Gamasutra - The 5 Most Significant MMO Trends

Gamasutra explains what they think are the 5 most significant trends in MMOs in 2008. The list contains the following elements:

• The niche positions of AAA fantasy titles (Age of Conan, Warhammer Online)
• Microtransactions
• Middleware
• The gold rush
• User-made content

The following is a snippet about microtransactions:

More than anything, 2008 signaled a death-knell for the future of subscription-based online gaming. In ten, maybe even five years, paying a monthly subscription for an online game will sound as archaic as paying a play-by-the-hour fee does now.

The microtransaction model has been gaining in popularity here in the West for years now, but 2008 truly highlighted the waning power of the subscription model. From the rollout of Sony Online Entertainment's Station Cash program to the blockbuster success of companies like Three Rings and Nexon, Western players have made it abundantly clear that they're very comfortable paying smaller amounts of money over time to get the services they want.