Usually, when you eat something really good, you almost feel sorry you're eating the last bite because it was so good you could indulge some more. But sometimes, you'll get something awesome yet as you get closer to the end, and while it's still good as it was when you first started, you just don't enjoy it as much. In fact, you actually start thinking it's good but it needs to end. That's when you know you had too much and as the saying goes, too much of a good thing can definitely be a bad thing.
What got me writing this? The latest game I've been playing: Dragon Age. For any RPG fan, that game is seriously bad ass. I cannot remember the last time I've so thoroughly enjoyed a game. And I mean the "counting the work hours left before I can go back home to resume my game" enjoyable. The story was awesome, the characters were fantastic, the world looked gorgeous, the gameplay, UI, enemy AI, you name it, got a big fat thumbs up from me. Obviously, the game had some flaws, but compared to its successes, they barely qualify as footnotes.
The problem? The game is extremely long. So long in fact that at some point, after completing a main quest segment when another quest chapter opened, I thought "are you serious?" I didn't know whether to be thrilled or annoyed because I was ready for dessert. There were just a few too many courses to that meal and my tummy was rather full at that point. Not only were there many chapters, but most of them were very long as well and had extensive literature.
It's somewhat strange to be complaining that I got too much for my money. But that game clearly displayed to me one of the things I struggle with the most as a designer (and even as a blogger!): moderation. How long should an event be? How many rewards should you give? How much text/journal/dialogs is needed for the players to they really understand what's going on? This is especially challenging with chain quests. I know players don't want to stop every 5 minutes to read a novel. So putting out journals and scrolls that give clues and some of the background story is difficult. It has to give enough but not be so long that players go "argh!" every time they stumble on a new journal.
The same is true with monsters. How many monsters should a player grind through before they reach their destination? If your goal is to simply fight a boss, do you really need to systematically walk through miles and miles of dungeon slaying various levels of mobs to reach him? Reaching a boss should be difficult but there are other ways which do not need to be a grind.
In the end, I much rather get too much than feel ripped off, but just enough is always best! The fact is there is A LOT of journals and books and what not to read in that game. It breaks the rythm, so in that sense I found it annoying and often just skipped right through a lot of it. But after I finished the game, I went back and started reading them and they are honestly worth it.
That said, I've had players complain some of my events were too long (the Death of the Council was one prime example). Yet I thought the length was just perfect and quite a few players felt the same as well. I guess it just goes to show that we don't all have the same appetite!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Exponential Growth
A player messaged me to on the forums to thank me for the recent Thanksgiving event, saying how his wife, guildmates and himself have had the most fun they can remember in a long time with it. He was hoping there would be more of this type of simple, quickly put together event in the future. It made me giggle because this event broke every rule of proper design procedure.
So this started off with Mesanna asking if we were turning the champ spawns into turkeys again for Thanksgiving. To which I replied the turkeys are kinda lame. They're just way too small and are more griefy to see during champ spawns than anything else. So we decided to go bat our eyelashes at the artists and see if we could get them to enlarge the turkeys. When they accepted, being my usual shameless self, I asked if we could also get a cornucopia for the players who don't do champ spawns. And they agreed to squeeze it in their schedule! Since we didn't have much time, the plan was simply to spawn the cornucopias in the players' backpack on log in and do the champ spawn thing.
Then I saw the finished version and I was like "dang Grimmy (GrimmOmen), those be some fine looking turkeys!!" They were just too nice not to allow everyone else to enjoy them. So from there I told Mesanna I would make them just randomly spawn overland in Britannia and strut their stuff.
Famous last words...
So I'm thinking hmmmm they can't just walk around and do nothing else! Let's make them mini-bosses! Now to figure out what their AI will be. When that was nearly done, it was hmmm but what are they going to drop as loot? Lets make them drop the cornucopias!! Then hmmm the cornucopias are kinda lame just as is. They should drop food! Hmmm maybe they should have something special, I mean seriously who cares about a slab of bacon?
So Mesanna asks me if I'm done with the Turkeys and I'm like eerrrr yeah? But she knows from the look on my face that my evil wheels are still turning. She gives me the look of death and says "cut off date is..." to which I interject "yes, yes, I know! It will be done!" (with some more shameless eyelashes batting to which she's completely immune! Wise woman she is!).
