Jon Wood, managing editor of MMORPG.com, asked a panel of experienced MMO developers a series of questions about the future of their genre. It was a mostly civil conversation about what will happen to online gaming in the post-World of Warcraft (WoW) market. Allow me to summarize the panel’s answers.

When asked if licensed intellectual properties (IPs) or original concepts would dominate the MMOs of the future, the general consensus was that it would be a little of both. There will always be people who want to play in worlds they know from books, comics, TV, and movies, but, as EA Mythic’s Mark Jacobs reminded us, “Original IPs are what it’s all about. You’re creating licenses. You’re creating worlds.”

Rob Pardo, Blizzard’s VP of Design and lead designer on WoW, noted that his blockbuster MMO was based on a previously existing IP, but one his company owned. Thus they enjoyed the best of both worlds: Established content to build off of and the freedom to explore at will.

In response to a question about whether or not MMOs will need to move to consoles in order to stay competitive, Cryptic Studios’ Jack Emmert quickly asserted that it would be “Absolutely ridiculous to think MMOs aren’t going to migrate there.” BioWare’s Ray Muzyka, whose company is currently at work on their first MMO project, was more cautious, saying the move to consoles was definitely worth experimenting with, but that it depends on what kind of game you’re making and what the needs of your players are.

The issue of what the business model will be for the MMO of the future led to some heated debate. MMOs in America typically use a monthly subscription model, while many Asian countries use what’s called a micro-transaction model. Games based on the micro-transaction model are free to download and play, but you have to buy different in-game items to get ahead in the game. Jack Emmert expressed quite a bit of frustration with the idea that micro-transactions were a “magic bullet” that would sustain the MMO market. His fellow panelist, Nexon’s Min Kim, pointed out that his company’s MMO, Maplestory, was doing quite well with the micro-transaction model. In the end, I think everyone agreed that, again, it depends on the specific project and the needs of the target audience for that project, but damn it all if Jack Emmert isn’t sick of being told micro-transactions are a magic bullet.

Once again, Ray Muzyka was the voice of moderation. He pointed out that you would ideally want a game that supports both, so as not to miss out on any potential revenue streams. But he stressed that “It comes down to the design of the game. What makes your game better than any other in the world? You have to answer that question first. Then, if micro-transactions enable that, then it’s totally viable. Some games you just don’t want to have micro-transactions. … Start with something brilliant, and then go from there.”

Jon Wood’s last question for the panel was about the ever-increasing production costs of MMOs and if they saw that trend continuing. Rob Pardo had the best answer to that one: “It’s interesting to hear people say ‘WoW set the bar so high we don’t want to get into the business.’ As a businessman, I’m all for that. But as a gamer, I want to see someone come along and make the next big thing. If you have a content-driven game, you’ll need a big team. But there are all types of possible MMOs that won’t require a huge team or budget.”

So there you have it. The next big MMO could either be based on an established IP or an original concept; may or may not be played on a console; could follow a subscription model, a micro-transaction model, or both; and could come from a big blockbuster-making development house or a tiny team of dedicated game designers. The only thing no one seems to doubt is that there will be a next big thing in MMOs.