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General: 5 Things Every Developer Should Remember
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com list-crafter Bill Murphy puts together a countdown of five things that all developers should keep in mind when thinking about their communities.
As development of MMORPGs go, advancement seems to happen incrementally and slowly as the games themselves are complex and fickle beasts of design complications. What's more is that we, the fans of the games, are just as complex and fickle ourselves. But there's a simple beauty to this relationship between gamer and game developer. We heart each other. Because at the core of it, the developers are just like us only with grander technical knowledge of the bits and pieces that must fit together. What we bring to the equation is a sometimes brutal, sometimes glorified sense of devotion to any developer that "gets it" and values our input in what really is a service industry. In that line of thinking, and in light of recent hubbub around a few games, here are five things every developer should remember about their fans.
#5 We're vocal
I don't necessarily mean that we speak aloud here, but I'm sure if the forums of any game were recorded not with keyboards but with microphones the results would be the same. MMO gamers are a highly vocal bunch when it comes to talking about their favorite, least favorite, or even as of yet un-played games. We love to talk-talk-talk (or type-type-type) about your projects probably more than you do. You should definitely know this by now, and when it comes to the relationship between developer and gamer... we really just want to know if you're listening. That means you need to have forums, and your CM staff should be all over the blogosphere and community site forums as well. Track your users. There are plenty of examples why you should listen to your audience in any entertainment project. With that in mind, let's move to number four...
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Nice list. Nothing to really disagree with. Love the #1.
#4 is great. That is something every player should remember as well.
# 6 We have long memories. If you tell us the game will have a feature, and when we buy it it doesn't, we remember.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Nice list, full of truth.
Will be interesting to see peoples' additions to it over the next while.
I could add a #6a to Amathe's above: We have long memories and will judge you on your previous games, how they were at launch and how much love went into maintaining them. If we perceive ourselves to have been treated badly, we will bear grudges.
Good list.
#7 Don't buy a license to someone else's intellectual property unless you feel like putting forth the effort to create a game world that properly relfects said intellectual property.
Considering numbers 1, 3, 4, and 5, it is probably best to avoid using someone else's ideas period.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
Nothing much to disagree with the list.
On a side note, and I apologize in advance for trolling a bit, but I grow a little tired of the 'should have, could have, would have and better be' lists I see so often on this site. Perhaps it's just a reflection of the MMO communitiy's 'mood' the last few years more than any fault of the writers, though.
I like #4...
A wise man once said
"Had I asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for faster horses".
That man was Henry Ford.
"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." - Henry Ford
Ohoo, I figured out #8.
If you just want to make money with your game it will probably fail horribly.
Just as it should.
agree very much just wanted to add something to number 4.
if devs could take time to "Why" and "Why not" those thing are absurd or dont match game style or its a core feature and must not be changed, that MAY control the hype, nowaday all rellies on avid fanboys or trolls and then you have a huge mess of missinformation.
my 2 cents.
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
My #1 would be don't make drastic changes. Any changes you do make, you should have plans to alter them if you get a huge negative reaction. You upset the playerbase with a major change and you will see a vast exodus. SOE and Mythic can vouch for that.
Q to the F to the E!
Much to the publishers shagrin.
Okay let's think about it. If you start an argument with someone that doesn't agree with your views, what is the chance that they'll suddenly agree with you instead of still not believing you?
I'd say it's pretty slim, no matter what.
that happends in the forum "war zone" where trolls and fanboyz and "newtz" battle to top each other.
I was refering to a dev aproach (last and final word) taking care of situations like:
player: "why dont you have open world ffa ppv?, oh noes game gonna fail carebar i pwn 1337"
dev: "we havent chose this style of gameplay couse it would interfere with the course of..."
hope i made myself clear.
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
Wurd. We are consumers and as such we rarely know what we'll like or dislike until it hits us in the face, and even then you can't count on us liking the same thing twice.
As opposed to http://www.alganon.com/forums/index.php?/topic/4865-so-i-tried-2-0/page__p__41784&#entry41784
Which brings me to my #1. Let your CM's do the talking. They're being paid to make nice and give you a positive image.
Where else would it happen than on the forums? =P
I'm just saying that it doesn't matter if the devs say their "last and final word". What they do is already their last and final word; explaining it won't change things. Those who disagree will still disagree, those who agree will still agree. It's basically fluff.
Most of that list coincides with the common flaws that have led me to avoid women. To be proud of possessing those flaws is horrible.
Positively!!! thanks for the contribution
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
Remember, one sub's the same as another sub.
Example: if you merge a server, merge them equally. Don't make one server's population a column of refugees on another server... you just denigrated the latter's existance. Targonor+Flor+(Another server who I unfortunately forgot who they were) = Seradon was a good merge. SWG's... not a good merge.
Example: a PvE = a PvP = a RP = a PK account. If you are changing mechanics, weigh the accounts by numbers, not playstyle.
Like said above, weigh your options before making knee-jerk reactions to the the loudest opinions on a forum. In other words stick to your guns, and make the game the way you intended to.
I've seen way to many good games go through beta and bomb at release becuase if this guy "I've been here since Alpha and it should be this way or its a "fail-rage quit for me and my guild" comments on forums.
Can't please everyone.
Collector of old minis.
Playing WAR:Age of Rekoning
www.oldtimersguild.com
/salute to the Old Timer's Guildmember.
Must say, after watching you all for a while, always good to see when you guys speak up in forums or in games.
Running a game is like running a government more than it is an art or business. You can be a dictator or you can be a democracy or you can focus on making the trains run on time, but when you talk to an angst-ridden public, you have to be very careful what you say yet not so careful that you fail to be honest.
Best feature list or article I've seen in a while. Plus, especially #1. And really, I totally agree about the hype thing. I am so tired of developers announcing the features of games before the games are even in an alpha stage. Don't tell me what you think you're going to do. Have any of these devs every done ANYTHING? Don't they realize that half the stuff we do doesn't come out as planned, and it may be better or worse that way? Whether these games come out better, worse, or exactly the same as you intended, you gain nothing by possibly lying to your customer base.
And please, give me something new. I'd like to have seen a #6 that said, we DO NOT WANT ANOTHER WORLD OF WARCRAFT CLONE!!!!!! just like that.
no1 is a nightmare for devs.
The fact that it takes at least 3 years (rough estimation) to get an MMO out the door also has issues. Many things can change in 3 years, the least of which is the flavour of the month or how we want our games to be built.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads