it's funny how you're trying to derail a hype train while mentioning zenlmax. Way to punch irony in the dick with a iron fist of opinions. Cool article (not really)
Personally I guess I find it a bit ironic.. this article that is.
I'll try to explain ... The basic idea is that "MMO" in general is a "computer game". So we have someone writing an article aimed at MMO's (computer games) that realisticly is talking about Hype and non existent ship dates...
As if its new and exclusive to MMO's (for computer games).
When I was working at Chips and Bits... You know how many times the release date changed on Falcon 3.0 ? Wizardry 7? I mean just two off the top of my head. I think Falcon 3.0 release at least 2 years (maybe 3) after the initial "release date".
Ultima 9 would be another great example for hype, expected release and delays. They finally released a product they knew (and said) wasn't ready due to the overwhelming pressure from "fans" and it was pretty much epic fail because as they stated it wasn't ready. So oddly the industry is a great example of "some things never change".
Altho I would say you really didn't see much hype like that until the very late 1980's or early 1990's. Pretty much before then when you saw an ad for a game it was pretty much going to be shipping soon(tm) .. but for real. Then again there used to be multiple games worth buying a month... now you're lucky sometimes to find ONE game a year worth buying.
Agreed. And that's one thing I appreciate SE for - they didn't announce anything or hint at anything regarding FFXIV until this year and it's due out next year. Thank you SE for standing up against the urge to say anything too soon!
I'm actually surprised that Dana didn't mention this one. FFXIV came out of nowhere and it's going to be released next year, and I think it's a brilliant move. Less wait, less dragged-out hype.
Agreed. And that's one thing I appreciate SE for - they didn't announce anything or hint at anything regarding FFXIV until this year and it's due out next year. Thank you SE for standing up against the urge to say anything too soon!
I'm actually surprised that Dana didn't mention this one. FFXIV came out of nowhere and it's going to be released next year, and I think it's a brilliant move. Less wait, less dragged-out hype.
The game's not as popular in western media as it should be, imo. I think it'll stay that way until the release at least, and most people will be surprised by what SE has to offer to MMO genre this time. It's quite comical in a way.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
I don't think timeframes at which information is released really matters that much. we knew about World of Warcraft a couple years in advance as well, there were a lot of naysayers about it as well. When it first came out it had initial bugs like any other MMO. But it's the overall design of the game that makes is fun and exciting. Blizzard just like Bioware or even Bethesda. They are tried and true companies that have a clue about how to make a game the right way. They all of course have their very own speciality to their game development.
So if you are a fan of the company's games then most likely it won't matter the hype. you can dissect this until you are blue in the face. But all in all, there is no perfect formulae on MMO or even regular game development. The one thing is for sure is to have high quality and not to release a game early. And that is one thing Blizzard did not make the mistake of doing. they tested then tested more plus they moved their release date back two times throughout development. I was one of the few waiting in the wings forever on it.
Just like That i will definitely be the first in line for anything Bioware makes or Bethesda, all are very favorite companies of mine. They all make high quality games... RPGs primarily which i'm sure Bioware will turn the MMO genre on its ear when they come out with SWTOG. And then when bethesda makes one they will do the same. So hardcore fans of their previous games will most likely be eager to play their online versions as well. some maybe hesitant at first but overall the hype and chatter on the web will suck them in, in due time. It's how WoW got so big, plus word of mouth to all family and friends... it's all relative.
I'm sure until WoW really bores the crap out of it's player base it will stay huge for a long time. unless of course people are looking for a more in-depth RPG experience then they will find games by Bioware more appealing. But if they are looking for something with more character customization as well as freedom of character skill/class design then Bethesda will be the best for that.
But as far as the other companies out there, Funcom and Mythic are both fairly young companies, although they have shown to be pretty good at making MMOs they are still not the greatest at "game development". they know how to make a data base run right, but when it comes to keeping people interesting in the game, they still lack in some areas. Especially when it comes to content and things that really matter.
Nonetheless, it doesn't take multi millions of subscribers to make an MMO successful either. Look at SOE, they still keep going good and i'm sure they are lucky to have a million subs in all of their games combined. Even before the days of WoW, most companies got by with only a quarter of million just fine. there are even some with way less that still run. So honestly... who cares?
If people burn themselves out due to hype then that's their own goofy fault. There are tons of other things in the world to do than hang out endlessly at some game's website forum pestering the moderators every 10 seconds for new info. It will be done when they are ready. and if they choose to release early in a sub-par quality then that's the company's fault. you either have faith they will eventually make it better or move on to something that is from a more reputable company.
Hype has effectively killed so many games its hard to count them anymore. Games that aren't even close to a high standard are brushed off by the masses.
Hype has effectively killed so many games its hard to count them anymore. Games that aren't even close to a high standard are brushed off by the masses.
Yep....a few extra bucks buys advertising. But kills a company that fail to live up to the hype.
"This may hurt a little, but it's something you'll get used to. Relax....."
Marketing strategy has always been better than the actual MMO. It's hard not to bite but they really make you believe sometimes. I've wasted money on some garbage MMOs because of hype. War and AoC being the latest two, probably the worst money I've ever spent on games...ever.
I think mmo's are very very different in terms of hype compared to normal games (such as the mentioned Assassins Creed 2). One of the big factors is the fact that these games are aimed at being massive, which means there needs to be triple the hype to build up a large fan base so that the game as enough plays in its world for people to consider it massive. Thus hyping a game way in advance makes a lot of sense, you aren't trying to sell a half a million copies of a game in the first couple of months like a single player game, you're aiming for millions (in some cases companies are aiming quite so high) and thats a big difference. You aren't going to have millions of people playing your game if people have only known about it for a month and thats the bottom line. I'm not saying i think its a good think, im just saying expectations are different in this genre, and there are a lot of very unique issues that a company developing an mmo faces, that a normal game company does not.
In some cases, the hardcore MMO community such as most people reading this column too often become fans of the genre, not the games themselves. People spend years on the forums, thinking, talking and wondering about a game. When it actually comes out, theyre already burnt out. This isnt universal by any stretch, but there is a segment of the market that does this.
For awhile I've come to the conclusion it's me and not the game. I think I fall into this rut, like last year I pre-ordered in full Warhammer, and didn't pick it up until it already had a price-drop, so my local EB had to pay me $10 back. I still haven't installed it actually. I played it in the beta and it was fun, but I got so burned out I have no desire to play the actual launch. Aion's the same, I pre-ordered for the open beta, I put down $5.00, but having played that and the game releasing, I have no desire to actually play that game too. It's like a tamer more accessible L2.
Heheh, i think that todays games, and especially MMOs are really being played by gamers EVEN BEFORE they are released- Heck! Even before they are created! As the author of the article pointed out, ppl are getting burned out of a MMO before they have a chance to play coz they have allready played the game so many hours in their heads. And when the game is finally released, the real/actual game cannot compete with the dream that they had in their minds
The gamers folly? Or the MMO industries? Personally i think we players might be at some ''fault'' but the greatest responsibility lies with the MMO company nonetheless. I appriciate the need for hype in the name of marketing and such, but i humbly believe that sometimes this is taken to the extremes by the companies. (Ex; releasing lotsa info 3 yrs before the release of a game:D That information is bound to get changed (at least to some degree) eventually=disappointment/broken promises and the opportunity for such an extremly early(mostly/generally unhealthy hype)
OOOps,to summarize: i guess in the end i mostly agree with the article written above,
Games such as AoC and WAR get the crap that other games don't get because we expect more from developers who have such a large amount of money at their disposal. It is ridiculous to assume the same level of quality from indy devs as from EA and Funcom. And if an indy game is made that is the same level as the top guys, that is when a company becomes big, like EVE.
I think the problem is deeper. The author makes the mistake himself. He calls the people here, fans... but fans of what? He suggests that we are all fans of the same thing, MMO's. But to each of us, what is an MMO is diifferent.
Some think the best MMO ever is Lineage (they are stupid) and some think it is SWG (They are wise and noble) and some think it is WoW (they are 12).
The point (apart from some name calling) is that there is no such thing as an MMO audience.
