In the last few years we've seen the launch of a fair (or maybe excessive?) number of PC MMORPGs. Comparatively, the number of actual success stories is close to zero. More or less all of those games either sunk miserably or barely managed to scratch the thick armor of the Lich King.
But what makes World of Warcraft so successful compared to the offerings of other developers?
Of course there isn't only one reason: accessibility, ease of play, an enormous and stable playerbase and the simple fact that it's trendy are all elements that factor in heavily.
There's one element, though, that many tend to overlook, but that helps Blizzard quite a lot to retain their success and playerbase: WoW's graphics run smoothly on an Enigma calculator from World War 2.
On the other hand every new AAA MMORPG pushes processors and graphics cards a lot more, flaunting lifelike graphics and photorealistic environments, with the result that a big slice of the WoW crowd doesn't even try them, since their PCs barely scrape the minimum requirements, or give them a look for a month or two only to go back to Azeroth because they're tired of the unbearably low framerates.
A vast majority between the WoW playerbase doesn't have a powerful gaming PC. They often play on the same laptop they use for work and aren't up to change their graphics card once a year like the most hardcore PC gamers. They simply cannot afford (or don't want to afford) a true gaming PC that can cut a thousand dollar off from their bank accounts.
On the other hand though, can a developer afford to release an AAA title today with WoW's graphics? Probably not. Gaming has evolved since then, and developers need to push their technology to be able to differentiate themselves and impress their potential customers.
That's why more and more developers are looking at consoles as a platform for their MMORPG. Square Enix was the first with Final Fantasy XI, that is, in fact, one of the few MMORPGs that somehow resisted the assault of WoW.
Funcom, Cryptic, Turbine and others are now following with their own console projects.
Consoles, with their extreme hardware optimization, are the perfect way for a MMORPG developer to reach those customers that can't afford a gaming PC. Their 300 dollars price point is even lower than that of a crappy laptop that would barely run WoW, but still offers all the graphical juice that a developer needs to attract their potential customers.
Of course I'm talking about the PS3 and the 360, since the Wii lacks such graphics, and it's controls aren't exactly the perfect choice for a MMORPG (No keyboard? Yeah, sure).
Speaking about controllers, Square Enix had to adopt a weird and somewhat uncomfortable control method for Final Fantasy XI because of the limitations of the PS2.
Now both the PS3 and the 360 now have native keyboard support the PS3 lets you even plug in a mouse (Final Fantasy XIV will in fact support the mouse+keyboard combo). While the idea of playing with the 360's keypad+joypad combo may irk many veteran PC gamers, it's still a very viable option, so we can easily say that this generation of consoles doesn't fall short, controls-wise, for MMORPGs.
In the end consoles can offer developers that shortcut to that wide and diverse customer base that as of now has basically only WoW as it's possible game of choice. In the end appealing to those big numbers is not only advisable, but also critical for a MMO's success.
While other games can survive and thrive even when they're niche, a MMORPG needs a strong and stable community to prosper. It needs many people to continue paying their monthly fees (or microtransactions) in order to finance updates and expansions. Even more than that, a MMORPG that bleeds users will spiral towards hell due to the fact that players won't find enough people to play with. Soloing all the time tends to get old fast.
A multiplatform approach heralded by consoles can easily grant that wider playerbase. Of course stability is a different matter, since that depends heavily on the quality of the offering. But at the very least it will allow developers to actually reach that precious and untapped clientele.
There are, of course, some problems in console development, that often scare PC developers (and MMORPG developers) away.
While a PC game can (and often will) afford not to be perfect in it's optimization, since the developer is always free to blame stutters, lag and low framerates on the customers' rigs, that's not an option on this generation of consoles.
A game that's not perfectly optimized and that offers a weak framerate will be immediately discovered, and such flaws will be blamed directly on the developers with no excuse allowed (even if some developers try to blame them on a console's "architecture" those feeble attempts normally get to be laughed at quite a bit). That's why MMORPG developers that moves on consoles will need to really step up their optimization game, making sure that their product reaches the shelves with a sufficent amount of testing and polish. And we all know very well that polish isn't exactly at it's best in most MMORPG launches.
Also, there's a problem with Xbox Live, with Microsoft enforcing fees and very strict rules to their online gameplay, that normally tend not to go hand in hand with MMORPGs (and that held or is holding back the 360 release of titles such Age of Conan and Champions Online).
With the PS3 picking up momentum, though, I'm not sure how long Microsoft will be able to enforce their policies.
By continuing on the unbending path they would open the door to more MMORPGs becoming PS3 "exclusive", loosing yet another advantage against their most direct competitors.
There aren't many escape routes here, either bend or grant an advantage to the competition, and knowing Microsoft I seriously doubt they'll chose the second option.
With that hurdle removed, we'll probably see a lot more MMORPGs that will be released on consoles, either as a primary or secondary platform.
There is, though, a final caveat to this. Should MMO developers actually abandon the PC market and just concentrate on consoles?
No. Doing so would be a fatal error. A console-only MMORPG would probably lack in longevity.
Console gamers are offered a much wider variety of AAA titles than PC gamers. As a result they tend to hop between different games a lot. MMORPGs require time and dedication, ending up in conflicting with the "flutterby" attitude of the vast majority of console gamers.
While consoles will indeed widen the userbase of a MMORPG by quite a lot, PC gamers, that are more used to be loyal to their favorite game, will still form that solid core userbase that any MMORPG needs to survive. To put it down simply: while console gamers are very nice to have and desirable, PC gamers are like diamonds, they're fewer, but they are forever (if you keep them happy), or almost.
It's pretty obvious (or at least very probable) that the true future of MMORPG lies in a combination of the PC and the console market, with the PC gamers offering their stability as a solid foundation pillar, and console gamers bringing in their numbers (and money). Appealing to both will be critical. Developers that refuse to do so, will probably be left behind to eat Blizzard's dust. Sad but true.
(Sponsored link). No European date has been announced as of now, even if PS3 games are region free, so it shouldn't be a problem.
