Guild Wars dev: Consoles don't have much room for MMOs

Technical issues and traditional subscription fees are making it "tough" to bring MMOs to console, according to the lead designer of Guild Wars 2.

Speaking to VideoGamer.com in Hamburg, Eric Flannum addressed the difficulty of bringing the genre to the Xbox and PS3, stating: "It's tough because the business model on consoles is difficult, and [because of] memory issues - MMOs tend to be huge and consoles tend to not have that much room. And so there's a lot of technical problems basically. But I think someone will come and overcome those things."

[coryok]

so is he trying to ay that guildwars isnt coming to consoles?

btw there are already a few mmos running around on consoles, someone has already overcome these things

[radphil]

That's the thing he's stating though. It's few, not many. He's saying from a technical standpoint that not many can make it to consoles without thinking about them first hand, and even then there's other factors involved, such as the strict network of XBL and the other network of PSN.

That's not saying MMOs can't come to consoles anymore.

[Larry L]

Personally, I think he's wrong. I just think devs have to go about it the right way for consoles, specifically in the subscription department.

Control wise, there's no issue at all contrary to what so many people seem to think. I think it actually works better moving your toon around with an analog stick, and as for skills, you do it the same way ARPGs have been doing it on consoles for years X (on playstation) for basic attacks, and the other three face buttons for skills, with L2 and R2 as modifiers for the face buttons. That's 9 skills/talents/spells at the touch of a button. Which is plenty, and you can always remap whatever you want when needed. Or even adopt Dragon Age's pop up menu for quick access to sustained skills. That's not an issue and will be perfectly natural for any console player. It really doesn't matter in the slightest what PC players think about the console controls.

But as for the payment system, there's really only a few options for a successful console MMO. A one time reasonable fee for lifetime membership, say.....$80-100. Or a cheap monthly subscription. The majority of console players are NOT going to pay $15 a month. I think that's a rediculous price for server maintenence considering how many people play. $5-7 a month is the most I'm willing to pay.

But I think the most successful business model for a console MMO would be to take a page out of PlayStation Home's playbook. I'm a dedicated Home user, and I can tell you right now, first hand, that the amount of money Home is raking in with microtransactions is absolutely astounding. I, myself have probably spent about $100 on Home. And I don't spend NEARLY as much on there as alot of people do. Sure you will have some people just using the free content, but they usually/eventually get peer pressured into spending something to "keep up with the joneses". Back in the Home closed beta, I was the type swearing I would NEVER spend real money on virtual items......look at me now, what a hypocrite. And I didnt even get peer pressured......I just decided to spend and got hooked.

Micro-transactions are absolutely the way to go with console MMOs. And I believe in the longrun, it will actually make more revenue for the developers/publishers than the subscription model.

[DeadlyFire]

Throw a subscription card in the box and amp up the cost a little for that subscription charge. As well as sellling these cards for 1 month, 3 month, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months. To launch the game say it is released with 1 month subscription to kick start it. $15+60 = 75 bucks. If you want an MMO you know what to expect in terms of charges so its a model that could work. Thing is noone has ever tried it a different way then what is already out there. Innovate a little.

Pay to play is very risky for developers on consoles, but if you are not trying to make a great game why even sit at the table.

Why is this in Guild Wars talk though it is Free to Play.

[DanSolo]

I think it is safe to say Guild Wars 2 will not be coming to console which is a shame as I would have got it day one.... but I also think it is safe to say that next gen there will be a bunch of MMO's on console to choose from.... so Guild Wars 3 perhaps... or a late arrival Guild Wars 2!

[bwazy]

Off topic:

Guildwars 2 will absolutely consume my life. And I couldnt be happier.

[ATiElite]

have to say i was pretty impressed with the under water aspect of GW2.

Nicely done.

[koehler83]

They just have to be designed differently. I agree it's certainly difficult if not entirely impossible to put your average MMO on a console without some major reworking of how things are streamed. But if you want to create an MMO for console, there are many ways to do it and many remain shamefully untapped.

[Bounkass]

Yes they do, just add mouse and keyboard support... Simple.

[Tdmd]

That was a sad statment...

[_LarZen_]

We wil probably not see the tradisional click button watch what happens type of mmo's on consoles (thanks God) but more action oriented types.

Just a mather of time before a AAA MMO game comes to a console now I think.

[ATiElite]

Yep like everything else it goes on the PC first then they make it trendy for consolers.

[Gazondaily]

I've been waiting 6 years for that game. What a waste of time that was....

[Spinal]

Persistentthug needs to see this. He really thought Guild Wars 2 will come to the consoles loool

Consoles are just not the place for MMO's. And DC Universe is a reminder why its not a good space for it.

I played DC universe for a week and left it to rot. Its not a bad game but its so far from what I expect in MMO Quality standards.

[Ser]

It's quite alright, ArenaNet. I prefer to play MMOs on the PC anyway.