Is the Love Gone in MMO Development?

Raenz

Back in the late 80's, then into the 90's, MUDs were popular and then came their graphical big brothers; the MMO.  Early games like Meridian 59, Ultima Online, Everquest, and (to some degree) Warbirds introduced the gaming market to a new way to play games with your friends.  I am sure a ton of thought and planning went into these games and the product delivered.  These games and many others seemed to share one thing in common: their individual developers loved them.  They loved the idea that the game represented and it showed in the final product.  Maybe it's me, but it always appeared to me that the developers believed in what they were trying to do with their design and worked damn hard to make it a reality. 

Today it seems different though.  With the advent of free-to-play, item-buy, and what appears to be lack of originality, I think the developers have lost that "love" of the game that produced so many good ones back then.  Today it's all about how much money can "we" make.   Don't get me wrong, I understand that money is always the driving factor behind anything but I bet if you polled some of the old developers I bet they would tell you that they had a dream for a game they thought they would like to play and worked hard to deliver that to like minded players.   Currently it takes a ton of cash to develop a MMO.  With budgets into the 30-60 million range and then ongoing expenses, I can see the need to make a game you feel will generate not only good retail returns, but that recurring monthly/yearly revenue.  Having said that, why can't more "love" go into these new titles?  Sometimes I wonder if not part of a design meeting is listing wanted features, and then scratching them off that list based on how much or how little perceived revenue that feature would produce.   I am not sold on the idea that part of design has to take into consideration whether or not your idea will be able to squeeze every last drop of milk from a cow that you don't even possess yet. 

I'm sure there are a couple of developers out there trying to deliver their vision to the MMO market, it just seems those guys are few and far between.  More and more companies are trying to cash in, instead of energize and revolutionize the market.

I guess I would like to see more MMO by devs that actually love their game design, not for the amount of money it may generate, but for product and what it delivers to the consumer.

Sorry if this was too long, just a random thought I had this morning, and I thought I would see what you all think about this.

Ikisis

Originally posted by Raenz

Back in the late 80's, then into the 90's, MUDs were popular and then came their graphical big brothers; the MMO.  Early games like Meridian 59, Ultima Online, Everquest, and (to some degree) Warbirds introduced the gaming market to a new way to play games with your friends.  I am sure a ton of thought and planning went into these games and the product delivered.  These games and many others seemed to share one thing in common: their individual developers loved them.  They loved the idea that the game represented and it showed in the final product.  Maybe it's me, but it always appeared to me that the developers believed in what they were trying to do with their design and worked damn hard to make it a reality. 

Today it seems different though.  With the advent of free-to-play, item-buy, and what appears to be lack of originality, I think the developers have lost that "love" of the game that produced so many good ones back then.  Today it's all about how much money can "we" make.   Don't get me wrong, I understand that money is always the driving factor behind anything but I bet if you polled some of the old developers I bet they would tell you that they had a dream for a game they thought they would like to play and worked hard to deliver that to like minded players.   Currently it takes a ton of cash to develop a MMO.  With budgets into the 30-60 million range and then ongoing expenses, I can see the need to make a game you feel will generate not only good retail returns, but that recurring monthly/yearly revenue.  Having said that, why can't more "love" go into these new titles?  Sometimes I wonder if not part of a design meeting is listing wanted features, and then scratching them off that list based on how much or how little perceived revenue that feature would produce.   I am not sold on the idea that part of design has to take into consideration whether or not your idea will be able to squeeze every last drop of milk from a cow that you don't even possess yet. 

I'm sure there are a couple of developers out there trying to deliver their vision to the MMO market, it just seems those guys are few and far between.  More and more companies are trying to cash in, instead of energize and revolutionize the market.

I guess I would like to see more MMO by devs that actually love their game design, not for the amount of money it may generate, but for product and what it delivers to the consumer.

Sorry if this was too long, just a random thought I had this morning, and I thought I would see what you all think about this.

