Well - we should all probably realize that in 10-20 years, all online multiplayer games will be MMO... in terms of the structure to support massive amounts of people online at the same time.

So eventually, the entire subscription based model for profit will also have to change - because most people will obviously want to play more than just one game, and the cost of keeping up numerous subscriptions would preclude that.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I got my fill of MMORPGs within the first 3 months that Everquest came out back in '98. Since then, a few of the biggest problems I had with the genre have been addressed - yet many still remain. I dont feel the need to play any more of these games until something MUCH better comes along.

I have also seen these games literally destroy a persons social life, to the extent that it becomes an addiction which is uncontrollable ("i know i should stop but i cant"). And I really feel that we havent seen any of this phenomena really come home to roost yet. There is another shoe waiting to drop on all this, and its not going to be pretty. I honestly cant explain the reason why MMORPGs are more "addiction forming" than normal video games... but in my experience of knowing people who play them - they are. My only theory is that the whole "treadmill" design is absolutely intentional and crafted with much psychological deliberation as to what "cheese" captivates people the most, and what will keep them running thru the maze to find that "cheese".

IMO such a basic model is not really fun, but moreover a disservice to gaming in general. It speaks more to profitssss than entertainment. That is a step in the wrong direction, unless of course you stand to directly profit from revenues generated by MMORPGs.

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