Deus Ex, Quake, Half-Life are ALL first person shooters. But they are NOT the same game and a fan of one might hate the others.
Yet MMO companies seem desperate to attract every single MMO player to their property. Understandable but REALLY bad business. The Coca Cola Company sells more then just cola, because they know different people have different tastes.
I like Turbines Lotro but think DDO was boring as hell. Pretty sure some DDO players feel the same in reverse. (they are wrong but still, we got to respect their bad tastes)
If you follow the SWTOR hype machine what you really get is some sleazy politician who changes his speech to whatever he thinks his current audience wants to hear, apparently unable to realize that his audience has SEEN his other speeches. Blair (british PM) was famous for this. It is like a popstar who at every concert proclaims city X is their favorite spot.
Lets see about SWTOR, it is going to be solo friendly, but have group end content, going to heavy on story but also have plenty of other content, crafting but also looting, easy but a challenge... STOP! No cook can please everyone. PICK an audience and stick to it.
Or you end up as SWG, trying to appeal to more and more until you appeal to no-one.
MMO developers like to announce early. That in itself is NOT the problem. The problem is that they are desperatly afraid to be clear about what they are going to do. What is so damn hard about simply stating, "this game will NOT launch this year". This game will have PvP as the end game. STOP the endless fan speculation that drives not so much hype as resentment over features not implemented that you never planned to implement in the first place.
When SWTOR or TSW launches people will be more upset about the fact these games are NOT F2P as has been suggested by some kid on the forum then the bugs. When even such a simple business decision becomes the subject of speculation and rabid fans tearing each other apart, you no long have hype. You got hysteria.
Take a que from blizzard. We know what Diablo 3 is going to be and how it is going to be played the second after the first announcement.
Oh and as for Beta's for QA. If that really worked, why are all the games so buggy on launch?
Dev's, as part of your tool development, develop some tools for automatic testing. Have a bot run through all the logic paths. Real programmers do this all the time and it works. My own beta testst are little more then UI testing. I know it works, but does the user know how to use it.
I feel bad for poor SW:TOR. It really doesn't stand a chance against the hype machine. People wanted to know what MMO Bioware was working on and as soon as they revealed what it was, the hype train left the station and has been picking up speed ever since. What's worse is it still has at least a year of development left (my guess).
While this article is insightful, it proposes no action plan.
From the comments on this thread, many readers are already aware of the hype train. Therefore, this article offers no newsbreaking information for most of us gamers.
With no concrete action plans proposed, there won't be any changes to where this hype train is going. Neither the author nor others offered any real solution to marketers on stopping the hype yet still achieving the aim of generating interest in their games. Unless we as gamers stand firm on "enough is enough", marketers will just keep shove games in our faces, while the same failing miserably as the final disparage greatly from how we played them in our heads.
I did find myself agreeing with another post, and that is developers should stand firm on keeping the game the way they had it meant it to be played, rather than trying so hard to please every MMO gamer that it gets lost in the sea of the vast number of games out there trying to do the exact same thing.
The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It's what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.
I agree completly with this article, games should just come out in beta with all publicity, not before, nowadays with internet a great game will be known within a week, i waited for so long for so many games that when they actually came out i didint wanted to play them anymore, so there you go.
This dude writes the worst articles ever...........
What do you mean by this? You just wanted to two your 2 cents in but no reason for your opinion? Nice
But I agree with the article in some ways hype for too long can lead to expectations that are too high to match even if they made good on all their promises.
I think you might be the only columnist on this site that is worth reading.
I agree with you that the hype from games leads to the ultimate "failure." It is the main reason I have distanced myself from the FFXIV boards here (honestly the only reason I even check is in case someone has info the beta). All they talk about on the forums is how they should include X and Y and they would be stupid if they include A and B and the poster is always right and the people making the game is always wrong. Lord it would have been awful to head about this game 2-3 years ago and have to listen to it for 48 months. I have posted there that everyone needs to chill the f out and get ready to enjoy the game when it comes -- not that they would listen to me anyway. I think SE played this one right with publicity ... maybe a little too early based on your readers fanatical, rabid reaction.
art of the issue here as I see it is that "hype" is equated synonymously with "information". The two, are in fact, entirely different. Information is GOOD for a consumer, as it helps them to make informed purchasing decisions. "Hype" is far less serving of a consumer as it often provides almost no qualitative information... and is simply designed to get a consumer revved up and excited about a product WHETHER THAT PRODUCT IS A GOOD FIT FOR THAT CUSTOMER OR NOT. That is what builds false expectations. The timing of when the information is released is almost of territiary importance (IMO) when compared to the manner of the information that is released.
