We unleash our collective intellect. Big time.

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MMORPG Games.. Why?

Why do so many developers still make MMORPG games with monthly fee when WoW has basically taken every customer? Correctly if I am wrong but don't these games cost a lot to make because of the amount of content? D&D; MMORPG has gone to hell and plenty more have also been beat up because of WoW. It's been a while since I heard anything about EQ2 too.

-- Joseph Lei

Why? Because they're hoping to grab a piece of the pie. It's like giving up just because there's a fat guy standing at the buffet eating the pizza as it comes out of the kitchen. He can't possibly get to ALL of it, right? So why not take a shot? If you're lucky, you might get a slice now and then.

To be fair, World of Warcraft only accounts for about half the MMO subscriptions. (We won't say "customers" since many players subscribe to more than one game.) That leaves millions and millions of people who are playing an MMO that ISN'T World of Warcraft. Even just the thought of getting several thousands of these players paying twelve bucks a month is more than enough incentive for developers to keep trying to make it work. A lucky few, like Lineage, manage to break the million mark and have to build new banks just to hold all their money. Still, games like The Sims Online or World War II Online, which have FAR fewer players, still manage to stay in business. D&D; Online and EverQuest 2 are actually doing better still and should be around for a while.

Our big question now is why so many developers seem fixated on the concept of a medieval, fantasy setting. Titles that hope to separate themselves from the pack and deliver something unique really need to step away from the tired sword and sorcery approach. It's true that games like that are a bigger risk (Motor City Online? Earth and Beyond?) but titles like Star Wars Galaxies, City of Heroes and especially EVE Online have proven that you can get people interested in other concepts.

Thanks for writing.

-Steve, IGN PC

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MIA PC

So what ever happened to Huxley? It was supposed to be a MMO coming out on PC and Xbox 360. I liked your MIA articles, and those just reminded me of that game. I haven't heard anything about it for about 6 months. Just wondering if that was still being worked on or not

-- Cole Mullenbach

From what we're told, this game is still in development and on track for release. Exactly when it's coming out is still hazy at this point, however, though we're pursuing more coverage. We'll certainly let you know when we find anything out. By let you know, we mean we'll publish a story on the much less informal PC hub page, not in the mailbag. It's nothing personal, it's just that we don't like you and your perfectly reasonable inquiries.

-Charles, IGN PC

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RE: Missing in action

Hi,

You guys forgot Outcast! When will we see the comeback of Cutter Slade? The Lost Paradise was announced 4-5 years ago but there has been no word since...
Please, look it up for me!

-- Arvid

Arvid, I tell you what, I'm right with you on wanting to see a sequel to Outcast. I loved that game and thought it did a lot of really good things. Unfortunately for both of us I have an answer, which can conveniently be found in another of the Missing in Action articles back in 2004. It was basically cancelled when developer Appeal closed their doors in 2002 due to financial troubles. You can read more about it in that article, but the short of it is that we're not going to be seeing another Outcast anytime soon.

-Dan, IGN PC

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No NEW News on Spore!

I'm really interested in the new Maxis game. I've loved them since the "olden days" when they were still making games like SimAnt. The last few games that they've made, they had excellent functional websites that kept us updated on what was going on with those projects. (Sims 2, The Urbz.) The Sims 2 even had that little program that allowed you to make your own skins and stuff.

All that was great. But Spore's website seems to get updated only once every six months. Is the game still due for Q2? Oh, how I wish I could get my hands on some version of the creature editor... or at least know what the specs for this damn game are going to be!

What is Maxis waiting for, GDC? That is only one month away from the speculated launch window! I need to know in advance so I can decide if I need to update my computer so it can handle this supposedly massive-scale game!

I guess I'm just wondering if I'm the only one who hasn't heard anything.

-- CathyD

We've been asking for information on this game on a weekly basis, to no avail. We know they're still working on it, but not when it's actually comes out. Sorry to crush your fragile hopes, but unless there's some kind of gaming miracle, Spore will not be shipping in Q2 of this year. Allegedly it's supposed to come out this coming winter, which seems like it could be realistic, despite the many delays that have already occurred.

As for when we're actually going to hear more about this game, we're hoping soon. Possibly sometime in the spring, possibly at GDC, possibly at the retooled E3, who knows. I realize this sort of mailbag response is mostly useless, but it shows how little information is being leaked about this game, even to media. Whether that means production is that intense that nobody can be bothered or that there are internal difficulties remains to be seen. Though I'd love to play the game right now, I can understand how an ambitious title like this can take some extra time. I'd rather have a fully formed final version than a splintered skeleton of an excellent idea.

-Charles, IGN PC

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COH missed out on nominee for GoTY?!