But that event is just too short. There should be a little something more to it and not just a random grinding on turkeys. So I get a bug from QA regarding some issue with the Halloween costumes and my mind wanders back to it and to the Hag and "ting!" the light comes on!! My buddy Zeef!! I always thought those little maps were cool so after a bit of tinkering (and lots of running around to choose locations) I put in the nests and maps, but it didn't really make sense for turkeys to give maps. Hell, it didn't really make sense to have giant turkeys to begin with! How do you justify that? (You know some players will go wtf is that?) Well while trying to come up with the turkey's attacks, I had been reading a bit on the Internet about turkeys and stumbled on an article about the father of American ornithology, Alexander Wilson and I suddenly had my quest back story and the moon grass as the fall guy!
But could I leave it alone? No, because I'm hopeless like that. Then came the: a) I need to come up with a "useful" reward for the deco haters (enters harvester's blade), b) bards are going to complain again that they've been neglected (more tweaks to turkey's AI), c) crafters, crafters, crafter, why the heck do they think they should be able to do everything hunters do? gah!!! (fine, lets have map fragments and give stuff to top 20 attackers), d) PETA alert!! (chill people! I got it covered! *adds non-mutant eggs and prevent players from abusing them*).
Now the real fun begins. QA >.<
The problem wasn't so much functionality issues (though there were a few of those). It was mostly things like: if you do 4 back flips with a red ribbon on your right pinky toe while holding your right ear with your left hand you will be able to nuke 10 turkeys in 3 seconds while also looting other people's nests in Trammel.
*blinks*
In the end, a few bugs still managed to slip through the cracks, but overall it was well received. Frankly, I was happily surprised people didn't complain about doing maps. I think they're wonderfully challenging and a good way to get people to explore lands they have neglected for far too long. But this is a bad way of designing. It's too easy to let yourself get carried away and things grow so far out of proportion that it bursts at the seams. In this case, it worked out, but careful planning before implementation saves a lot of headaches and bad surprises.
PS. We made cut off date :)
So this started off with Mesanna asking if we were turning the champ spawns into turkeys again for Thanksgiving. To which I replied the turkeys are kinda lame. They're just way too small and are more griefy to see during champ spawns than anything else. So we decided to go bat our eyelashes at the artists and see if we could get them to enlarge the turkeys. When they accepted, being my usual shameless self, I asked if we could also get a cornucopia for the players who don't do champ spawns. And they agreed to squeeze it in their schedule! Since we didn't have much time, the plan was simply to spawn the cornucopias in the players' backpack on log in and do the champ spawn thing.
Then I saw the finished version and I was like "dang Grimmy (GrimmOmen), those be some fine looking turkeys!!" They were just too nice not to allow everyone else to enjoy them. So from there I told Mesanna I would make them just randomly spawn overland in Britannia and strut their stuff.
Famous last words...
So I'm thinking hmmmm they can't just walk around and do nothing else! Let's make them mini-bosses! Now to figure out what their AI will be. When that was nearly done, it was hmmm but what are they going to drop as loot? Lets make them drop the cornucopias!! Then hmmm the cornucopias are kinda lame just as is. They should drop food! Hmmm maybe they should have something special, I mean seriously who cares about a slab of bacon?
So Mesanna asks me if I'm done with the Turkeys and I'm like eerrrr yeah? But she knows from the look on my face that my evil wheels are still turning. She gives me the look of death and says "cut off date is..." to which I interject "yes, yes, I know! It will be done!" (with some more shameless eyelashes batting to which she's completely immune! Wise woman she is!).
But that event is just too short. There should be a little something more to it and not just a random grinding on turkeys. So I get a bug from QA regarding some issue with the Halloween costumes and my mind wanders back to it and to the Hag and "ting!" the light comes on!! My buddy Zeef!! I always thought those little maps were cool so after a bit of tinkering (and lots of running around to choose locations) I put in the nests and maps, but it didn't really make sense for turkeys to give maps. Hell, it didn't really make sense to have giant turkeys to begin with! How do you justify that? (You know some players will go wtf is that?) Well while trying to come up with the turkey's attacks, I had been reading a bit on the Internet about turkeys and stumbled on an article about the father of American ornithology, Alexander Wilson and I suddenly had my quest back story and the moon grass as the fall guy!
But could I leave it alone? No, because I'm hopeless like that. Then came the: a) I need to come up with a "useful" reward for the deco haters (enters harvester's blade), b) bards are going to complain again that they've been neglected (more tweaks to turkey's AI), c) crafters, crafters, crafter, why the heck do they think they should be able to do everything hunters do? gah!!! (fine, lets have map fragments and give stuff to top 20 attackers), d) PETA alert!! (chill people! I got it covered! *adds non-mutant eggs and prevent players from abusing them*).
Now the real fun begins. QA >.<
The problem wasn't so much functionality issues (though there were a few of those). It was mostly things like: if you do 4 back flips with a red ribbon on your right pinky toe while holding your right ear with your left hand you will be able to nuke 10 turkeys in 3 seconds while also looting other people's nests in Trammel.