Unfortunately too many Marketing Departments (and the executives that support them) believe that their job is to try to convince EVERYONE to purchase a particular product (whether it is suited to that customer or not).... and thus all they think about is building "hype", "buzz" etc rather then building "awareness" and providing actual information about the product. This may work in increasing sales....but MMO's tend to be subscription services which means customer retention and monthlies are the real bread and butter. Even for industries where box sales of a product dominate the income stream.....unless the company is planning on cashing out and folding up it's offices never to produce another product a few months after initial release....such a strategy can be very counter-productive. Such a strategy can be seductive in the short term....but long term it will destroy your business.
It's something that so many business executives either fail to understand or lack the discipline to follow through. It's why there are so many fly-by-night businesses that last only a short time after the initial release of a Product. Companies that have real staying power and that are successfull year after year understand one thing. A repeat customer is FAR more proffitable then a one time customer. Studies show that almost universaly it is exponentialy far more expensive to make the first sale to some-one.... then any sale afterwards. The thing that SMART companies who want to be around for a long time take away from that.....is that you are better off NOT selling a product to a customer then selling them one that they will be disappointed with.
They actively work to make sure thier consumers don't have just "hype" or "buzz" but usefull, accurate information that can inform them whether a particular product is a good fit for them or not.... and they will ACTIVELY steer consumers away from purchasing a product which is NOT a good fit for them.
If you fail to sell a customer a product because the information you have provided them informs them THAT product is not well suited to them.... you ALWAYS have the opportunity to do business with them in future. You may come out with a new product in future that may be more suited to them.... and also peoples tastes and circumstances change over time.... so that even your existing product may become something that is suited to them in future. However, once you sell a consumer a product that does NOT meet thier expectations because you've hyped it up and tried to convince them that it would..... you've pretty much written off the opportunity to business with them in future. That customer will be very hard to recapture..... furthermore, people who know and trust that customer may also be steered away from doing business with you.
Smart companies realize that one sale...generaly isn't worth that....unfortunately smart companies are an increasingly rare commodity these days....and smart marketers, even rarer.
Very nice article, making many interesting points but most importantly it does express the player's feeling in all of this with a good degree of accuracy.
"In some cases, the hardcore MMO community – such as most people reading this column – too often become fans of the genre, not the games themselves."
This is true for more reasons than one may think. For instance, our guild has been together since UO 1997, that is 12 years, and through that time an In guild culture develops, for instance our motto is "People First game Second", meaning that no matter the game if we have to choose between a friend and game achievements, the game takes the back seat, the bonds people have between them are more important than the next piece of armor, the amount of XP or the gold to be gotten. These things are temporary toys, bits and bytes on some server that we use to decorate our moody pixels with, but the friendships we hold with our fellow players are there to last, and are far more important.
It is also why, Guilds start and stop playing MMORPG's in mass, people are fans of each other first and foremost above the games they share that fun in.
This is the Social factor, which I think the Industry has neglected since a few years now. And while MMORPG makers have been making games with the idea of "Come play and like our Games as individuals" in mind, in reality, the player's idea is "Lets play this game and see if this caters to our group of Friends sharing the experience".
"High expectations are great when you meet them, but they’ve gotten so out of control in recent years that only one game has met them: World of Warcraft."
In WoW's case, I beleive that Expectations were met because these were not as High as other MMORPG's and since the Bulk of WoW's initial players were not MMORPG players to begin with coming from the General Solo game Blizzard Demographic.
WoW was heralded from introducing the genre to so many new players. But all these players now that they have been introduced to the genre embark on the expectation journey for subsequent MMORPG's, which makes this article's points even more relevant I think.
