...is the ending. That is, there's a big boss finale, and then, ta-dah! It's over. Sure, they try to release DLC, updates, expansions... yada yada. But what fans really want; what I really want... is a persistent universe. This is where those subscription services make money. Instead of making a new game they let you enjoy that imaginary world they created and you pay a monthly fee to do it.

So how about this? Instead of running out of money when no one else buys your game, there's a core audience that's likely very willing to spend money if there's a persistent universe. Players can get quests from new NPCs they meet and the difficulty of those quests would be level dependent. That is, they won't appear until players reach certain levels. In such a way, players can take their time, pay a small fee (say 5 bucks a month) but be assured that the game is going to last as long as they want. They can stop a subscription, but renew and their world would continue where they left off.

The devs don't even need new POE locations, they could just repopulate the ones they already have.

Comments?

I don't particularily like this idea. Good MMOs already manage persistency while keeping you supplied with constant updates, and most of them tend to be fully playable in solo - so if you want that, just go and play them, nothing simpler.

Thing is, what you are suggesting would mean a big shift in core design of the game, switch to a subscription model, and very likely some form of online dependency (albeit not necessarily). If Pillars of Eternity were built around being a subscription-based game, a lot of its aspects would need to be handled differently, and it would take away the time and resources Obsidian currently spends on DLC, patching and, hopefully, Pillars of Eternity 2.

So ... No. This is the kind of RPG that I want to install in 20 years and try out different things to my previous playtroughs which will get me a different experience, including all DLCs, not a game that I'll install in 20 years and which will tell me "Whelp, no other adventures for you, servers are down." Besides, instead of running out of money when no one else buys their game, Obsidian is going to release another game. That's sort of how it always worked ;-)

Yeah I was immediately thinking that you could probably find fulfillment in certain MMORPGs. Some have so many quests that you can't even finish all of them in 10 years.

There are such games as you describe. I don't want all games to be like that, though. I'm happy with POE as it is.

It's not surprising that people who enjoy MMO's wouldn't care for single-player RPG's...;) And vice-versa. Do I want to pay a monthly fee for a "persistent universe" where other people cheat & try to steal/sell me things constantly? Ugh! Perish the thought. I don't care for cliff-hanger, episodic books (I hate the cliff-hanging part)--but even they have endings. Movies in episodes, like Lord of the Rings, are wonderful when well done, but they also have definitive endings. (And the ones that aren't well done often get cancelled before they can end satisfactorily.) TV shows are also episodic in nature--but they also must have satisfactory endings to be watched in the future by new audiences, etc. (Imagine Lost without an ending...;) Ugh!)

My thought is that a monthly-fee (or free) persistent-universe MMO would be an experience without any kind of satisfactory ending or resolution of whatever the main quest line is in the beginning--a continuing story that never ends made up of revolving sub-stories and/or mini-quests. Did I mention--an MMO is also peopled not with story-quest characters that belong to the universe of the game--but by lots and lots of other people playing in the here and now--and playing with a wide assortment of motives for doing so...;)

Variety is the spice of life and instead of spending $200+ per year to sit in the same universe, I'd much rather invest in lengthy, meaty single-player RPGs that for the same money put me in several different universes over the span of time.

I think you had spot the tiger!

For me a well made RPG is a like a book but interactive (ok, that read too lame)
Though I remember my days in the NWN's PW variety and they were glorious, yet are different concept than today standard.

I disagree. I love these kind of games because it tells a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end; like any good book. MMO's go on forever and ever and, to me, sacrifice story-telling for more action and gameplay. And that's fine, everybody has their cup of tea, but to me, games like the Baldur's Gate series, Eye of the Beholder series, even the hybrid Adventure/RPG Quest for Glory (just to name a few) have great action, great story, and climax with a final boss fight.
But hey, to each their own.

Uhhh, just the worst kind of game. Terrible! So glad that PoE isn't crap like that. I never would have backed it otherwise.

Do not want persistant universe!

I really enjjoy these singleplayer epic rpgs.
Nothing wrong with making it so you can invite a friend to play alongside you, but just the same as with Shadowrun Chronicles (mmo), I much prefer the singleplayer shadowrun games!