Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
The concieved problem of premature releases.
wildtalent
Member UncommonPosts: 380
So I have beent thinking lately about how many games have terrible release but over a period of time are turned into playable and loved games by those who have tenacity to stick with them. One of the best examples of this is Vangaurd. It had a terrible release but now is an amazing game that offers more than a lot of other MMORPGs on the market today. But because of the dismal release the game is barely hanging on.
This seems to be what is happening more and more lately. I wonder if perhaps its sometime part of the plan. Let me explain.
What if they are putting barebones games out, taking customer feed back and then making plans to fine tune them into amazing games?
Granted not all feedback gets listend to, but surely some of it is.
Take Warhammer Online and Champions Online, both came out the gate rough but over time the devs are trying to make improvements and honestly the games are getting better. But I wonder if the real problem is that we as gamers have become fickle thanks to the mega-success of WoW.
If it's not great out the gate many gamers won't give the game a second thought and sub numbers drop to dismal levels killing what could have been, albeit over time, amazing games.
Comments
It can't be part of the plan when the devs claim:
"At release we will have feature so-and-so and pvp in this-and-that cool way."
And when the game releases? All claims turn out to be lies. That's bad PR and not a plan. And such thing happens quite often I think.
You might enjoy reading the link in my sig, it explores this development model that you are describing.
Take a game like Star Trek Online, that I don't personally enjoy or own. I feel the game was light on content, that it lacks production value in many areas, and that it is missing some of the core gameplay that I would expect in a Star Trek game.
But the hardcore fans, to them it is worth paying $50 and more. There is nothing wrong with that, it's worth it to them to pay the price. They are prepared to settle in while the game improves.
The problem is this: Joe Schmoe who is not a hardcore fan thinks its a good idea to check out the game at launch, and then he finds it to be such a waste of $50 that he quits his job to post hate threads about the game full time.
Joe, let me break it to you. You need to take responsibility for your own purchases.
Cryptic is trying a Customer Development approach to MMO creation.
I can agree with that to an extent. I think when they promise something is gonna be a certain way at release that is the way it should be. Granted there are going to be unforseen problems, but it should at least be close to expectations.
What I was really getting at though is if part of the problem with MMORPGS is unlike most console games or other pc games they are meant to grow and change and we as individuals tend to have different wants and needs involved with the growth.
I have to say I agree with Butter, especially with some of the releases as of late. So many companies want to take WoW's place at the top. Yet they don't wish to put the time and money into making the game that will compete. As for the OP comments, feedback and thoughts are usually provided through the beta process, and if read on forums for most games before release they will tell you what they are looking for in a game. Look at the forums of some of the games that are so highly anticpated for release. They have forum page after forum page of players opinions of what they hope for in the game.
Exactly my point. Maybe sometimes we should expect these type of games to go through growing pains. granted it sucks when you feel horribly let down, but maybe we as consumers should research our purchases a little better. For example today and this is the reason for my post I went and bought STO. Haven't gotten to play it yet, but I have read all the hate and was still interested. The game has dropped in price so i figure now will be a good time to check it out. Will i turn it off in the near future, probably but I am a MMORPG floater its what I do. Will i return to it, most likely especially after major updates.
You are right and that is actually what I do.
You are working on a new MMO, it's going to be great, spirits are high.
Then one day, the accountants tell you that you are running out of money.
You try, but you can't raise more money. Your investors tell you that they have given you enough and that you promised them a hit.
At some meeting, some empty suit floats the idea, why not release it early? We can fix things up in the months that follow. Subscribers aren't likely to notice because they'll be in the lowbee zones that are fairly polished.
And we can use the money from the box sales. All we have to do is hype the game. Make a couple of videos with our best stuff and post them to youtube. This will sucker a lot of people into buying the box.
What can it hurt?
I don't think Warhammer or Age of Conan have fully recovered from early releases.
Well shave my back and call me an elf! -- Oghren
Huh? I was fickle long before WoW came out.
Its fine for games to evolve. That is why we pay 15 dollars a month. For continued development. Otherwise, it would be like COD. You just play on servers for years on end until a new one comes out at no charge. We pay the 15 dollars to have more content later. We don't pay 50 dollars to play a game later. That is not consumerism. That is an investment.
To think that a game can come out barebones, and then get content worth playing is.... preposterious. It has nothing to do with WoW.
Every game, MMO or otherwise, that has tried to pull a stunt like that hasn't done well. Now, a game can certainly come back from a bad start, or quickly get content ready. AO was like that. DAoC was like that. DAoC had no loot to speak of, and the RvR was stagnant due to no point in doing it. They quickly changed that. Quickly being the key word. It didn't take months for them to get their arse in gear. Even the game EVE was like that. It wasn't very popular when it first game out. As it added more and more content it gained fans. However, I don't think EVE ever cost 50 dollars. I think at one point it was $20(may still be I dunno), and you got a 7 day free trial before that. EVE never tried to get one over on somebody.
If a company is going to go the route of starting out with little content I think the best way to do it is like EVE. Give out a free trial, offer it for a small fee, and slowly build on that. Instead, I think we get these overhyped games that cost millions(now tens of millions) of dollars to make, and they quickly run out of funds with barely a game to play. Non-coincidentally these are all PvE games, which need content coded in. At least, in PvE games you can make your own content.
"I" before "E" except after "C"--
I think we have become more fickle, especially with new games, because the bar has been raised so high. And I'm glad for it. I will never ever buy another MMORPG without waiting for at least a few good reviews to base my assumptions off of. If the developers wanted me in their beta, they would have invited me. I expect the official release to have all the content, bells, and whistles as soon as it is done being installed on my hard drive. If not, there are plenty of other games that are already there to choose from.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
the only game that recovered from that was eve online CCP almost go bankrupt, i dont know any game that have recovered from a bad early release
BestSigEver :P
Developers announce the games way too early.
1 year before est. (Real) release is the absolute max timeframe. By then you have a clear idea what will make it into the game and what not. If you get delays, no one will know. Only when you are absolutely sure that the game will make it for the timeframe given +-few months, you should announce it. Otherwise you're just digging yourself a really deep grave.
I havn't read the thread! I don't need to, I just read that title and completely understand where you are coming from (or not), the missus is always complaining about premature release, I keep telling her 'listen it's only a conceived problem'. There needs to be more understanding!
-----
The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.