- Duke Suraknar - Order of the Silver Star, OSS
ESKA, Playing MMORPG's since Ultima Online 1997 - Order of the Silver Serpent, Atlantic Shard
Comments
it's funny how you're trying to derail a hype train while mentioning zenlmax. Way to punch irony in the dick with a iron fist of opinions. Cool article (not really)
Personally I guess I find it a bit ironic.. this article that is.
I'll try to explain ... The basic idea is that "MMO" in general is a "computer game". So we have someone writing an article aimed at MMO's (computer games) that realisticly is talking about Hype and non existent ship dates...
As if its new and exclusive to MMO's (for computer games).
When I was working at Chips and Bits... You know how many times the release date changed on Falcon 3.0 ? Wizardry 7? I mean just two off the top of my head. I think Falcon 3.0 release at least 2 years (maybe 3) after the initial "release date".
Ultima 9 would be another great example for hype, expected release and delays. They finally released a product they knew (and said) wasn't ready due to the overwhelming pressure from "fans" and it was pretty much epic fail because as they stated it wasn't ready. So oddly the industry is a great example of "some things never change".
Altho I would say you really didn't see much hype like that until the very late 1980's or early 1990's. Pretty much before then when you saw an ad for a game it was pretty much going to be shipping soon(tm) .. but for real. Then again there used to be multiple games worth buying a month... now you're lucky sometimes to find ONE game a year worth buying.
I'm actually surprised that Dana didn't mention this one. FFXIV came out of nowhere and it's going to be released next year, and I think it's a brilliant move. Less wait, less dragged-out hype.
I'm actually surprised that Dana didn't mention this one. FFXIV came out of nowhere and it's going to be released next year, and I think it's a brilliant move. Less wait, less dragged-out hype.
The game's not as popular in western media as it should be, imo. I think it'll stay that way until the release at least, and most people will be surprised by what SE has to offer to MMO genre this time. It's quite comical in a way.
I don't think timeframes at which information is released really matters that much. we knew about World of Warcraft a couple years in advance as well, there were a lot of naysayers about it as well. When it first came out it had initial bugs like any other MMO. But it's the overall design of the game that makes is fun and exciting. Blizzard just like Bioware or even Bethesda. They are tried and true companies that have a clue about how to make a game the right way. They all of course have their very own speciality to their game development.
So if you are a fan of the company's games then most likely it won't matter the hype. you can dissect this until you are blue in the face. But all in all, there is no perfect formulae on MMO or even regular game development. The one thing is for sure is to have high quality and not to release a game early. And that is one thing Blizzard did not make the mistake of doing. they tested then tested more plus they moved their release date back two times throughout development. I was one of the few waiting in the wings forever on it.
Just like That i will definitely be the first in line for anything Bioware makes or Bethesda, all are very favorite companies of mine. They all make high quality games... RPGs primarily which i'm sure Bioware will turn the MMO genre on its ear when they come out with SWTOG. And then when bethesda makes one they will do the same. So hardcore fans of their previous games will most likely be eager to play their online versions as well. some maybe hesitant at first but overall the hype and chatter on the web will suck them in, in due time. It's how WoW got so big, plus word of mouth to all family and friends... it's all relative.
I'm sure until WoW really bores the crap out of it's player base it will stay huge for a long time. unless of course people are looking for a more in-depth RPG experience then they will find games by Bioware more appealing. But if they are looking for something with more character customization as well as freedom of character skill/class design then Bethesda will be the best for that.
But as far as the other companies out there, Funcom and Mythic are both fairly young companies, although they have shown to be pretty good at making MMOs they are still not the greatest at "game development". they know how to make a data base run right, but when it comes to keeping people interesting in the game, they still lack in some areas. Especially when it comes to content and things that really matter.
Nonetheless, it doesn't take multi millions of subscribers to make an MMO successful either. Look at SOE, they still keep going good and i'm sure they are lucky to have a million subs in all of their games combined. Even before the days of WoW, most companies got by with only a quarter of million just fine. there are even some with way less that still run. So honestly... who cares?
