[MUD-Dev] expansion packs

[Marc Fielding]

From: Matt Mihaly:

>   1. Existing games keep releasing more and more content in the
>   form of expansion packs. This makes the bar for a new game
>   increasingly high, especially as it's nearly impossible to
>   really know what's going to work until you've got players
>   actually playing the game. That gives games that have been
>   around for awhile the ability to tweak here and there in small
>   ways that add up to a huge incumbent advantage, potentially.

Unfortunately, some existing games are limited in how much they can
tweak the product while still remaining true to the "minimum system
requirements" set forth in the original release. Even if the
expansion specifies a higher set of requirements, the underlying
architecture of the game (several years old by this point) becomes
less able to support drastic changes or modern updates. At some
point it just makes more sense to start from scratch. Only once the
technologies of the underlying systems (renderer, network, etc.) 
have stabilized industry-wide will we see games enjoy an indefinite
technological lifespan and potential "first on the scene" advantage.

>   2. The more expansion packs a game releases, the less impact
>   each one is going to have on existing players, and on new
>   players. If you're a new player, do you really want to buy 4 or
>   5 boxed products to get "everything" available in a game (like
>   Everquest), or will you want to purchase one of the new boxed
>   games, that may have features (mounts or whatnot) available only
>   in the expansion packs of existing games?
 
> Do those of you working on the big games think this is a problem?
> Will players get "expansion pack fatigue"? It's one thing for text
> games to continually add content for years and years, because
> there are no downloads, and usually no cost to enable the extra
> features, but I would find it very daunting to approach EQ as a
> new player and see all those expansion packs I know I'm going to
> have to buy. My girlfriend has experienced something similar with
> the Sims and all their expansion packs.

If you're a new player just getting into EQ, for example, you don't
face this issue. As far as I know, all EQ expansion packs are
cumulative; buy the latest expansion pack, and you're good to
go. It's the early adopters who must pick them up as they come out,
if they want to view the content.

With the Sims, however, the base game and the expansions are all
distinct. The expansion packs require the full game.

-Marc

*******************************
Marc Fielding
fielding at cutthisout.computer.org




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