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This just makes me sad
Herrmann
Member Posts: 7
Hey people!
I was looking forward to this game since WoW started boring me. Dont get me wrong, i loved WoW; i remember the feeling when i logged in for the very first time (my first MMO). It was just fantastic; I couldnt belive that playing a computer game could be that much fun and I thought that this kind of game (MMOs) would be the future of the game industry. The social componente of the mmorpg concept can contribute a huge amount of additional excitement (network - effect) to every kind of game. However i realized that WoW is an exception. No released game could cope with my high expectations (Maybe it wasnt a good idea to start playing with the leader of the branch) and so i tried to find out what the future will bring and made some research. And there it was! Bright and shiny next gen Age of Conan. So many good Ideas and such a wonderful graphic! They had me! So I was waiting and played some vanguard in the meantime (it was nice for one week but my computer couldnt run it properly and there were no inovations that could have catched me for a longtime subscription - I just realize that the vanguard developers did almoust the same shit as the AoC guys; programming a game with no love for the detail and no real vision). Yeah and now its out and it just sucks; and i am damn disappointed. Maybe it wouldnt be that bad if I hadnt played WoW before but i did. The thing I cant understand is: why is it so difficult for them to produce a game that meets the customer expectations. I think there are several reasons:
- They are overhyping their product in the press which makes it more and more dificult to meet any expectations; people love those kind of news; its what they want to hear and they will belive whatever the devs say - at least as long as the game isnt released.
Important: Dont disappoint your customers! Q: What disappoints customers? A: Promises which cant be kept!
All Software Project Managers should get this fact tattooed on their forehead.
- They paint the most lovely picture of the game and act like features which are in development are already implemented in the game and working. Thats totaly stupid; why dont they try it the opposite way?
A important rule of bookkeeping should be considered here: If you havent received the money of your debtor yet - dont act as if you would.
- They have a horrible project management; I often get to read that programming isnt a linear process and its difficult to predict the development of the project. That may be true; but I think if there had been an experienced project leader and if the comunication between the programmers and the management had worked properly, they perhaps hadnt announced features that are not in the final version of the game. And they hadnt exceeded the planned development time that much. Maybe they never heard of milestones and synchropoints to ensure that the quality of every single game component coresponds with the expectations and that those components work together. It is also necessary to let different people test the stuff you programmed in every possible way by different people (dont test it yourself).
Why is that?!: The management is just incompetent. They try to observe the rules they've learned at their business school and forget that the reality is more complex and different
What went wrong?!:
1.
I assume that the devs have no real influence in management decissions. If that would be the case, it had never been released in that state; a programmer who has worked for years on a particular project wouldnt do that (my personal opinion).
2.
They didnt define clear objectives for the programmers; i mean realy detailed. Its the task of the management to see the whole picture; its not responsibility of the programmers
3.
They changed the objectives during the development and added extra objectives, features and systems. If you do that in the middle of such a complex project you screw everything; you just lose control.
Reason: They needed money; they found an investor who was willing to grant them the funds - but only if the adjust the game a littlebit; and here we go..
4.
Instead of trying to build up a long term customer - company realtionship based on trust, they went for the short term profits. But no! Thats not true! They tried to do both. The problem is that short and longtermprofits sometimes exclude each other. They hyped an unfinished game (iam sure they knew that) to the max to:
- earn the development costs back plus some profit to satisfy the investors
- sell a critical amount of copies what would have triggered the network effect (an exponential growth of sales despite an obvious lack of quality due to the extra utility which gamers experience through the gaming community) That is the special thing that made WoW that successful; but they made their homework and published a game that was actually fun to play - now its a cash cow for blizzard.
5.
They used what they knew about marked entry strategies and timed the release quite good - well, at least in theory
By the way, Warhammer may have a better project management with experienced development managers but it will suck anyways. You know why? I tell you: they go the safe way and produce WoW 1.5; thats just not enough to challenge the marked leader..
go STO 
And here some smilies for you to beautify this post: 
Comments
Ctrl-Alt-Del cancled subscription. Nothing more needs to be said in my opion, they new what they were doing and did not deliver
MAGA
If that were the most important things that went wrong, then I would still be playing the game.
For me the most imporant thing that went wrong with AoC is that they made it an mmorpg instead of a single player game that stops at level 20.
Lol, all salespersons lie... Never believe a comercial for anything. Worked as an engineer before and you have no idea what our salesperson made up, they couldn't tell the truth if they life depended on it.
And yes, changing the system during development starts problem but AoC problem is really that they released it 6 months too early, it is very beutiful though and at least worth trying just for the graphics even though it will need a year more to get really good.
And yes, the graphical design of AoC sets a new standard for mmo that hopefully will force some devs to cut low textured comic type graphics. Releasing too early is unfortunatly already standard and we won't see the end of it here. The concept art is really beutiful too.
Just put away your aoC and pick it up next spring again, and the game will hopefully be really good then. They have made level 1 to 50 good now but the last 30 is the most important ones and they need a lot of work now.
1. I think that is why Bioware and Blizzard have always been such great companies and put out nothing but great games. The developers clearly have a lot of 'pull' when it comes to when to release the game.
3. this one has a lot of merit. Funcom borrowed heavily to finish AoC.. and the majority of that borrowing was short term loans ( generally less than 2 year repayment).
3. Feature creep is the industry word for that. Every new 'manager' that comes in will have his own vision and will switch priorities around. You really need a smart and experienced manager to keep people focused and not daydreaming about 'what I'd like to add'.
4. I really think it was just the financial crunch that caused their problems. Once they knew they were going to be forced to release a bad game, they had to do everything they could to make it work. My guess is their hope was that enough players would stick around for a few months, and the ones that did quit wouldn't be so vocal and they would have the money to pay back their short term loans and fix the game over the next 6 months. The first month exodus was huge though, and the company will never have a profitable quarter nor have the money to fix the game. Also as you pointed out. they had the opposite effect of WOW. Instead of players 'promoting' WOW... AOC has a ton of people actually still posting on forums slamming the game.
5. Warhammer is going to crash and burn. The combat is very lackluster and sluggish. There are not enough options in combat to make it interesting. While RvR sounds good, basically the winner will always be determined by who has the most people playing... there just is not enough combat strategy to allow the underdog side to win..... and like I said, the combat is not fun. I think this past weekend in Warhammer has made a lot of people realize that War is not anything special. It is more playable than AoC (and it's mother company won't be going bankrupt like funcom).... but it is not earthshattering. People that hate WOW/Blizzard will drool over warhammer, but the average player will quickly see that gameplay is not as fun.
5. Warhammer is going to crash and burn. The combat is very lackluster and sluggish. There are not enough options in combat to make it interesting. While RvR sounds good, basically the winner will always be determined by who has the most people playing... there just is not enough combat strategy to allow the underdog side to win..... and like I said, the combat is not fun. I think this past weekend in Warhammer has made a lot of people realize that War is not anything special. It is more playable than AoC (and it's mother company won't be going bankrupt like funcom).... but it is not earthshattering. People that hate WOW/Blizzard will drool over warhammer, but the average player will quickly see that gameplay is not as fun.
I beg to differ my ill-informed pale friend. Please don't single out casual players into your form of hardcore gameplay, they will enjoy Warhammer as they have with WoW. There are times when people must move on, and you too must follow the herd.
*COWBELLZ*
If its anything like daoc then it will take time before people begin to understand the finer points of RvR. In DaoC it took some months before the RvR moved into real warfare.
RvR is not PvP. Its not about individual skill, its about fighting for a side and for a cause in a big war. Its a special form of game very different from what all other MMOs try with their PvP.
Its about having goals and beat your enemy side for those goals often via planned battles with the plans kept secret within a small group to avoid spies telling the other side.
In that context the individual player vs. player fight is not that important.
"You are the hero our legends have foretold will save our tribe, therefore please go kill 10 pigs."