Comments on: Why Beckett’s Top 20 List is a Complete Load

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:29:10 +0000

I listed Dr. Bartle because he joined Areae in 2007, prior to that he taught and consulted. One of the Originals and most respected people in the genre becoming ‘active’ in the development of a new product, to me, is noteworthy.
I put Matt Miller on the list for having done so much with so little in 2007. Players were oblivious as to how small the live team had become due to their regular content releases and quality of life improvements. If it’s not a case study about successful Live Operation it ought to be.
I take your point about Beckett’s focus, but Club Penguin and GoPets both drew in new market participants from other industries in noteworthy ways, growing the industry overall. 2007 was a year of “baited breath” in MMOdom (Auto Assault, Vanguard, Fury), while VWs emerged from realtive obscurity. It’s a shame Beckett’s list didn’t reflect that shift as clearly as it could have.
Thanks for the comments,

By: SirBruce

SirBruce — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:59:25 +0000

Well, the list was 2007. :) And we excluded academics. Beckett is focused more on MMOs than VWs; Club Penguin and GoPets were probably “a bridge too far” to be considered, but Second Life and Habbo are both represented. I expect many different names for the 2008 list.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:16:05 +0000

Richard Bartle?

Matt “Positron” Miller?

Jeff Yapp – MTV (6 VWs)?

Prof. Edward Castronova (Arden)?

Lane Merrifield – Club Penguin Ent. founder?

Erik Bethke – GoPets?

/sigh

By: SirBruce

SirBruce — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:45:05 +0000

Ahhh, I suppose he might have meant that.

The list is certainly western-focused since that’s the audience for the magazine, but it doesn’t have a bias against F2P or non-traditional MMOs. MapleStory, Habbo, Second Life, Acclaim’s 2Moons, and Guild Wars are all represented. Obviously people from RuneScape, Lineage, etc. were also considered.

Having gotten an overview of MMO games in Korea and China at ION, it’s hard to say that any of the big names are actually influencing what the other companies do. Plus, it’s more of an anonymous culture; it’s hard to single out influential individuals. There are some historical roots to the genre, but nothing that particularly stands out in 2007.

By: Brinstar

Brinstar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:26:19 +0000

Sara: I think perhaps you missed the bit where Michael wrote, “Not only is this out of whack with the vast majority of MMO players worldwide, it’s a hidebound attitude that completely fails to recognize the strides taken by F2p games in 07?.” The majority of MMOG players worldwide are not playing subscription-based games. This list is squarely focused on Western games, completely ignoring the massive number of MMO gamers in the Asian territories.

SirBruce: I think Michael was trying to say that Min Kim should have been ranked _higher_ than he was in your list.

By: Sara Jensen Schubert

Sara Jensen Schubert — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:25:06 +0000

Sure, Asian free-to-play games are really popular. But looking at the next few years of American big-publisher, AAA offerings, I still don’t think they’ve hit “influential” status yet.

Let’s try again when FreeRealms ships. :)

By: SirBruce

SirBruce — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 10:10:38 +0000

Oh, and I don’t think your should bash Beckett so much given the quality of many of the articles I see on Massively. :P