Jooky with Xsyon that games totally his baby, He wont even release it till it's content is finished.

Tarka

When all is said and done, MMO developers exist for two reasons:  to do work they enjoy and to take home a pay check.  That is it.  Unfortunately, the two can often clash. 

Years ago such games were being developed with far less regard as to the amount of money the product could make, simply because the games industry didn't realise the full potential that the MMO game industry had.  EQ1, WoW and others showed that the industry is actually much bigger than anticipated.  

However, blame cannot be placed solely at the feet of greed.  The world has turned many times and costs have risen dramatically along with expectations.   No doubt there are lots of developers out there who would love to do "radical" things.  However the problem is that everything costs time and money, and these days there are more and more pressures on companies to try to stay afloat.  Therefore, what would seem "no brainers" in terms of risks to take are now being scutinised a lot more than they were.  This is why a lot of companies try to make "variations" of a design model, rather than try to be "radical".

So now, the industry is caught in a never ending circle: 

Fear of the unknown means that no one can afford to venture away from the tried and tested formula without a guarantee that it will be successful.  And yet, success of a new design model cannot be proven unless someone takes a big risk.

Dreathor

The love isn't gone; but it is throttled and directed by publishers/business/profits.

Kuatosune

Originally posted by Dreathor

The love isn't gone; but it is throttled and directed by publishers/business/profits.

 Yea what he said

Kyleran

No, the love is still out there, and if you want to see the best example be sure to read every post of this thread about 38 Studios and their upcoming releases.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/282304/page/1

In it Curt Schilling (yes, CEO of 38 and oh yeah, I think he might have played some baseball or something ) responds to posts from many folks and shares insight into his background and vision for the two games his company is developing.

While it's true that many Development houses are just out there whoring for the money, Curt seems to be genuinely trying to build a game that many (not all ) people will enjoy playing.

Heck, maybe even me. (and like Mikey, I seem to hate everything)

Hyanmen

Originally posted by Raenz

I'm sure there are a couple of developers out there trying to deliver their vision to the MMO market, it just seems those guys are few and far between.  More and more companies are trying to cash in, instead of energize and revolutionize the market.

Bigger developers? I only see FFXIV devs trying to deliver their vision to the MMO market. 

Many decisions they make have generated a lot of negative comments on the various forums, Like having everyone play on the same server; you don't need to be a marketing expert to realize that region divided servers would mean much more positive reaction from the community, but their ideal is for everyone to play together internationally and that's something they won't bend on. I think that's admirable.

Not including PvP  or jumping is also one of these things. They have an ideal and want to stick to it, and make it as good as possible. Including PvP and jumping would once again mean much more revenue, as well as if the combat was twitchy and more fast paced rather than tactical. 

But they choose not to do it, even though the advantages are clear. They love their product and hope that you love it too; but they won't bend on everything just for the sake of dollars (or yens). Thus inevitably the game is not for everyone.. but it is made with love. From animations to little details that only few will notice. 

 

But as one can see, this kind of ideal only leads to skepticism and negativity by the community. The game is not as hyped as other titles, obviously.. since those games are there for the revenue, and marketing experts know what generates the best kind of hype, and what kind of content the best reception.

It's a dangerous road to take. Which is why most multimillion dollar companies can't afford to take it.

Joliust

It is hard to do things for the love when millions and even billions of dollars are being spent over a 5 year period not knowing if you are really getting anything out of it all.

Torik

In the end I could care less about how much a developer 'loves' the game.  What matters to me is how much the developer 'loves' me as a customer.    A game could be a true 'work of love' but I would not touch it with a stick if I thought it was a piece of crap.

 

Also I really do not have much respect for people who are 'in love' with a vision.  They get my respect for how they implement that vision.

Czzarre

I believe the enthusiasm that you are seeking from developers are much more likely to come from smaller / independent productions that it is to come from a major game developer. VEry similar to the movie industry.