*blinks*
In the end, a few bugs still managed to slip through the cracks, but overall it was well received. Frankly, I was happily surprised people didn't complain about doing maps. I think they're wonderfully challenging and a good way to get people to explore lands they have neglected for far too long. But this is a bad way of designing. It's too easy to let yourself get carried away and things grow so far out of proportion that it bursts at the seams. In this case, it worked out, but careful planning before implementation saves a lot of headaches and bad surprises.
PS. We made cut off date :)
Friday, November 13, 2009
In Context
It is uncanny how much power people can give simple words and how relentlessly they can latch on to your usage of a specific word to go on a crusade. I'll likely get in trouble for this one but frankly, I don't care because this chick is annoyed! The culprit? A not so very fuzzy "care bear".
What's a care bear? The Urban Dictionary has a lot of very appropriate definitions for it. My own definition of a MMO care bear is a mix of definitions 1, 3 and 6: essentially a player who takes part in all aspects of the game except for those involving PvP. Throughout the industry, this term is also used that way. BUT it's also used in the pejorative way, though usually by the players.
It's all a matter of context.
It is up to you how you interpret one's words. But use common sense. I always felt it was ridiculous every time I make a post referring to PvPers and non-PvPers I spend forever trying to figure out how to word a sentence with the word Trammie, but don't have to think about it twice to use the word Fellie. In fact, I usually use Trammelite instead of Trammie, which I think sound retarded but normally avoids any stirring of the politically correct fanatics. Why is that?
Developer's definition
Trammie: any player that never comes to Felucca. Period.
Fellie: someone who exclusively (or mostly) plays in Felucca and takes part in PvP.
Care Bear: someone who doesn't necessarily live in Trammel, but who doesn't take part in PvP. (Yes, there are people who enjoy Felucca but not PvP)
Players and others definition
Trammie: wuss, whiner, pixel crack hoarder, animal tamer
Fellie: griefer, PK, thief, hacker, duper, cheater, (insert extensive list of faults here) and trash talker. Probably has a small weenie irl and low self-esteem
Care Bear: the most annoying type of Trammie who deserves all the grief they get from Fellies.
People need to lay off the paranoia sauce. It's kinda like when someone says "you're cute". It can simply mean what it says, ie that you're huggable, lovely, cuddly or w/e flattery is implied. Or it can mean you're a smart ass, a dumb ass, an idiot, etc. The context dictates which one it is. A developer addressing a broad audience, including his customers, would obviously not use a term in the derogatory sense. So it's rather mindboggling the way some people have decided to take it the wrong way and just won't let go.
It somewhat reminds me of what guys often complain about regarding their girlfriend or wife. He did or said something she didn't like, whether maliciously or not, and 2 years later they will have an argument and she will dig that one thing back up and throw it in his face even though it has nothing to do with anything! And the poor guy can't help but think: "good Lord, woman, GET THE F... OVER IT!"
Seriously... -_-
Political correctness has always rhymed with BS to me. Good thing I'm not the PR person! For the record, the majority of the Dev Team are Trammies, including our Producer. Hell, he's a Tamer, so what does that make him?! Personally, I've always considered myself a Fellie and a PvPer. However, since I disbanded my guild 2 years ago when I joined the Dev Team, I've rarely PvPed even though I live in Fel, which makes me the team's only Care Bear. And I'm damn proud of it!
What's a care bear? The Urban Dictionary has a lot of very appropriate definitions for it. My own definition of a MMO care bear is a mix of definitions 1, 3 and 6: essentially a player who takes part in all aspects of the game except for those involving PvP. Throughout the industry, this term is also used that way. BUT it's also used in the pejorative way, though usually by the players.
It's all a matter of context.
It is up to you how you interpret one's words. But use common sense. I always felt it was ridiculous every time I make a post referring to PvPers and non-PvPers I spend forever trying to figure out how to word a sentence with the word Trammie, but don't have to think about it twice to use the word Fellie. In fact, I usually use Trammelite instead of Trammie, which I think sound retarded but normally avoids any stirring of the politically correct fanatics. Why is that?
Developer's definition
Trammie: any player that never comes to Felucca. Period.
Fellie: someone who exclusively (or mostly) plays in Felucca and takes part in PvP.
Care Bear: someone who doesn't necessarily live in Trammel, but who doesn't take part in PvP. (Yes, there are people who enjoy Felucca but not PvP)
Players and others definition
Trammie: wuss, whiner, pixel crack hoarder, animal tamer
Fellie: griefer, PK, thief, hacker, duper, cheater, (insert extensive list of faults here) and trash talker. Probably has a small weenie irl and low self-esteem
Care Bear: the most annoying type of Trammie who deserves all the grief they get from Fellies.
People need to lay off the paranoia sauce. It's kinda like when someone says "you're cute". It can simply mean what it says, ie that you're huggable, lovely, cuddly or w/e flattery is implied. Or it can mean you're a smart ass, a dumb ass, an idiot, etc. The context dictates which one it is. A developer addressing a broad audience, including his customers, would obviously not use a term in the derogatory sense. So it's rather mindboggling the way some people have decided to take it the wrong way and just won't let go.
It somewhat reminds me of what guys often complain about regarding their girlfriend or wife. He did or said something she didn't like, whether maliciously or not, and 2 years later they will have an argument and she will dig that one thing back up and throw it in his face even though it has nothing to do with anything! And the poor guy can't help but think: "good Lord, woman, GET THE F... OVER IT!"
Seriously... -_-
Political correctness has always rhymed with BS to me. Good thing I'm not the PR person! For the record, the majority of the Dev Team are Trammies, including our Producer. Hell, he's a Tamer, so what does that make him?! Personally, I've always considered myself a Fellie and a PvPer. However, since I disbanded my guild 2 years ago when I joined the Dev Team, I've rarely PvPed even though I live in Fel, which makes me the team's only Care Bear. And I'm damn proud of it!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Community
Wow, I can't believe my last post was in July. I guess I owe Slickjack another thanks for poking me out of my procrastination!
I was chitchatting with some of the Devs from Warhammer and Dark Age of Camelot after a town hall meeting. We ended up discussing the importance of the "social" factor in MMOs and of building community going from the chat system, crafting and trading, to guilds, alliances, group quests and epic encounters. The whole time, I kept thinking that these are things developers use to facilitate (all to often "force") community. But to me, that is not what community is about.
In most MMOs, the fact that Joe decided to take an extended break, quit, sold his account or passed away in real life isn't likely to make much of a difference. If he was the GM of his guild, it will probably fall apart and everyone will scatter. The folks with the best gear will be picked up by current "flavor of the day" guilds, the rest will PUG their way into their next guild. Some will stick together, but those were often friends before they started playing the game to begin with.
And therein lies a significant part of the issue. When a game is heavily level and gear dependant, it destroys its own community by dictating who gets to play with who, when and where. You cannot build a solid sense of community by being exclusive. Yet exclusion is at the foundation of many class based games. You want to raid with us? Would be nice except you're a tank and we just don't need another one. Better luck next time! Oh that's your best friend? Yeah sorry, his gear sucks too much and his level is too low, he'll pull too much aggro. Tell him to look us up in a few weeks/month when he's up to our level. Auction houses? Awesome! I have no idea who the seller is, and frankly I don't care: I didn't even look at their name, I just checked the lowest price.
Then I remembered a thread that started not too long ago on Stratics about Atlantic's History. And I thought: see, THAT's what community is about. To me, it's not forcing people to group up with other folks they don't know and probably don't even like just so they can partake in some of the better content. It's giving players the chance of being part of something, to leave a lasting mark in the world, to make history.
Community isn't spamming the Looking For Group channel for the first person that can do 3K+ DPS. It's people from all walks of life gathering on a ghost infested beach, year after year, to commemorate the real life passing of a player who made his mark in the world by becoming UO's greatest librarian. It's hanging out at player run establishments like the wild and crazy Odyssey's Club was. It's the RP towns like Paxlair and Sanctus built from the ground up by the players. It's when other players ask for you and your shop by name when they want quality goods. It's the fear, awe, admiration, love and even hatred inspired by the mere mention of the name of a player or a guild. It's when reminiscing about the old days is more about the people come and gone, than about boss mobs and class nerfs.
While it is true that promoting social interactions in games increases player retention, I think most games miss the mark. What kept me playing this game was knowing that my presence made a difference. I had an impact on the world. I had something to call my own. I can quit any other MMO today, go back in a few months or a year, and after a bit of a grind, it will be the same it always was. While I'm gone, not a whole lot of people will miss me as there will be plenty of other DPS, Tanks or Healers to pick up where I left off. As a UO player, if I quit tomorrow, I feel like I have a lot to lose: the house I worked so hard to acquire, the clientele I took so long to establish, the guild or the player town I devoted years to build. And in turn, my absence will affect those who knew me.
In my humble opinion, true Community is when the individual matters and when the only limit to the fame, influence and accomplishments you can achieve are only those you set for yourself.