If people burn themselves out due to hype then that's their own goofy fault. There are tons of other things in the world to do than hang out endlessly at some game's website forum pestering the moderators every 10 seconds for new info. It will be done when they are ready. and if they choose to release early in a sub-par quality then that's the company's fault. you either have faith they will eventually make it better or move on to something that is from a more reputable company.
Hype has effectively killed so many games its hard to count them anymore. Games that aren't even close to a high standard are brushed off by the masses.
Yep....a few extra bucks buys advertising. But kills a company that fail to live up to the hype.
"This may hurt a little, but it's something you'll get used to. Relax....."
Marketing strategy has always been better than the actual MMO. It's hard not to bite but they really make you believe sometimes. I've wasted money on some garbage MMOs because of hype. War and AoC being the latest two, probably the worst money I've ever spent on games...ever.
I think mmo's are very very different in terms of hype compared to normal games (such as the mentioned Assassins Creed 2). One of the big factors is the fact that these games are aimed at being massive, which means there needs to be triple the hype to build up a large fan base so that the game as enough plays in its world for people to consider it massive. Thus hyping a game way in advance makes a lot of sense, you aren't trying to sell a half a million copies of a game in the first couple of months like a single player game, you're aiming for millions (in some cases companies are aiming quite so high) and thats a big difference. You aren't going to have millions of people playing your game if people have only known about it for a month and thats the bottom line. I'm not saying i think its a good think, im just saying expectations are different in this genre, and there are a lot of very unique issues that a company developing an mmo faces, that a normal game company does not.
For awhile I've come to the conclusion it's me and not the game. I think I fall into this rut, like last year I pre-ordered in full Warhammer, and didn't pick it up until it already had a price-drop, so my local EB had to pay me $10 back. I still haven't installed it actually. I played it in the beta and it was fun, but I got so burned out I have no desire to play the actual launch. Aion's the same, I pre-ordered for the open beta, I put down $5.00, but having played that and the game releasing, I have no desire to actually play that game too. It's like a tamer more accessible L2.
Way OT but I found it interesting that the engine number on the train graphic was 486. Nice touch.
Ken
www.ActionMMORPG.com
One man, a small pile of money, and the screwball idea of a DIY Indie MMORPG? Yep, that's him. ~sigh~
Heheh, i think that todays games, and especially MMOs are really being played by gamers EVEN BEFORE they are released- Heck! Even before they are created! As the author of the article pointed out, ppl are getting burned out of a MMO before they have a chance to play coz they have allready played the game so many hours in their heads. And when the game is finally released, the real/actual game cannot compete with the dream that they had in their minds
The gamers folly? Or the MMO industries? Personally i think we players might be at some ''fault'' but the greatest responsibility lies with the MMO company nonetheless. I appriciate the need for hype in the name of marketing and such, but i humbly believe that sometimes this is taken to the extremes by the companies. (Ex; releasing lotsa info 3 yrs before the release of a game:D That information is bound to get changed (at least to some degree) eventually=disappointment/broken promises and the opportunity for such an extremly early(mostly/generally unhealthy hype)
OOOps,to summarize: i guess in the end i mostly agree with the article written above,
cheers
Games such as AoC and WAR get the crap that other games don't get because we expect more from developers who have such a large amount of money at their disposal. It is ridiculous to assume the same level of quality from indy devs as from EA and Funcom. And if an indy game is made that is the same level as the top guys, that is when a company becomes big, like EVE.
I think the problem is deeper. The author makes the mistake himself. He calls the people here, fans... but fans of what? He suggests that we are all fans of the same thing, MMO's. But to each of us, what is an MMO is diifferent.
Some think the best MMO ever is Lineage (they are stupid) and some think it is SWG (They are wise and noble) and some think it is WoW (they are 12).
The point (apart from some name calling) is that there is no such thing as an MMO audience.
Deus Ex, Quake, Half-Life are ALL first person shooters. But they are NOT the same game and a fan of one might hate the others.
Yet MMO companies seem desperate to attract every single MMO player to their property. Understandable but REALLY bad business. The Coca Cola Company sells more then just cola, because they know different people have different tastes.
