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Why are MMO communities better in beta?
John.A.Zoid
Member Posts: 1,531
I remember being in EQ2 beta and having an amazing time because back then it was pretty much forced grouping right from the get go. You'd start on the Isle and go a chain of quests which to complete you'd need a group to do the last part which was really fun. During beta I always got groups all the time and people were always helping eachother out. Then I got to the main city and there was tons of people everywhere and again people were grouping in the starter areas around the city. Once I left for the CL I remember always being with a group to do really fun quests and it just made everything much more meaningful and fun playing with other people. I was with the same group from levels 13 - 20 and we ended up going through 2 instances together that were a challege and really fun. Noone ever complained about getting into Debt and everyone was friendly.
However once the game launched all of a sudden hardly anyone was playing and it was very hard to get a group. I noticed everyone trying to solo the game and complaining when they couldn't and I don't see why because playing with other people is where the fun is in the game at that time before they noobed it all up. I miss the days of sitting round a camp fire type thing with 5 other people and chatting to my group in the CL while waiting to take on that Giant Bird thing that roamed about. I miss going through them dungeons and actually being scared of dying because of the penalty and because it was hard. We were constantly getting wiped because some unexpected NPC's would wlak through.
This was the same too in other games such as SWG and
Comments
I dunno, I experienced this myself. I guess it is the feeling of novelty and that you are in some pioneering days, like still contributing to a better game. I guess it might also have something to do that when the game starts for real, people start to feel very competitive and stressed, but in beta they all know, it doesnt last anyway, so there is no such stress and competitive feeling. I always felt a MMO with too much difference gap between powerful with much riches in a game and those who have little causes stress and anger. In the end its a hamsterwheel of wanting to have the same big shoulderpads as player X, and it makes people agressive when they feel 2nd best.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Because they usually attract optimists.
Because its free and people dont have the monthly fee to think about.
Well that and everyone isnt so goal oriented. People are more willing to explore the world and interact with each other. Once a game launches its zerg race to max lvl, then zerg through dungeons/pvp/whatever. Then start a community.
1. Free vs Subscription Based Play
When folks are paying their own money per month, I envision they want to get the most out of their playtime and often the most efficient way is the solo way (obviously there are expections, but you get what im saying)
2. Level Differentiation
During the beta due to the large influx of people at the same time most players are around the same level and trying to experience all content (as opposed to skipping group quests to save time).
3. Goals and Focus
This is in a way related to the first two, but after a community has had a chance to get used to a game, often people relentlessly pursue their own goals, leveling, skill/item hunting ect as a means to feel accomplishment within a game, yes while a game is in beta, the methods to these ends are not as clear and people play more for overall fun.
It truely is sad, but unfortunately this is the way the human mind works (atleast en masse, there are of course always exceptions)
Wolfenpride: <--Giant fucking sword syndrome.
Probably cause im trying to compensate for miniscule manhood.
Hmmm...I wonder what it would be like if a MMORPG came out in sections.
game launches with levels 1-20.
2 months later...20-40 gets patched in.
2 months after that...40-60 gets patched in.
There wouldn't be this race to endgame and it would allow the beta testers to test all levels of the game thoroughly.
Dunno...it would probably piss some people off, but I think it would make for a better experience.
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Guys! I'm hopelessly lost in a mountain of mole hills! Them damn moles!
In beta peopple are less competitive so the just try to eplore and enjoy the game.
Beta, i like beta
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Generally beta participants are more invested in the game, and thus less self-centered and prone to ass-hattery. Come release, you've got the short attention span crowd hopping over for a month because they're bored with Warcraft, and the whole experience has a tendency to become very transient.
Also, don't forget the way devs and marketing types sugar-coat the rough spots and do a good job of bullshitting the beta testers into believing that they have some influence and can positively impact the direction of the game. This is a sort of honeymoon period, even though it is largely a sham. After release, the devs are usually under fire from the suits to actually turn a profit, and things start to feel much more like a business and less like a creative/collaborative forum love-in.
this is exactly spot on
I think that the beta will generally attract people who have some interest already in the game, who have been watching it and are aware of what the devs are looking to create, and what the game will involve, and demand from the player.
Once it's thrown open to the general public, you'll start to get the people coming in who just saw a fancy banner with a half naked elf in it, so they decided they must try this game, only to find they didn't really know what to expect. Once you start getting people playing who haven't watched the game being formed and kept up with it's goals and ideas, they start to bring their own expectations into it instead, and when they find the game isn't what they expected, that's when the little trolling groups set up, the whining starts and so on...
There's a lot of other factors aswell, such as the already mentioned factor of people aiming for different things during a beta, i.e. trying out everything instead of just going for max level or whatever their aim is.
Just my view on the whole thing anyway.
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Currently playing: Rift
former player of: DAoC, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, SWG (pre-NGE), WoW, Warhammer online, LotR:O
I've been in a few betas, there is also the feeling that you are experiencing something no-one else is.
http://encyclopediadramatica.com/MMORPG
OP:
I think its only in your mind. You have a sence of playing something new and fresh that is special due to you and only a few (thousands) are able to play it. The buzz around it is not very high and nobody out there knows whats going on which makes you feel even more special.
When the game is released its "just that" that anyone can pick up and its longer special. And all the awful attitude people gets in.
I know I had more fun in Warhammer beta than in the actual game. Its mysterical how much more boring it became just by being released.
$OE lies list
http://www.rlmmo.com/viewtopic.php?t=424&start=0
"
And I don't want to hear anything about "I don't believe in vampires" because *I* don't believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes, and what *I* saw is ******* vampires! "
Sorry my post is half finished I got blue screen of Death as I was typing... I guess it posted somehow. I just got a new harddrive lol.
In beta though for Warhammer everyone was doing keep RVR and then when the game got released everyone started doing scenarios. That is why I prefered the beta because everyone wanted to do keep RVR and the whole scenario problem didn't come up till launch.
So WAR was better in beta.
In beta though for Warhammer everyone was doing keep RVR and then when the game got released everyone started doing scenarios. That is why I prefered the beta because everyone wanted to do keep RVR and the whole scenario problem didn't come up till launch.
So WAR was better in beta.
Yeah, people who get into the betas are more willing to immerse themselves into the general ideas put out by the designers (like happened in the case of WAR) than at launch, when the focus changes; since beta is seen as a temporary thing, then people have no need to "have the bestest loot ever and the highestest levels ever first in the server". On retail, the focus becomes different and some people just feel the need to advance in the fastest, most profitable ways without concern for the ideas behind the game itself or the rest of the community, in part also because there starts to be money involved, and switching status from tester to customer creates a strange aura of entitlement over how the game should satisfy each one's needs for fun. Appropiating the vision and the ideas, each player thinks to know best when it comes to improving the experience, and they let it be known in forums and stuff. Beta communities are communities because the players truly particiapte of one, while retail game communities usually are one just by forceful association to a game they collectively play.
this is exactly spot on
Plus, I think the community still feels that they have some sort of input into the game's development: bug fixes, feature refinements, feature implementation, etc.
Once the game goes live, developers tend to stop listening so well (at least at SOE they do).
MMO games played or tested: EQ, DAoC, Archlord, Auto Assault, CoH, CoV, EQ2, EVE, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Linneage II, LOTRO, MxO, Planetside, SWG, Sword of the New World, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WWIIOL, WOW, Age of Conan