I can’t say whether or not they’re working as intended, but a good MMO with expansions can generate about as much income (and more fans) than a similar non-MMO.
From what I’ve heard, MMOs were completely broken in previous versions… to the point where you made insane profits from a few expansions!
Whenever I make an MMO, I make a different game so that I can make an expansion with the same topic/genre without a review penalty, and by the time I finish that expansion, the MMO is already hemorrhaging money so badly that the expansion buys me a month or two of profitability, tops.
You have to wait 40 weeks (10 months) before you can release the first expansion to avoid the penalty. For the REST of the expansions, you can pump them out as quickly as possible.
Can I do one expansion after another or do I need a buffer game in between them? I always do a buffer game before the first expansion, and that takes about a year.
You have to wait 40 weeks before you can release the first expansion.
There’s no restriction for future expansions.