virtual worlds are going to have an advantage here.
There´s a third thing that actually argues against size. I think there´s a broad distribution of taste about how you´re going to be heroic. Right now we´ve got space, and Tolkien, and not a whole lot else. There are a few different worlds, and its more than there were 4 or 5 years ago. But coming soon we´ll really see an explosion in the different types of Synthetic worlds out there: Star Trek, more Comic Book heroes, worlds that are tailored to the different fantasies that we have.
Read More: The Academics Speak: Is There Life After World Of Warcraft
News Original From: gamasutra
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