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General: 5 Things Every MMO Gamer Should Remember
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's resident list maker Bill Murphy turns last week's list on its head and offers up five things that every MMO gamer should remember about their developers.
Last week our list was five things that every developer should remember, and those things all had to do with the players and customers of their games. There are two sides to every situation though, and this week it's time to take an inward look at ourselves as gamers and list five things each of us should always remember when dealing with the folks who craft our obsessions.
It's easy enough as outsiders who get to enjoy the fruits of several dozen people's hard work to nitpick and carry pitchforks all across the forums whilst spouting off about how this is wrong or that is a "slap in the face" and so forth. And really, who reading hasn't taken time to complain either to a friend or on the internet about how something in some game or another really chafes your Charlie? It is natural for us as unsatisfied customers to speak our minds and express our dissent with the studio's choices. But at the same time there are several things we should always keep in mind before we let our emotions run too wild.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I agree with everything you mentioned, though the article is formatted as a rant.
I would also mention that there are times where it is alright to complain. The $50 paid for a game doesn't grant you the key to the city, but it should at least grant a smooth game upon release, if not in the near-term. I generally side with the developers as a lot of the complaining is beyond excessive, but some releases lately have been half-assed, rushed, and planned poorly by management. The first example that comes to mind is a non-mmo, bad company 2. There are various, major bugs that have been in the game for two months. Instead of addressing those, they are left dormant while the staff moves onto future projects. To me it is like buying new car tires that are punctured, leaking air. This has been a common trend as of late, for at least non-mmo's; bugs ignored while DLC's are pushed.
Anyone who walks into an MMO launch thinking they're going to log in and have a smooth ride is kidding themselves, especially if they're an MMO veteran. The two most curious habits of MMO gamers, to me, are:
1) What they believe is holy, and universally true. In some Kant-like manner, they believe that how they view and play an MMO is how everyone should play an MMO. Anyone not subscribing to this are nubs or carebears.
2) They bite the hand that feeds them. A company develops an MMORPG, and people gravitate to the game. They love it, they breathe it, they want to have babies and dress the babies up as characters from the game. Then, suddenly, a patch releases and the game goes down! These people are calling for heads to roll, they call the developers names, they insult their intelligence! What a perfect tactic: insult the people who have created the game you're head over heels for. If I ever did this to my mother's cooking, I didn't get to eat.
amen
Brilliant. Nice column.
(well first post didnt work well above)
@TaoMcDohl
Why is that we should "expect" less than perfection at the release of an MMO? What if you bought a house and there was no kitchen, but the homebuilder said dont worry, Ill have that in there in about 2 months. Heck, what if you bought a new pen, and there was no ink, just a note saying, ink will be developed and installed as soon as possible? It really is utter BS that we hold mmo companies to such low standards. They have alphas, they have betas, do whatever it takes to get it right or don't launch the game. Or, if you need more players to better test systems, open the beta up to more, or extend it. People use the excuse that they "have" to release it due to money reasons, but guess what, just because a car company wants to release early to help with costs, doesnt mean they ship cars without steering wheels. No excuse to mmo developers.
And as far as extended downtime. If its a legitimate unforseeable issue, the community should bear with it. Power outages, short circuits, acts of god, these are things that are extremely hard to predict. However, down time due to patches are unacceptable. Put it up on test servers, put it up on several test servers, fix the problems before it hits live servers. Blizzard is notorious for that, and after all this time, its just unacceptable now, but sadly too many people treat mmo's like other addictions and can't simply drop the game on a whim, and this is why developers take advantage of their player bases, because players are addicts.
Holice, I work for an MMO developer. Usually, when we have someone like you complaining to our tech department, the complaints go largely ignored, because it displays a blind fury in the face of development and is quite frankly insulting to the dev team.
As for broken games... picture this. for a single-player console game, you've got a test team of maybe 50 people or so. They play through, break it, fix it, and repeat until it's set.
with an MMORPG, the testing is different and more user-based simply because 50 QA guys are not going to be able to find bugs and break a game as fast as 2000 players. Using that whole "I paid for the game, give me service" is only valid for maybe a month, because honestly your 50$ box sale barely even qualifies as an hour and a half of one of my workdays in the art department, and we're the underpaid ones, and we're working almost 7 days a week to deliver those patches and updates that people like you want, need, and frankly dont deserve.
5 things every MMO developer should remember:
#5: I am a consumer. If I am not happy with your product, then I won't purchase it and won't recommend it to others. This includes on launch day. No I don't care about your lives or the fact that MMOs are different software. I am a consumer, and I speak with my wallet.
#4-#1: Same as above.
5 things every MMO player should remember:
#5: For every one of you complaining, there are 100 who don't care in the least
#4-#1: Same as above.
FYI: Software is a bit more complex than a pen..
I am not a programmer, therefore I have faith in programmers telling me that software programming is more of an art than a science. Unless you are a programmer with a perfect track record you should probably take their word too and not expect perfection unless you are demonstrably perfect yourself.
And no, it's not making excuses, its reality.
I just wanted to point a few things out after reading the article.
"They are not gods of software development somehow exempt from errors and missteps."
I had a good chuckle when I read this. Why? Well mainly because I think a lot of developers do think of themselves as Gods exempt from errors and missteps. Things that players reported in testing that gets completely ignored and pushed to live anyway, even if it's a serious game breaking issue. Why? It comes across as "we don't play the game so we're not bothered by it." Even when developers create horrible game breaking issues, or completely screw players there's rarely an apology or attempt to restore players faith.
Within the gaming universe, many developers seem to have a lack of understanding, or common sense about their game. Things done that neither make sense, are liked by the player community, just because they wanted to. An example might be a high level raid changed for no other reason then the developers think it should be harder/slower. These changes aren't presented with details or reasoning, 'just we know what we're doing'. Even if developers don't. A raid suddenly becomes unbeatable and three months later they scale back the changes. Yes game developers spent time on both changing it and scaling it back.
There are other examples as well. Classes getting favoritism for no other reason then developers like that class. New classes come out without balancing them against the old ones. A class is reduced in effectiveness without improving something else to compensate it. How about loot? You find a team (usually not an easy task) and spend the next three to eight hours trying to beat a regular raid. There are no save points or rest breaks. What do you get? Arthritis, Tendonitis, and an overdose of caffine. It comes across as the famous line from Gene Wilder;
"You lose, you get nothing. Good day sir!"
The problems or lack of thinking don't end here. I could go on for most of the day posting a laundry list of things I've witnessed in MMO games that is horribly flawed or makes absolutely no sense. Things ranging from placement of mission locations, npcs overpowered compared to players, or even ethical issues (is it right to use all the money you make on one game to build a new one without giving the old one any attention?).
Many of these issues could be resolved, maybe not easily once the game is released but definately when the game is in the planning stages. If they plan to release content/elements at a later date they can at least make sure the system is ready to accept it now. Nope, that would be logical.
And that's just it. There isn't planning that goes into it. Let's look at something that got changed in City of Heroes that got a lot of attention but for many years was ignored. Color of powers. You'd think that when CoH first came out, the developers would realize that making energy blasts look exactly the same for thousand of players was going to be annoying. They ignored color, animations, and even types of powers. Why? They didn't think it was important. Ok in some strange logic I can get it. However it wasn't just that there was no color, it was the fact that they made a system nearly impossible to update without changing everything.
"They will disappoint us. They will do things that we don't agree with."
I can understand this, even if many other players do not. What I have a problem with is that often times players of a game are the last one to know what is coming forward in their game. Often times, players don't learn about it till after it happens. Developers usually don't even talk to the community about significant changes to the game before doing it. Star Wars Galaxies anyone? City of Heroes Enhancement Diversification anyone?
