Blizzard COO Paul Sams has told GamesIndustry.biz that the company plans to release a new expansion pack for multi-million selling MMO World of Warcraft every year.
Speaking in an exclusive interview, Sams said, "Starting with The Burning Crusade, every year thereafter we plan on bringing out a new expansion set - so every 12 months."
Ugh.
Last edited by Lyion on Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. – C. S. Lewis
Kind of hard to keep people interested in the game if there is no new content... oO
The major problem with EQ doing one every 6 months is that they are riddled with bugs due to being pushed too fast --- and by the time something could be done about them, they are too busy working on the new expansion.
Too many expansions ruin the game. I really wish EQ2 would slow down the rate they are doing them.
Inside each person lives two wolves. One is loyal, kind, respectful, humble and open to the mystery of life. The other is greedy, jealous, hateful, afraid and blind to the wonders of life. They are in battle for your spirit. The one who wins is the one you feed.
The problem with slowing down on expansions for EQ2 is that the top guilds are completing everything in only a few months after release. The fix this problem they could add more and harder content for these guilds, but other than that they have no choice but to come out with quick expansions.
I wish they would just make new games once a year to keep things fresh and exciting... you know... instead of adding expansions to continue a storyline or give yourself a sense of accomplishment.
If top guilds are blowing thru content then there's something wrong with the game.
Inside each person lives two wolves. One is loyal, kind, respectful, humble and open to the mystery of life. The other is greedy, jealous, hateful, afraid and blind to the wonders of life. They are in battle for your spirit. The one who wins is the one you feed.
Either there isn't enough content to begin with....or the content itself is too easy.
Inside each person lives two wolves. One is loyal, kind, respectful, humble and open to the mystery of life. The other is greedy, jealous, hateful, afraid and blind to the wonders of life. They are in battle for your spirit. The one who wins is the one you feed.
If you consider how much money Blizzard poured into making WoW, and how much profit they're making from it via the monthly fees - simply making a new game to replace it would be a really stupid decision.
I'm not sure exactly what would be the best way to go about things, but if they were to make a new expansion every year that didn't simply lead to a huge collection of empty zones, and had very high quality (ie: lack of bugs) by the time the next expansion is put into the works, they'd probably be on the right track.
Blizzard is raising levels, adding tougher bosses, and already uses Mudflation (See Tier 1, 2, 3, etc armor). This is great for the kiddies who were babies when EQ came out in 99, and also didn't experience UO but I think most of the gamer world will get more and more migratory than we were in the past. The hardcore people who play will latch on to something, and WOW is the uberd00d game of the week, but that's neither here nor there.
Sure, Blizzard is making a ton of coin, essentially since all of Korea and half of Asia play WOW, and they are sitting at near double SOE's North American gamer count. However, I firmly believe MMOs have a life cycle and turnover accelerates in most cases. Especially a game like WOW.
I personally would just like to see new things, and think the industry will move towards faster lifecycles for MMOs. Especially as the PS3 and 360 become more mainstream.
What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. – C. S. Lewis
