What Can Sports Games Learn from World of Warcraft

[fjccommish]

People can form teams now, play online, and all it takes is a little organization before they get endorsements.

It already happens with the Madden Challenge.

Halo isn't an MMO, yet there are teams of people making six figures playing the game.

[Cardot]

Yeah, I think this article is a pretty good prediction of where we are headed. And while I understand alot of people are excited about it, I am a bit bummed. One reason I enjoy sports video games is that I can get away from people. So I really prefer the single player experience. But it has been pretty clear the last few years that develpers are shifting the focus to online.

[jwmw9207]

Quote: Originally Posted by fjccommish

People can form teams now, play online, and all it takes is a little organization before they get endorsements. It already happens with the Madden Challenge. Halo isn't an MMO, yet there are teams of people making six figures playing the game.

Iknow halo isnt an mmo...duh... i was just commenting on how halo teams earn a lot of money playing that game.

[JeffHCross]

The one danger, in my opinion, is if sports companies start to REQUIRE users to use MMO-features in online play. For example, I know some guys that play NHL '09 that absolutely refuse to play a game unless it's full 6-on-6 human controlled. That's not fun to me, having to wait for everyone. Yes, it's similar to the guild concept, but in my experience people paying $15/month to an MMO are much more committed time-wise.

I'd love it if EA took some aspects of WoW or EVE Online into their sports games. Just as long as they don't make that a requirement for those of us that don't want to mix the two.

[mgoblue]

Quote: Originally Posted by aBiNeR

Great article for sure! Love all the concepts indicated within. Unfortunately, one current aspect of EA Sports prevents all this from happening: no consistent post-release support. Once you enter the world of online-centric games, support becomes top priority to mantain balance and fairness in the online world. Until EA adapts to this support structure (which I have been writing EA for years now...2004 to be exact), none of this will ever come to light. Oh sure they can deliver online-centric features like the EASHL but without quick, consistent and long term patch support, such features will become trash within a very short time. Case and point: just look at the current state of the EASHL. It's an absolute disaster.

It's tough to be a MMOG without a monthly fee...I'm sure if we paid 15 bucks a month we'd get more patches...