[MUD-Dev] Interesting EQ rant (very long quote)

[McQuaid]

According to Vincent Archer:
> According to Brian 'Psychochild' Green:

>> I generally dislike slamming on one game in general, but I found a
>> few links to this screed on the offical EQ boards.

> This isn't "slamming" EQ, as much as pointing out the obvious, which
> is the fact that Verant didn't design what it thinks it had
> designed, and refuse to acknowledge the fact that the game people
> play is not what they wanted them to play.

Actually, EQ is pretty darn close to what we originally designed and
had in mind.  I've mentioned the few areas where it didn't work out as
well as we'd planned before, and one of them includes camping.  We'd
originally hoped that players would 'do' dungeons -- in other words,
head into a dungeon with a party, and attempt to wipe out all or part
of a dungeon, and then move on to another dungeon (or adventure area).
And while many players do this, many also don't, and instead camp a
static spawn over and over again, trying to get a specific item.  Some
randomized loot has helped this with Kunark and Velious (and as
mentioned, we're going to revamp some old world zones in the same
fashion), but more can probably be done.

Making general and sweeping statements asserting we're out of touch
and have no clue what we've made, Vincent, without backing it up but
rather stating that it's simply 'obvious', isn't too much appreciated.
Although, I guess it's something that finally pushed me to rise above
lurker status on this mailing list :)

> I see Verant as King Canute. They're trying to beat back the sea to
> submission, but that cannot happen without a complete redesign of
> the game, something which is impossible. All that remains is trying
> to band-aid the game till EQ2 comes out.

While I'm sure there might be some major enhancements or mechanics
changes that would require a sequel or some such, there's still all
sorts of ways we can make EQ a better EQ (and we've been doing just
that for quite some time).  I hardly consider Kunark, Velious, and all
the changes we've made in patches 'band-aids', but rather the complete
opposite: extensions and enhancements, expanding on what makes EQ
great and addressing aspects of the game that could be improved, all
the while providing more content (which is what the players chiefly
want, btw).

> I find the phrase "The designers have been mesmerized by the hard
> core gamers" highly representative. It's also a complaint that's
> starting to be raised against Asheron's Call.

I guess this could now branch into a huge debate on what a hard core
player is, what a casual gamer is, and whether there are other
identifiable player classifications in this context (and I believe
there definitely are).  But let's just say that if we're mesmerized
with the hard core gamers, then the vast majority of our players must
be just that, given both our growth and retention rates.  (Although,
in reality, I don't think the majority of our players are that hard
core, and I believe we are targeting the majority of our players with
our focus on enhancing and expanding the game).

--

---------------------------------------------
Brad McQuaid
Vice President, Premium Games
Verant Interactive/Sony Online Entertainment
---------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev