This is rather interesting. NCsoft lead core programmer Adam Martin, in his speech at ION 08, addressed the impact that Web 2.0 is making on the video game industry.

What's interesting about this is the context, the clash of two different MMOG development philosophies between NCSoft (publishers of ArenaNet's Guild Wars -- with its focus on free monthly play) and Blizzard Entertainment, makers of the hugely successful (and subscription-based) World of Warcraft.

"He [Martin] explained that big budget, subscription based MMOs such as World of Warcraft are no longer viable or sustainable business models in an era that has witnessed the rise and proliferation of user driven, low commitment and essentially free social networking utilities such as Facebook and Myspace. He described the Internet as not driven by commerce or an oligarchy; instead as a reflection of ourselves, 'the web is us'.

"Martin also commented on the fact that developers will often over-polish products before they go to market, something that can conflict with the needs of rough and ready web users: 'Because of the web ethos, users need something now and they expect to find it. If you're not offering it, they'll go and find it elsewhere -- and what they find may actually be even worse than your crappy untested feature.'"

The analogy in the second paragraph simply doesn't stand in my mind. It's mixing apples and oranges when comparing a web environment to a video game environment. Furthermore, the above-mentioned utilities such as Facebook are services first and foremost and are not solely designed around the concept of "being fun." They provide a service. So it seems to me as though Martin's line of thinking is a little too caught up in NCSoft's rivalry with Blizzard to make perfect sense. At least to yours truly.

Thanks Massively via Next-Gen.