The problem is not that developers make changes. The problem is when they give information to websites such as Massively, MMOrpg, or IGN, and talk about what features are coming, and when it actually does arrive it's nothing like what they said it was going to be. Details get left out (or not communicated to players at all), or the scale is so limited that it adds whole new levels of grinding.
Developers, or at the very least Marketing, seems to have very little issue with grinding. Risk does not equal reward. You must play for six months before your character is anywhere what you imagined it to be. Yet developers wonder why people get upset. Why communities ask for better loot, or scaling back difficulty. It is because after grinding through a dungeon for four hours for a lousy shirt, gamers sit there and wonder "Are you even playing this? How can you think that was fun?"
Players are treated like simple minded mules who pay to get abused by developers. You don't get an opinion on why element X should be fixed, instead we're going to release PvP. We are Gods, and since you've given us your money, you can leave now. Tell me honestly that many developers don't give that vibe after the release of a game. If you can say that with a straight face, then you are the kind of player developers will be happy to abuse for many years to come.
There are a wide variety of communities in gaming, millions of players, but there's no one looking out for them. If hundred thousand cars were recalled because the breaks didn't work there would be groups out there making sure the car company fixed it for free or low cost. We don't have those sort of protections as players. You shell out two hundred dollars for a game that was one way at release only to be changed later. Sorry, money is gone. This is probably why free to play games are becoming so popular.
Developers may disappoint us, but do we really have to be floor mats and not be mad when we've spend lots of money? Really? I might as well just start burning money. It'll be more enjoyable to watch then a MMO I've invested months of online time in screwing me completely.
Oh Holice, that is a terrible analogy. it's clear that you've never worked in an IT environment, nor any environment that build and deploys systems for mass use. Comparing a house, that can be considered 100% finished for one single consumer, to an MMORPG that will forever be evolving and deals with multitudes of enviromental factors is just futile.
At the end of the day, if you buy an MMO and think wholeheartedly that said MMO will launch perfectly, you're setting yourself up for failure. Prepare for the worse, hope for the best. If the MMO does happen to launch smoothly, you'll be happy as can be. If it has bugs, you can shrug and walk outside and enjoy the world (assuming you're not someone who has rested his entire life on the existence of a single MMO).
Software development is a little bit more tricky than that my friend, and i bet games are a lot more.
While construction have been around like...since men lived under rocks... computer science is a very new segment.
Of course we shouldnt shup up and swallow things that does not make sense to us, but the current trend of going nerdrage in forums, not to find a solution but just call people names or worse, for every little thing are quite annoying and fill forums with garbage where could be more productive topics.
Thanks for the attention.
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
See my first point: 1) What they believe is holy, and universally true. In some Kant-like manner, they believe that how they view and play an MMO is how everyone should play an MMO. Anyone not subscribing to this are nubs or carebears.
Immanuel Kant? If so I don't really think he took a "my way of the highway" approach.
Sorry, had a history nerd episode.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
Kant's Categorical Imperative: Act as though your actions could be made a law for all. Take a dystopian POV of that, and that's what I meant. I really didn't expect anyone to even go into it. What I meant is that people act as if their actions/thoughts SHOULD be law.
I'll start this off by saying that I'm jaded and have, for the most part, lost all sense of sympathy that was once abundant in my soul.
Now, with that being said, I just got back from a 3-week underway period that started on a Friday, ended on a Sunday, was filled with constant Flight Quarters in the dead of night so some fly-boy could get his night DLQ's, and, when we finally pulled in, I had duty on the Sunday followed by work on Monday. We all choose our professions, we all choose our poison, but once the choice is made, we have virtually no right to gripe about it--save for the rare occasion of abuse or gross negligence.
Joe Smith public has no sympathy for me and I have none for developers. Fix it and fix it yesterday.
Ahh, okay, looking at it in that context I see what you mean.
