The game was designed by and for those who wanted the full pvp full looting experience, and nothing less. Judging by its runaway success at launch it shows there is a massive market for games like MO2 as advertised. It did not need to change its vision to achieve that.
To suggest that it needs to bend its vision to cater for those who are not its target audience in order to be profitable, is to commit financial suicide. Legends of Aria is the most recent example of that, as exemplified by its extremely ill-advised 180 degree shift to go pve ruleset.
View attachment 3755
You mention 100k copies bought. but what is the concurrent playerbase? something under 8k right? and 8k was the threshold Henrik said just for the servers to stay up and break even.
The original title of this entire post is based on whether there should be PVE servers. There should not. That is not what this game is. What i find more concerning is how will this game remain profitable enough for its longevity. As it is, if subs were added tomorrow which is needed for game to survive, you'd lose 60% of your playerbase.
From what I understand, this game is the same game as MO1 with minor tweaks and improvements, as well as better graphics. MO1 failed as a game. Its ending population was around what, 300?
Based on that, I think fundamentally there needs to be some kind of change to encourage your less hardcore full loot pvp type to play this game. This game has a fantastic crafting system. People would pay and play this game just for that, even if they are never interested in PVPing. That is good for the health of the game. That's why I personally believe the systems that Albion Online has as well as EVE would be best for the health of the game. Why do i think that?
As it is, this is a niche genre. It will never be as big as a regular MMORPG. However, even by full loot pvp mmo standards, the population of this game is very small. I love this game and thats a concerning fact. But why is that?
If you look at games like Albion Online, it has created a space for crafters and gatherers not interested in PVP to learn their craft and have a place in the game. Its the system wherein resources are spread amongst a risk seperation. The low tier zones are no pvp with lowest resources. The mid tier zones are rep loss for pvp. The high tier zones are zero rep loss but best resources. Even the non pvper has to go to the high risk zones to get the best resources. It is a draw for them to go there because that is highest profit.
Ive known people in Albion that never played PVP a day in their life but played for years.
Ive known people that played for years and eventually loved it and pvped every day hence.
I dont think MO2 gives that ability to most players. The entire world is dangerous as long as you leave a city. The two main games of this genre that are successful support that framework of playing. By estimates on MMO population trackers, albion has 100k+ players a day. Eve idk.
The facts are this. MO1 failed. It was not profitable. Servers could not stay going. MO2 sold 100k copies sure. But we are down to less than 8k players a day. That is a bad sign. MO1 and MO2 are fundamentally the same game. What makes you think, based on the current population, that this game isn't already heading down the same path?
Albion Online, so i've been told, went through the same pattern of growth. They were a FFA pvp like MO2 currently is. Population went down to almost zero until they instituted the current system Albion functions by.
I don't understand why MO2 core community is so against a system that clearly works and is profitable, allowing that game to survive. Obviously Albion also has a card up its sleeve in that its also phone compatible, making it easier for people to play the game worldwide and has made it much more profitable, to the point that a company bought it out for many millions.
The backbone of every full loot pvp mmo is the pve community because they are the greater playerbase and they support the economy by creating items. Unfortunately, as far as i can tell in the current implementation of MO2, the entire playerbase are considered wolves and the sheep don't exist. We dont want the sheep to be pushed out and go extinct. Otherwise the fun ends.
I also believe that type of system would eliminate the need for balancing the current rep loss system around murders. Zergs could be fought in FFA zones the highest risk zones without any risk of not being able to enter towns.
I'm 100% of the belief that the game needs to bend its vision to a system that already works in full loot pvp mmo's that are successful. A genre mind you, which is already niche and small compared to the population of other types and genres of games. Its probable that the hardcore pvp mmo people are already playing games like that, which are successful. This is a very small niche of the population willing to play these types of games. If they are diehard fans of this genre, then they've already discovered and navigated to the few games that exist in this genre.
For a game like this to succeed, you need to steal the playerbase from those games which are already successful. I believe this game has the ability to steal that playerbase but not as it is in it's current state. Will that happen? Probably not. Henrik seems the idealistic type. He will make the game he wants come hell or high water. We will probably play mo2 until it dies and MO3 is released. Himself or his family will pay the price of a game that isn't profitable and doesn't have a high enough playerbase to support it. Idealism is good and all until it meets its arch nemesis; realism.
