[MUD-Dev] MMORPG Cancellations: The sky is falling?

[Par Winzell]

Threshold RPG wrote:

> The discussion on TerraNova about UOX's cancellation prompted
> this, but I'm interested to hear the opinions of the folks here on
> whether or not the recent series of MMORPG cancellations is really
> anything to worry about.
> ----------
> Electronic Arts is teaching the rest of us in the MMORPG
> marketplace a lot of good lessons. It is so nice of them to spend
> tens of millions of their dollars to fund this research.

> They have shown us all how incredibly important PATIENCE and FOCUS
> are in the development of an MMORPG.

Have they? They've shown us something, but whether it's PATIENCE and
FOCUS or something entirely different, I'm not so sure.

> Their lack of patience is what is causing them to flounder about
> making tons of different games, not giving them the time they need
> to develop (both pre and post release), and expecting them to
> crush Everquest in their first year. The games they have released
> clearly show a lack of development time and a lack of depth in
> game design. Earth & Beyond was the shell of an excellent game
> with no substance. The Sims Online did not supply the one thing it
> was supposed to be best at: community. Motor City
> Online... well... *chuckle*. Every time they have come close to
> producing a legitimate sequel to Ultima Online, they have grown
> impatient and decided to just return their efforts to the existing
> successful game (UO).

I spent a ridiculous amount of time playing E&B. What I experienced
there conflicts with the assumptions in the paragraph above, and so
I must disagree with the conclusions. I'd try to refute the logic,
but there doesn't seem to be any. ;)

So... These games "clearly" show a lack of development time? If E&B
had been cooking for another pre-launch year, behind close doors, I
doubt it'd have fared better. Is there any information to suggest
the opposite?

I don't think lack of content did E&B in. Yes, it was problematic
that there was such a steady stream of high production value content
for a new player in his first month or so of play -- it should be
obvious to everyone on this list (as it should've been obvious to
the E&B crew) that players will consume whatever content they're
offered at a rate that nobody can satisfy, and when it runs out,
they will be spoiled for more. Long-term joy has to come from
elsewhere.

E&B was a much more complete game when it closed than when it
opened, but from what I was able to glean from the outside
(admittedly a foggy view), the lessons that made that vital
difference were those learned by the (ever-shrinking) live team in
E&B's first year after launch. I'm very dubious about the notion
that more meetings and theoretical game design would've made the
difference.

As for a lack of depth in game design -- well, what does that mean?
If it had been less shallow, a quarter of a million people would've
ended up subscribing? I doubt it. I don't see how that's a
reasonable assumption. I don't think the basic idea of E&B ever had
a shot at Everquest style subscriber's numbers. Yes, the world was
too static, and your role in it too constrained, but E&B never
really pretended to be dynamic, nor does dynamic equal deep. E&B's
primary urge, as far as I can tell, was to play out, over several
years, a truly first-class (deep) storyline, with players
participating but not really affecting the world a whole lot. There
is a compromise there, as you all know; plot and simulation are
difficult to mix.

Given that, perhaps it was foolish to spend so much money on the
game? Perhaps it was even foolish to launch it? But I don't see how
patience enters into it. I think E&B basic identity was set early
on, and no game design tweaks on the way would've changed that
identiy and brought on EA's desired order in magnitude difference in
subscriber numbers. I think this is essentially true for MCO as
well.

I think EA made bad decisions. I don't think either patience or
focus would've helped E&B, and MCO and TSO strike me as following a
similar pattern. I think taking an MMO from concept to success is a
matter of art, not process, and its name regardless, EA is a company
of a size where it's not easy to rejuvenate the sense of artistic
flair in the decision-making ranks. So... focus and patience... no,
I just don't see it.

Finally, the disclaimer: my point of view is that of a player, and I
have long since dropped out of the inside-information-gathering
crowd.

Zell
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev