Play’s Republic

World of Warcraft is just about two and a half years old, now. It’s got the largest user base by far (Community). It’s a very viable product model, and has a bustling in-game economy (Commerce). The Burning Crusade came out in January (Content). So, where do we go from here?

This article addresses a few upcoming (and one old) MMORPGs that are looking to capitalize on the phenom as well as provide some new added functionality to the mix. To me, it looks like they’re differentiating themselves by providing niche content (Context) that will be interesting to a self-selected group of people, and in a way that will cater to their specific needs (Personalization).

Marry that with some weird form of Xbox Live (don’t ask me how to combine a MMORPG with Xbox Live) and it could be the next big thing (Vertical Search).

I’m basing my thinking on this model.