I like Turbines Lotro but think DDO was boring as hell. Pretty sure some DDO players feel the same in reverse. (they are wrong but still, we got to respect their bad tastes)
If you follow the SWTOR hype machine what you really get is some sleazy politician who changes his speech to whatever he thinks his current audience wants to hear, apparently unable to realize that his audience has SEEN his other speeches. Blair (british PM) was famous for this. It is like a popstar who at every concert proclaims city X is their favorite spot.
Lets see about SWTOR, it is going to be solo friendly, but have group end content, going to heavy on story but also have plenty of other content, crafting but also looting, easy but a challenge... STOP! No cook can please everyone. PICK an audience and stick to it.
Or you end up as SWG, trying to appeal to more and more until you appeal to no-one.
MMO developers like to announce early. That in itself is NOT the problem. The problem is that they are desperatly afraid to be clear about what they are going to do. What is so damn hard about simply stating, "this game will NOT launch this year". This game will have PvP as the end game. STOP the endless fan speculation that drives not so much hype as resentment over features not implemented that you never planned to implement in the first place.
When SWTOR or TSW launches people will be more upset about the fact these games are NOT F2P as has been suggested by some kid on the forum then the bugs. When even such a simple business decision becomes the subject of speculation and rabid fans tearing each other apart, you no long have hype. You got hysteria.
Take a que from blizzard. We know what Diablo 3 is going to be and how it is going to be played the second after the first announcement.
Oh and as for Beta's for QA. If that really worked, why are all the games so buggy on launch?
Dev's, as part of your tool development, develop some tools for automatic testing. Have a bot run through all the logic paths. Real programmers do this all the time and it works. My own beta testst are little more then UI testing. I know it works, but does the user know how to use it.
I feel bad for poor SW:TOR. It really doesn't stand a chance against the hype machine. People wanted to know what MMO Bioware was working on and as soon as they revealed what it was, the hype train left the station and has been picking up speed ever since. What's worse is it still has at least a year of development left (my guess).
This dude writes the worst articles ever...........
Trolls = Hardcore
Fanbois = Carebears
The only posts I read in threads are my own.
While this article is insightful, it proposes no action plan.
From the comments on this thread, many readers are already aware of the hype train. Therefore, this article offers no newsbreaking information for most of us gamers.
With no concrete action plans proposed, there won't be any changes to where this hype train is going. Neither the author nor others offered any real solution to marketers on stopping the hype yet still achieving the aim of generating interest in their games. Unless we as gamers stand firm on "enough is enough", marketers will just keep shove games in our faces, while the same failing miserably as the final disparage greatly from how we played them in our heads.
I did find myself agreeing with another post, and that is developers should stand firm on keeping the game the way they had it meant it to be played, rather than trying so hard to please every MMO gamer that it gets lost in the sea of the vast number of games out there trying to do the exact same thing.
The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It's what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.
I agree completly with this article, games should just come out in beta with all publicity, not before, nowadays with internet a great game will be known within a week, i waited for so long for so many games that when they actually came out i didint wanted to play them anymore, so there you go.
What do you mean by this? You just wanted to two your 2 cents in but no reason for your opinion? Nice
But I agree with the article in some ways hype for too long can lead to expectations that are too high to match even if they made good on all their promises.
I think you might be the only columnist on this site that is worth reading.
I agree with you that the hype from games leads to the ultimate "failure." It is the main reason I have distanced myself from the FFXIV boards here (honestly the only reason I even check is in case someone has info the beta). All they talk about on the forums is how they should include X and Y and they would be stupid if they include A and B and the poster is always right and the people making the game is always wrong. Lord it would have been awful to head about this game 2-3 years ago and have to listen to it for 48 months. I have posted there that everyone needs to chill the f out and get ready to enjoy the game when it comes -- not that they would listen to me anyway. I think SE played this one right with publicity ... maybe a little too early based on your readers fanatical, rabid reaction.
art of the issue here as I see it is that "hype" is equated synonymously with "information". The two, are in fact, entirely different. Information is GOOD for a consumer, as it helps them to make informed purchasing decisions. "Hype" is far less serving of a consumer as it often provides almost no qualitative information... and is simply designed to get a consumer revved up and excited about a product WHETHER THAT PRODUCT IS A GOOD FIT FOR THAT CUSTOMER OR NOT. That is what builds false expectations. The timing of when the information is released is almost of territiary importance (IMO) when compared to the manner of the information that is released.