Hey guys at IGN. I was just wondering, what happened to Company of Heroes on your nominees for Game of the Year. I noticed that a few of you mentioned "where's Company of Heroes". Im not saying it should win best game of the year but it most definitely should have been nominated. Just wanted to know what was your guys opinion on Company of Heroes not being included in the list and games like Wii Sports are. Just wanted to know what you guys thought about this. Thanks alot. Peace.

-- Paul

I am saying it should have won Game of the Year, but apparently that's just me and Charles (you can also thank stupid Steve for filling out everything in the ballot except for the actual overall Game of the Year vote). I actually never thought it would win given the people in the office and their lack of quality time with the game, but I did think it would at least get in the nomination. Frankly, I think it was robbed, but I know there are other people in the office that think the same thing about games that were important to them. The fact is, there are a lot of editors in the voting including guides, codes, and both the UK and Australian offices and they all have different tastes in gaming. Entertainment is very subjective. You can see that by the inclusion of Wii Sports, which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, totally #@^&!%$ insane. I think its sad, but it's the unfortunate state of affairs in gaming awards. It's really, really hard to get to play all of the games on all of the platforms in the spare time away from work and playing games at home for work. I can guarantee that the folks here put in their best efforts, but it's not always enough, especially when it comes to PC games since the price of admission is so much higher. We're going to try something new this next year that will hopefully alleviate a little of this. We'll have to see how it works. In the meantime, just keep playing CoH because it really is an amazing game and know that your PC pals are right there with you.

-Dan, IGN PC

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Missing in Action: The Lost Games of PC

I think you guys missed one very important game. The Privateer series has never seen an equal in terms of free-roaming galaxy adventure games. Many have tried, but none have come close to what Privateer 3 *could* unleash.

-- Nick Vafiades

Awesome example, Nick. Unfortunately, no word on Privateer 3. Or Freespace 3 for that matter. It seems the space combat action simulator genre (whatever you want to call that kind of game) has suffered an even worse fate than point and click adventure games. Aside from DarkStar One and X3: Reunion, activity with this genre has been pretty much dead. Meanwhile, point and click adventure games have recently manifested on platforms other than PC, like Hotel Dusk for the Nintendo DS. Although I'd very much like these space combat to continue to be produced, the market for them over the years has been a puddle in the Sahara.

-Charles, IGN PC

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10 predictions for 2007

How can you say Warhammer franchise is small? That's heresy! Are you guys stupid or something? Warhammer has about 60 million fans worldwide and you are calling it smaller than world of w(ho)ar(e)craft?!? If I could sue you I would do that.

-- idontgive

Get over yourself, WarHam. We didn't say the franchise was "small;" we said it was "smaller," as in "not as popular or well-known as some of the other brands that it's competing with." We even put it in quotation marks just to encourage people to think about why we used that term before they wrote us nasty letters.

You see how well that worked.

If you consider the number of people who've played Warhammer Fantasy Battles or RPG then, yeah, Warhammer is definitely a significant force in the world of tabletop gaming but it still doesn't have much presence at all when it comes to videogames.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the game -- we've enjoyed playing it. Still, our readers are showing two to five times as much interest in some of the other fantasy MMOs that are due out this year. We check our game popularity metrics regularly and Warhammer consistently comes in behind World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Vanguard and Age of Conan. With that kind of performance, how can we call Warhammer anything but "smaller"?

"Thanks" for your letter.

-Steve, IGN PC

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. D.E.M.O.

Hello,

I just finished reading your article on how good S.T.A.L.K.E.R demo is.

Now because you don't know how hard has it been for me to wait for this game, or how jealous I am of you playing the demo. I thought I should spare you the agony of watching a grown man cry. So here I am on my knees, with my eyes closed, fingers and toes crossed. I ask you: for the love of all things that are holy in this world can you please send me a copy of the demo.

I would do anything to get my hands on this demo, I would even pay the shipping and handling fee, or if you'd like I can drive to San Francisco. Sure it's an hour drive but it will be worth it.

Please, I've never wished for anything in my life. Can you please make this happen?

PS: Actually I did wish for a raise, better house, faster car, and a low maintenance girl friend, but let's just say Santa doesn't know I exist.

-- Tj

Thanks for writing in Tj. First off, despite your pleading words and "clever" use of punctuation, we will absolutely not send you a copy. Doing so would breach our extensive list of rules by which IGN PC is run on a daily basis. Let's review the list:

Rule 1: Don't send preview builds of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to Tj, especially if you receive mail about it.

Rule 2: Santa is a bitch.

I'll take this opportunity to say that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is coming out very soon, near the end of next month, so the wait isn't that much longer. Assuming it ships in a stable state, we're hopeful the insanely lengthy development time will pay off.

-Charles, IGN PC

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