Comments on: Are Social Networking and MMORPGs the same thing? http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/ A veteran's view on marketing games Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:12:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Jim http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-779 Jim Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:02:06 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/#comment-779 Bruce- What a great point you mentioned in regards to social networking and MMORPG's. I was thinking of the same elements and evolving it into something bigger. I would like to share you some of my ideas. Let me know and thanks for your blog. Bruce-

What a great point you mentioned in regards to social networking and MMORPG’s. I was thinking of the same elements and evolving it into something bigger. I would like to share you some of my ideas. Let me know and thanks for your blog.

]]> By: Bruce http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-133 Bruce Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:12:03 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/#comment-133 Hi Peer, thank you for your contribution. There is a lot of fad to the current social networking craze, just like hula hoops when I was young. Like all fads it will fade away (in it's current form). What these sites offer is not enough. The "friends" that you collect are only semi real so they do not compete with everyday life. But the "gaming" element isn't as strong as, say, WoW. The failiure of Second Life (it is deserted now) shows that people want to get more out of something they spend a lot of time with. And that means more fun. There is no doubt that social networking and MMORPGs will evolve. Probably in each other's direction. Hi Peer, thank you for your contribution.
There is a lot of fad to the current social networking craze, just like hula hoops when I was young. Like all fads it will fade away (in it’s current form).
What these sites offer is not enough. The “friends” that you collect are only semi real so they do not compete with everyday life. But the “gaming” element isn’t as strong as, say, WoW.
The failiure of Second Life (it is deserted now) shows that people want to get more out of something they spend a lot of time with. And that means more fun.
There is no doubt that social networking and MMORPGs will evolve. Probably in each other’s direction.

]]> By: Peer Lawther http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-129 Peer Lawther Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:57:02 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/#comment-129 I'd doubt those social networking sites mentioned are part of a "fad that's had its day" at present, especially with Facebook and Bebo rising and rising month on month (however, I'll concede you might be proved to be correct on Myspace in the near future, as it becomes more and more an outlet for PR and marketing messages and less about the community). Don't forget this is also an English-centric view. We've got to appreciate there's also the multitude of other huge social networking sites that continue to expand - hi5 (big in parts of central/South America/Asia), livejournal (esp. in Russia), Orkut (India), Skyblog (France/French-speaking countries), Studiverzei (German-speaking countries) etc etc. Additionally, there's also a case to be made for Youtube to be called social networks (channel pages on there are incredilby similar to Facebook channel pages), the same with Flickr. As for the fictitious currency idea, goods to purchase etc, Facebook has a very basic version of this with virtual 'birthday cakes', icons and little fun extras you can buy for a dollar for your own channel or your friends'. I doubt it makes them much cash at present but it's the start of something that could open up into something much bigger in the future. Social networking is here to stay in one form or another and while I wouldn't be surprised if Myspace is one of the high-profile web 2.0 sites that go into freefall like neocities.com (a *very* early attempt at social networking) rose and fell during web 1.0, it'll continue to grow in the near to mid-term future. I’d doubt those social networking sites mentioned are part of a “fad that’s had its day” at present, especially with Facebook and Bebo rising and rising month on month (however, I’ll concede you might be proved to be correct on Myspace in the near future, as it becomes more and more an outlet for PR and marketing messages and less about the community).

Don’t forget this is also an English-centric view. We’ve got to appreciate there’s also the multitude of other huge social networking sites that continue to expand – hi5 (big in parts of central/South America/Asia), livejournal (esp. in Russia), Orkut (India), Skyblog (France/French-speaking countries), Studiverzei (German-speaking countries) etc etc. Additionally, there’s also a case to be made for Youtube to be called social networks (channel pages on there are incredilby similar to Facebook channel pages), the same with Flickr.

As for the fictitious currency idea, goods to purchase etc, Facebook has a very basic version of this with virtual ‘birthday cakes’, icons and little fun extras you can buy for a dollar for your own channel or your friends’. I doubt it makes them much cash at present but it’s the start of something that could open up into something much bigger in the future.

Social networking is here to stay in one form or another and while I wouldn’t be surprised if Myspace is one of the high-profile web 2.0 sites that go into freefall like neocities.com (a *very* early attempt at social networking) rose and fell during web 1.0, it’ll continue to grow in the near to mid-term future.

]]> By: Bruce http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-128 Bruce Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:43:58 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/#comment-128 Thanks for this Thom, That Home works as a virtual PSP shows Sony's determination to flog a dead standard (or two). That the client runs on mobile phones shows that they have a good idea where this is all going. I think you could be right, that it is too graphical. However it is much more Web 2.0ish than Live, which is geared round functionality so cannot be as rich. Perhaps Microsoft and Sony will each move in the direction of the other till they find out what the gaming public really want. Obviously the whole industry is just starting to find it's way with these services. It will be very interesting to see what Nintendo, who have a much purer take on gaming, come up with when they decide to compete in this area, as they must. Thanks for this Thom,
That Home works as a virtual PSP shows Sony’s determination to flog a dead standard (or two).
That the client runs on mobile phones shows that they have a good idea where this is all going.

I think you could be right, that it is too graphical. However it is much more Web 2.0ish than Live, which is geared round functionality so cannot be as rich.

Perhaps Microsoft and Sony will each move in the direction of the other till they find out what the gaming public really want. Obviously the whole industry is just starting to find it’s way with these services.

It will be very interesting to see what Nintendo, who have a much purer take on gaming, come up with when they decide to compete in this area, as they must.

]]> By: Thom Primer http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/comment-page-1/#comment-117 Thom Primer Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:00:38 +0000 http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/09/10/are-social-networking-and-mmorpgs-the-same-thing/#comment-117 What do you think about Sony's Home concept as compared to Live in this area? It does have a lot of the social elements although it seems to me to be too dependent on the graphical world interface. Although it is similar to something like Second Life which is quite popular I think a lot of people would prefer a more text and image based system like a myspace or facebook. Probably something in between Home and Live would be better than either of them alone. What do you think about Sony’s Home concept as compared to Live in this area? It does have a lot of the social elements although it seems to me to be too dependent on the graphical world interface. Although it is similar to something like Second Life which is quite popular I think a lot of people would prefer a more text and image based system like a myspace or facebook. Probably something in between Home and Live would be better than either of them alone.

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