Debate: 2011 is the best year or not the best year for gaming

I guess I'll start this thread. I thought it's Mr. Ogreman who does that. XD Perhaps a poll can be initiated later.


Anyway, 2011 is definitely the best year for gaming. First is obviously the number of good games that was released last year. 2011 welcomed the entry of games like Rusty Hearts and Dragon Nest, which got a huge following, not only in GameOgre, but in many other gaming communities as well. There is also the highly-anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). The release of Skyrim also shook the gaming community with its tantalizing graphics and immersive gameplay. Indeed, there is the usual influx of ordinary and commonplace MMOs, but there are also diamonds which stood out from the rest. 2011 certainly gave us some diamond-quality MMOs.

Another reason why 2011 is the best year is that it can be considered a pivotal point in MMOs. Many players are tired of the usual point-and-click gameplay that is being offered by hundreds of other MMORPGs. Even the legendary World Of Warcraft (WOW), is showing signs of aging as it continually loses its player base. 2011 debuted some ActionRPGs that are currently enjoying widespread success. An example of which is Dragon Nest. Games like this gave us an entirely new experience of the MMORPG genre. Given the success of these games, it is only a matter of time when more and more developers give us these kinds of good-quality games. The year 2011, can definitely be considered as a starting point of a new and better trend for the genre.

Lastly, the previous year showered us with anticipation. Being able to play a nice game is definitely a good thing, but knowing that there will be good games waiting to be played in the near future is also a good thing. 2011 as the pivotal period of the genre, is proven to be true as we near the coming of other highly-anticipated and innovative games like Blade and Soul, Diablo 3, C9, and Guild Wars 2.

 

Some of the games that you mentioned weren't really supposed to be released on 2011. If most of these games said that they're going to launch on 2011 but did not, then I guess 2011 is indeed not the best year.

But that's not the case. Many of these "killer" games are scheduled to be released on 2012, or even later. If these games are indeed released on 2012, then maybe this year will be the best. But as of now, 2011 is the best thus far.

I'm also not saying that the "fall" of WOW is a good thing. In fact, I don't think WOW is going to fall any time soon. I believe it's just the usual sign of aging. A game can't permanently keep insane number of players for so many years. But so long as it's still alive with still a lot of players, we can't consider it as a failure.

Also, I emphasized that the decline of WOW may be due to the fact that we are entering a new stage in the genre. Action MMOs are beginning to gain popularity, so 2011 is a good pivot point of this innovation.

I would also like to add another argument that 2011 started the F2P trend. Many newly released games are using the F2P model and some previously P2P MMOs like Age of Conan and LOTRO turned to F2P. I know that some people prefer P2P and this move is not really good news for them, but to some people, it is a good move since quality games like these are becoming more available to more players.

 

I'm not sure either if they were supposed to be released last year. But again, saying that 2011 is not the best year because many new killer games haven't been released yet is very much flawed. This is primarily because we will always expect better games every year. When 2012 comes to an end, I'm sure there will be other highly anticipated games on 2013. That's what we call progress. The important thing here is that 2011 is the best year THUS FAR. Comparing 2011 to a future year is like comparing technology of the caveman to our current technology.

Also, WOW, slowly losing subscribers doesn't mean that there are less players playing MMORPGs. There is a very high chance that some players are just shifting to another game. If you're playing a game for several years, aren't you going to get bored of it sooner or later? And this shift is what I already mentioned. We are currently undergoing a major shift into ActionMMOs, which was started by Vindictus, Dragon Nest, and Rusty Hearts.

And thanks for the correction. 2011 did not start F2P. What I meant was it became more popular. As I mentioned, more and more games are using the F2P model, and some previously P2P MMOs went F2P. Like I said earlier, this shift is also a good thing.

 

Whether you think that there will be no game in 2013 or in the next few years that can surpass Guild Wars 2 and Diablo 3 is unimportant. This argument is solely based on your opinion and assumptions of the future. We can always expect and assume that a year will be good. But unless it has already transpired and actually gave us a good year for gaming, we can't claim it as true yet.

I agree that there are people who got tired of the genre and left. But there are also new people who try and immerse with the genre. It would be quite hard to claim that we have more, or less MMORPG players, unless we have actual information or numbers to support it.

Again, this argument is based on an assumption and anticipation of something which may or may not happen. Unless it actually happens, we can't claim it to be true yet. If all these expectations come to fruition this year, then 2012 may be the best year. But as of now, 2011 is the best year yet.

 

If 2011 is not the best year, then I would love to know what the real best year for gaming is, and why.

 

Each year has its own set of killer games. Naming several good games that mark the success of a specific year is not enough to make it the best year.

The reason is that, although you gave a list of good games in 1993 and 1998, I could also do the same for 2011. DCUO, Rift, Just Dance 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Dragon Nest, and SWTOR, to name a few.

The point is, besides the good games released for the said year, there also has to be something else that will differentiate the year and make it the best. And for me, the differentiating factors of 2011 are the trend towards F2P, and a new revolution towards Action MMO.