In a world where almost 10 million people play World of Warcraft it comes as no surprise as game developers scramble to make the next best MMO. But like many in the past, they will stumble and fail miserably, wasting millions on a brutal concept that could of been avoided in the first place. We’ve seen great MMO’s live forever like Ultima Online and good ones fail because of a few flaws like Shadowbane. We’ve seen horribly implemented ones fail right out of the gate or even in the beta like the Matrix Online but still the developers continue to try and build the next best world. As a game designer I can’t wait for my opportunity to create a world and civilization one day to curb my god complex but when i do I want it to be actually successful and not fail overnight.

One game I already foresee a mighty failure for is Football Superstars. An ambitious idea where you’ll be able to play football in an ongoing world, manage your player or an entire club, it’s an attempt to bring the dominant line of sports gaming into the MMO realm. But here’s the problem. You’re attempting to sway members of 2 elite gaming groups. In one hand you have the footballers who have devote followings to Pro Evo, FIFA and of course the very deep Football Manager series. Then you have the MMOer’s, who in most cases the only sport they’ve ever played is the flicking of boogers from their computer chair. And what’s the most important part of an MMO? Giving deep and complex gameplay that isn’t overly repetitive. But wait, what is soccer? One of the most repetitive and simplistic sports in the world. This just isn’t going to go well, mark my words. But hey, least you can make a hot chick and prance around in a uniform…right?