Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Why do developers keep trying to create powerhouses right from the get go?
KvenTelGhoul
Member Posts: 30
It seems like MMO developers today try to release powerhouse games that offer everything and try to compete with what WoW currently is. The problem with that is they seem to offer a billion different things but all of them are done poorly.
I use the WoW comparison because it simply is the most polished and most successful MMO out there currently. When wow started it wasn't the behemoth that it is today. There wasn't a whole lot the game had to offer. Leveling was easy so everyone got to the level cap very quickly and there was lots of complaining due to no endgame content, no pvp content (all you had was TM vs southshore). While it was lacking the content that was in game was very polished and fun. The content was built up over time and so was the subscription base. The game just didnt release and bam 11 million subscriptions. They did it over time starting with a quality base and continuing to add quality content.
Developers should stop trying to release a game that competes directly with what WoW is at this point in time. Whatever type of MMO your creating don't try to fit in a million different features that work poorly. Start with a relatively basic base that works well and is fun to play and build from there. You might not have everything that MMO that has been out for 5+ years has but people are looking for something new. If you create a well made product people will try it out. Keep it fun and players will stick around while you create more content (thats what WoW did). It just seems like so many MMOs that have been released recently could have been great but they tried to offer too much at once and ended up doing it all poorly.
Short version:
Developers, stop trying to offer everything at release. Do a few things well from the get go, make it fun and add on from there.
Maybe my thoughts are off base I dunno, you tell me.
Comments
Hm.. My opinion is they do this because
A) MMO Players want everything from the get go
C) Players and B is impatient and B wants to spend as little money as possible so they force deadlines.
That is my opinion.
Very true, and quite sad. Players complain about crappy games being released, but they don't give those games the chance to become good games.
IMO Devs should focus on the core game mechanics and the leveling process (if there is one) leave end-game development for post release work. They should worry mostly about the content (journey) to endgame for release. Rather than worrying about designing 20 man raids for the 5 who reach endgame in the first few weeks. This form of development is a prime example of biting off more than one can chew.
We have them designing hours upon hours of game-play no one will really touch for the first month. Well they shouldn't anyway, but they do because of the lackluster design that came as a result of going skimpy on the content that leads to endgame.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
There is a big difference between being good and being crappy from the start. WoW was good from the start and got better (i see this from a technical standpoint not about the actual content), people don't want to wait for crappy games to become good.
Sure there are few expectations but those are a anomaly's.
" Why do developers keep trying to create powerhouses right from the get go? "
Box Sales, next question.
Also although there are the few people who would be fine going to an MMO that made sure it's mechanics were great but had no content, the majority of players would not. They don't want to leave a game that has it all for a new game that has nothing, you have to compete with that when you bring a new title in.
Very true, and quite sad. Players complain about crappy games being released, but they don't give those games the chance to become good games.
This is also a learned behavior really. I mean, a generation of buying offline games that were either good or bad and that was that. A game might get patches, but it wouldn't necessarily evolve like an MMO has the potential to. So, while the games have seen a change, the potential customer might not have caught up just yet.
Ultimately, I'm sure there is plenty of blame to pass around. I'm sure customer expectations, investor demands, and developer competence all factor in.
I'll have to agree with others though that a limited, but solid, feature set is quite different then a crappy game. It seems we see "unfinished" (as much as that term can be applied to an MMO) games being released versus solid games that just need to be fleshed out more.
-mklinic
"Do something right, no one remembers.
Do something wrong, no one forgets"
-from No One Remembers by In Strict Confidence
It's because of WoW, basically.
Execs, shareholders, etc, see the success and big bucks that Acti-Blizaard is raking in, and want their piece of the MMO gravy train.
The problem is, they're not going to make another WoW by copying it. Blizzard made WoW so successfully because they researched the market's existing MMOs, saw what they believed to be the best mechanics, put them together in a meaningful manner, then made it easy to use and polished it up.
Copying WoW isn't going to get many people. Most people aren't going to leave one game for what is essentially the exact same game. The game has to have good mechanics, and stand out as something unique and fresh, even if it's a rehash of existing mechanics, but just done in a better way than before.
Very true, and quite sad. Players complain about crappy games being released, but they don't give those games the chance to become good games.
Thats 90s thinking right there. Whats sad are those who are still willing to tolerate crappy games period. I don't really care about the future of a game if I don't like it in the first 15 or so minutes. I don't know about others, but to me playing any game you're not having a lot of fun with is a big waste of time. Maybe wasting 3 or 4 hours figuring out if you like something is fun for people. Everyone has their own threshold.
No, i fully agree.
I'd love to see more mmos that are small, unique, polished, and simply fun to play.
Instead, most mmos are huge, unfinished, boring copies of each other...
Hype train -> Reality
Greed.
All you need to do is make a polished sandbox. The players will create the content if you give them the tools and the freedom. The problem is they designed WOW clones which focus you towards leveling and limited endgame, which means 90% of the content is played through quickly, and never seen again. Like why would i want to take my level 80 back to a level 20 zone? If its a sandbox, there is no level 20 zone. There is simply a zone, and the players figure out what to do with it. EVE Online FTW.
Bottom line is, putting out a smaller product with less content can only be successful if it satisfies a "niche itch". Eve does pretty well, and I suspect Fallen Earth has a chance to survive and pick up more players as the years go by, while Alganon, I suspect, will die a fiery death. Mortal Online might make it, though it's sharing a small niche with DF which is risky.
If you put out a smaller, lower content game that appeals to the same crowd that enjoys EQ2 and WoW, those people may play your game for a short time, but eventually they'll go back to their main squeeze.
Very true, and quite sad. Players complain about crappy games being released, but they don't give those games the chance to become good games.
This is one aspect of how games like WOW dominate. Once you have the advantage, your competitors have a crippling hurdle to overcome to compete with you. Competitors become a minor threat, and the main threats are (a) avoiding mistakes and (b) mitigating customer attrition. Eventually players are going to tire of a given game, and you have to struggle to keep things as interesting as possible for as long as possible.
Is it sad? Hmm, I suppose maybe it is (even though the realist in me wants to say "that's life.") Just in terms of the fact that given equal time/resources, Game B's devs might actually be superior to Game A in the long run, but they'll never get that chance because the market is strangled. So I the realist self loses this one; I'm forced to agree.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Agree 100%
I don't get where you get the idea that other companies are trying to clash or rival Blizzard. From my understanding, they're not.
Aion, the #2 MMO in the world didn't try to compete against wow, they were content with being #2 and they are. It's all about the return and how much you invested in the game. Aion devs realized there is a bigger market for their game so they will add more content (vision) and it's going to be huge. Nothing is guaranteed to be great but I am be pretty damn sure about it when they've been repeating it in interviews before the game even released here.
As for Blizzard, they spent a lot of development time in creating wow, and they have done a good job so far (good game for it's age). However, it's all about the time spent developing and the return. Some games spend less time developing games and have quicker returns in which they continue to make more MMOs. That's the process. Blizzard takes longer process but they will always produce AAA titles. The problem is that they won't continue making better games unless wow dies.
Are you really making this statement with 3 huge blizzard titles on the verge* of release? Blizzard is already in action, before WOW is "dead".
(* on the verge in Blizzard terms being "within the next 2 years; up to 4 for the next MMO.")
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver