MMORPG File Sizes

One thing I’ve noticed is as MMOs get more complicated and their file sizes seem to keep getting bigger and bigger. This is most certainly a big problem, as some MMORPGs are just so big that no one has the patience to download them. Well, not “no one” but I think games like Runes of Magic from Frogster and Age of Conan from Funcom are screwing themselves over because of their file size. Runes of Magic is 6+GB big, so installing and patching the game can take 3+ hours – and that’s on a FAST internet connection. Anyone on DSL will probably end up giving up well before the game even finishes downloading. The same thing applies to Age of Conan – that game is a MONTER. It’s 20GB big – which means on a fast internet connection the game will take almost 12 hours to fully install and patch. If the patch servers are busy, it could take even longer. I think the “sweet spot” for games is 1.2GB or less. Anything above 2 is really pushing it. Dungeons and Dragons Online is a whopping 4GB on “High res” mode, but at least the game lets players download a normal version which is 2.8GB – a cool 25% smaller in size. Games like Star Citizen will be pushing 100+GB too. MMORPG File sizes are just getting way too big.

Perfect World and Jade Dynasty are both under 2GB, yet they both look great. Dungeons and Dragons Online which is TWICE as big isn’t twice as good. Heck, many of the more successful games are LESS than 1GB. Look at Eudemons Online and Conquer Online from TQ Digital. Both games have a crazy big population, but the games are under 800MB. The Lord of the Rings Online on the other hand is a top notch game, but it’s a WHOPPING 10GB big. What on Earth is Turbine thinking? I think one easy solution to these huge file sizes is to download only portions of the game. For example, let’s say when I download Fists of Fu or Fiesta Online from Gamigo – instead of downloading the ENTIRE game’s content, I should only have to download the first 10 dungeons in the game. That’s it. As I make my way to dungeon #7 or 8, the game can begin download the next 10 dungeons in the background. That way, everything is done uninterrupted, and if I decide that Fists of Fu isn’t for me, I wouldn’t have had to wait until I downloaded the entire game!

The thing is, games like Grand Chase, Lost Saga, FreeJack and Zentia don’t really need to worry about this little issue as these games aren’t exactly huge to begin with. I think only games that are over 2GB in size should bother doing this. Though I’m sure other games would benefit too. Imagine being able to download and install an MMORPG like Battle of the Immortals, Heroes of Three Kingdoms or Metin 2 in a few minutes? This could easily be achievable if players could download the first few zones in the game, and have the game automatically download and install more zones in the background while you play. I think Guild Wars from NCSoft actually does this, and if I remember correctly the MMORPG free trial for World of Warcraft does it too. I don’t think ANY free to play MMORPGs do it though.

The problem really isn’t a game’s size, as most modern hard drives today have 250+GB with new hard drives having over a TB. The problem is the annoyingly long time it takes to fully download and patch a modern day MMORPG. So breaking the game down into pieces and having the game download more content AS you play would mean people can jump into games easier. There’s no reason newer MMORPGs like Kitsu Saga andLegend of Edda don’t have this built in. I can see why really old games don’t have it, but new ones should. What are your thoughts on this? I think I’d be willing to download and play more games if I didn’t have to wait so dang long to download them!

Lord of the Rings Online Free to Play a Big Success

Since going free to play The Lord of the Rings Online has enjoyed a 400% increase in active playerbase and a 200% increase in monthly revenues. Turbine also announced that the game now generates more money in optional monthly subscriptions than it did back when it was pay to play. I don’t think the game enjoyed the same level of success that Dungeons and Dragons Online did upon re-launching as a free to play game, but that’s mostly because The Lord of the Rings Online was already successful and profitable to begin with whereas Dungeons and Dragons Online had a tiny playerbase that was slowly dwindling away. Needless to say though, Turbine has once again proven that the free to play business model is a viable one. Not everyone is ignoring Turbine’s success with free to play.

Sony Online Entertainment recently made their flagship MMORPG EverQuest 2 free to play. But that’s old news that I’ve talked about in the past. What’s more interesting is that Pirates of the Burning Sea will also be relaunching as a free to play title in the coming months. And yes, it’s official. The company announced that they will be shifting to a free to play game when their latest expansion goes live. Since Turbine made Dungeons and Dragons Online free to play, Electronic Arts has tried their luck in free to play too. Over the last few years EA has released Battlefield Heroes, Lord of Ultima, FIFA Online and Tiger Woods Online as free to play titles, but has been hesitant to convert any of their current pay to play titles such as Dark Age of Camelot of Warhammer Online to free to play, which I think they should seriously consider doing. Both Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online aren’t very popular and are in clear decline. Dark Age of Camelot used to have 30+ servers but has 3 today. Warhammer Online launched with some 35+ servers but its down to 4. They need to do something to revitalize these games and going free to play could work. Free trials for those MMOs just isn’t cutting it.

With Dungeons and Dragons Online, The Lord of the Rings Online and EverQuest 2 now free to play, I think there’s a lot of pressure on Funcom to make Age of Conan Free to Play and on NCSoft to make City of Heroes and Lineage 2 free to play. As more and more pay to play games become free to play, game companies will realize that demanding a monthly fee to access a game is going to get harder and harder. I don’t think World of Warcraft really has to worry, as they’re still the market leader in the space, but smaller less successful MMORPGs like Champions Online and even Star Trek Online will need to eventually begin embracing free to play, as pay to play has been on a decline since Turbine made Dungeons and Dragons Online free to play. Plus, high quality free to play games like Runes of Magic, Fists of Fu and Heroes of Three Kingdoms are also putting pressure on pay to play games to re-consider their business models.

EverQuest 2 is Free to Play! Awesome

Sony Online Entertainment announced yesterday that their flag ship MMORPG EverQuest II would be going free to play. Well not entirely, but basically. As is, The free to play version – called EverQuest II: Extended will be separate from the current pay to play service, but offer most of the same content. EQ: Extended will offer the base EQ2 game and five expansion packs. Only 8 or so races and classes will be available, but the rest can be purchased for a small one time fee. Since all of the classes are balanced, it’s not really a big deal. Come to think of it, Dungeons and Dragons Online from Turbine offers the same level of “free to play”, as certain classes and races in it also need to be purchased.

So now that EverQuest II is going free to play, what’s next? If EverQuest 2 becomes a big success, there’s no doubt in my mind that Sony Online Entertainment’s other games, including Vanguard, Star Wars Galaxies and Pirates of the Burning Sea will go free to play. I Think Sony has actually seen first hand that free to play can work, as Free Realms, their first experiment with free to play, has been a big success. Maybe not in terms of revenues, as I don’t know how successful free realms is, but in terms of volume, the game has some 4+ million users. To put that into perspective – games like Allods Online from gPotato and Eudemons Online from TQ Digital have less than 4 million users each. So in terms of users, Free Realms is doing good.

If the free to play version of EverQuest II does well, there’s no doubt in my mind that other tier 2 pay to play MMORPGs like Age of Conan from Funcom and Eve Online from CCP will go free to play. Warhammer Online and Lineage 2 will also likely follow. I’ve played the free trials for all of these games and they’re really good. I just don’t want to pay for them! Unfortunately, all of this depends on how successful EverQuest II is. If the free to play version is a flop, it would be terrible for the industry. With top notch games like EQ2 and The Lord of the Rings Online going free to play though, I think it’s safe to say that “free to play” is indeed the future. At least for the time being.

I’ve always wanted to get into EverQuest 2, but I didn’t want to pay for it – so I’m very excited about this announcement! I can’t wait until the free to play open beta begins on August 12. I hope to see you all in game!