Unfortunately too many Marketing Departments (and the executives that support them) believe that their job is to try to convince EVERYONE to purchase a particular product (whether it is suited to that customer or not).... and thus all they think about is building "hype", "buzz" etc rather then building "awareness" and providing actual information about the product. This may work in increasing sales....but MMO's tend to be subscription services which means customer retention and monthlies are the real bread and butter. Even for industries where box sales of a product dominate the income stream.....unless the company is planning on cashing out and folding up it's offices never to produce another product a few months after initial release....such a strategy can be very counter-productive. Such a strategy can be seductive in the short term....but long term it will destroy your business.
It's something that so many business executives either fail to understand or lack the discipline to follow through. It's why there are so many fly-by-night businesses that last only a short time after the initial release of a Product. Companies that have real staying power and that are successfull year after year understand one thing. A repeat customer is FAR more proffitable then a one time customer. Studies show that almost universaly it is exponentialy far more expensive to make the first sale to some-one.... then any sale afterwards. The thing that SMART companies who want to be around for a long time take away from that.....is that you are better off NOT selling a product to a customer then selling them one that they will be disappointed with.
They actively work to make sure thier consumers don't have just "hype" or "buzz" but usefull, accurate information that can inform them whether a particular product is a good fit for them or not.... and they will ACTIVELY steer consumers away from purchasing a product which is NOT a good fit for them.
If you fail to sell a customer a product because the information you have provided them informs them THAT product is not well suited to them.... you ALWAYS have the opportunity to do business with them in future. You may come out with a new product in future that may be more suited to them.... and also peoples tastes and circumstances change over time.... so that even your existing product may become something that is suited to them in future. However, once you sell a consumer a product that does NOT meet thier expectations because you've hyped it up and tried to convince them that it would..... you've pretty much written off the opportunity to business with them in future. That customer will be very hard to recapture..... furthermore, people who know and trust that customer may also be steered away from doing business with you.
Smart companies realize that one sale...generaly isn't worth that....unfortunately smart companies are an increasingly rare commodity these days....and smart marketers, even rarer.
Very nice article, making many interesting points but most importantly it does express the player's feeling in all of this with a good degree of accuracy.
"In some cases, the hardcore MMO community – such as most people reading this column – too often become fans of the genre, not the games themselves."
This is true for more reasons than one may think. For instance, our guild has been together since UO 1997, that is 12 years, and through that time an In guild culture develops, for instance our motto is "People First game Second", meaning that no matter the game if we have to choose between a friend and game achievements, the game takes the back seat, the bonds people have between them are more important than the next piece of armor, the amount of XP or the gold to be gotten. These things are temporary toys, bits and bytes on some server that we use to decorate our moody pixels with, but the friendships we hold with our fellow players are there to last, and are far more important.
It is also why, Guilds start and stop playing MMORPG's in mass, people are fans of each other first and foremost above the games they share that fun in.
This is the Social factor, which I think the Industry has neglected since a few years now. And while MMORPG makers have been making games with the idea of "Come play and like our Games as individuals" in mind, in reality, the player's idea is "Lets play this game and see if this caters to our group of Friends sharing the experience".
"High expectations are great when you meet them, but they’ve gotten so out of control in recent years that only one game has met them: World of Warcraft."
In WoW's case, I beleive that Expectations were met because these were not as High as other MMORPG's and since the Bulk of WoW's initial players were not MMORPG players to begin with coming from the General Solo game Blizzard Demographic.
WoW was heralded from introducing the genre to so many new players. But all these players now that they have been introduced to the genre embark on the expectation journey for subsequent MMORPG's, which makes this article's points even more relevant I think.
Order of the Silver Star, OSS
ESKA, Playing MMORPG's since Ultima Online 1997 - Order of the Silver Serpent, Atlantic Shard