I'm working on my second degree (EU History) and just had a modern Germany class where we looked at Kant, Schiller, Herder and various others. One of the more interesting classes I have ever taken.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
i have to agree with alot has been said.
When it comes to MMOs i buy and try alot of them, to see what i like.
I find myself going back to old ones i have tried and one i wont try again (looking at you Cryptic)
If the IP is good or sounds good then why not try it. First month free you get your game for $50 (depending where you live)
It helps the developers out and your never stuck with a Single player game that really never changes. MMOs are a good idea if done right but at the same time isnt good if they are done completely wrong. I usually take each one i try with a grain of salt.
I usually know if I will like the game before the end of the month. So spending $50 on a game (which you usually spend it on single player game anyway) and if i like it, i can spend more so the next month it isnt gonna cost $50.
anyone say that i paid for it, it should be perfect. then i guess they need to check on all the products they have bought.
I know for sure there are lots of people that bought something and wasnt happy with it.
Like buying a house and found out months later that the roof was done wrong and it was leaking the whole time. Most times depending on where you live you cant get them to help you . you have to pay for the damages from out of your own pocket. This kind of stuff happens all the time.
Look at this way . You buy a house you dont know that the electrical is done right . not until you take down your walls.
At least with the Dev teams they are willing (if they can) get the problems fixed.
So in the end if you think you should get a perfect MMO when released then MMOs arent for you. Most are looking for this is what they have done now how are they gonna make it better.
ASUS G74sx
i7 quad core
16gb ddr3 ram
3gb ram Nvidia 560M
240GB SSD & 750GB
I think there was an important one that should've been incorporated somehow or given its own.
#X: Not all developers can do everything. Just because a new dungeon/raid/content comes out and that damn bug thats is annoying you to death isn't fixed doesn't mean that the team isn't working on it.
No, his analogy is fine. A house has a list of features that must be included and functional before the house is considered complete. Software should be no different.
The game industry is too mature for all these half-assed releases to continue being acceptable. A decade ago, I could see it. Today? No excuse. It's called project management
A space shuttle or a space rocket, do they not occationaly blow up? Have you ever noticed that even after 30 years of development, your OS is still being updated regularly? Seen the news about Toyota's recently? Followed the developments in the economy and finance as of late?
It's not about project management, that's a mere tool which is definately in place. It's about the nature and complexity of the project undertaken. Sometimes errors occurs, and as the complexity doubles the potential for errors increase exponentially.
#5. Don't care really, get it right the first time i guess so you can get on with it.
#4. You are getting paid, do your job.
#3. NA
#2. At least we've got an idea.
#1. NA
TK, did you even read Holice's post? Yes you have a test team, but he wasn't talking about internal testing now was he? "Or, if you need more players to better test systems, open the beta up to more, or extend it."
He's quite right.
Also I too am a game developer, and it pisses me off to no end that people will buy a game (even if I hand a hand in it's creation) that isn't complete. I want my work to shine, but more often than not, the publisher has my superiors hanging by their purse strings, which means we have to often rush and cut corners on a whim. This obviously causes bad project planning, rushed knee-jerk decision making, and more OT. I personally don't like OT.
Perhaps if people would refuse to buy unfinished products, I would be able to do my job to the best of my ability, and have a healthier work/life balance. Quite frankly, I can't see why a game artist such as yourself would take issue with customers wanting what you deliver to be top notch.
#5. MMOs are an evolving on-going process. There is no first time to get it right to. There is only a starting point you move on from.
#4. If you think you can do better, do so. Otherwise, shut up.
#3. Go get some fresh air. YOu probably shouldn't be getting used to breathing in your own funk. At least go take a shower.
#2. No, you don't have any idea. You're just a loud-mouthed jerk who wants to act like he knows something. Sit down, shut up, and be happy with what they give you, or go find something else to play.
#1. If this is NA, then you have nothing to complain about. And yet you do. You're the worst sort of troll: self-contradicting. STFU & GTFO.