I was chitchatting with some of the Devs from Warhammer and Dark Age of Camelot after a town hall meeting. We ended up discussing the importance of the "social" factor in MMOs and of building community going from the chat system, crafting and trading, to guilds, alliances, group quests and epic encounters. The whole time, I kept thinking that these are things developers use to facilitate (all to often "force") community. But to me, that is not what community is about.
In most MMOs, the fact that Joe decided to take an extended break, quit, sold his account or passed away in real life isn't likely to make much of a difference. If he was the GM of his guild, it will probably fall apart and everyone will scatter. The folks with the best gear will be picked up by current "flavor of the day" guilds, the rest will PUG their way into their next guild. Some will stick together, but those were often friends before they started playing the game to begin with.
And therein lies a significant part of the issue. When a game is heavily level and gear dependant, it destroys its own community by dictating who gets to play with who, when and where. You cannot build a solid sense of community by being exclusive. Yet exclusion is at the foundation of many class based games. You want to raid with us? Would be nice except you're a tank and we just don't need another one. Better luck next time! Oh that's your best friend? Yeah sorry, his gear sucks too much and his level is too low, he'll pull too much aggro. Tell him to look us up in a few weeks/month when he's up to our level. Auction houses? Awesome! I have no idea who the seller is, and frankly I don't care: I didn't even look at their name, I just checked the lowest price.
Then I remembered a thread that started not too long ago on Stratics about Atlantic's History. And I thought: see, THAT's what community is about. To me, it's not forcing people to group up with other folks they don't know and probably don't even like just so they can partake in some of the better content. It's giving players the chance of being part of something, to leave a lasting mark in the world, to make history.
Community isn't spamming the Looking For Group channel for the first person that can do 3K+ DPS. It's people from all walks of life gathering on a ghost infested beach, year after year, to commemorate the real life passing of a player who made his mark in the world by becoming UO's greatest librarian. It's hanging out at player run establishments like the wild and crazy Odyssey's Club was. It's the RP towns like Paxlair and Sanctus built from the ground up by the players. It's when other players ask for you and your shop by name when they want quality goods. It's the fear, awe, admiration, love and even hatred inspired by the mere mention of the name of a player or a guild. It's when reminiscing about the old days is more about the people come and gone, than about boss mobs and class nerfs.
While it is true that promoting social interactions in games increases player retention, I think most games miss the mark. What kept me playing this game was knowing that my presence made a difference. I had an impact on the world. I had something to call my own. I can quit any other MMO today, go back in a few months or a year, and after a bit of a grind, it will be the same it always was. While I'm gone, not a whole lot of people will miss me as there will be plenty of other DPS, Tanks or Healers to pick up where I left off. As a UO player, if I quit tomorrow, I feel like I have a lot to lose: the house I worked so hard to acquire, the clientele I took so long to establish, the guild or the player town I devoted years to build. And in turn, my absence will affect those who knew me.
In my humble opinion, true Community is when the individual matters and when the only limit to the fame, influence and accomplishments you can achieve are only those you set for yourself.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Enemy Mine
Sorry, I've been neglecting my blog, but we're crunching big time with Beta. Not to mention I pulled a disappearing act and went to Montreal to get majorly pampered by Mom! And while enjoying some much needed R&R, I couldn't help but check out the Beta forums and catch up on various games I hadn't had a chance to play. While reading the boards, there was a post about players PKing during beta which made me go hmmm.
There simply never seems to be any way around the irreconcilable differences between PvMers and PvPers. The hatred and venom between them is mind boggling at times. So while chilling at my parents' house, I stumbled on an old movie I had loved when I was a teenager called Enemy Mine and I couldn't help but draw the parallel. The story is about this human pilot fighting an alien enemy. Both end up crashing on a hostile, abandoned planet and are forced to cooperate in order to survive. Through their hardships, they get to know each other, understand and respect their differences. From mortal enemies they became more than brothers because they learned to view the world through the other one's eyes and realized being different doesn't mean being bad.
PvP isn't for everyone but it's not because you do that you're necessarily a jerk. And it's not because you don't that you're automatically a wimp. Some people are vegetarians, others love meat. They're still people and one isn't better than the other. Trying to walk in the other guy's shoes doesn't mean it will grow on you. Some things aren't meant for everyone, but it could at least help you realize that the other guy is your normal every day Joe, cool friend, good brother, good husband, good neighbor. Just a dude who is different, like that Drac from the movie was.
Being mainly a PvPer myself, every time I see these threads, I systematically have to fight back the "here comes the whine" (+ rolls eyes) reaction. Especially in a game like UO where 75% of the content is exclusively PvP-free. It blows my mind when PvMers begrudge any crumbs tossed the PvPers' way. Of course there should be PvP-exclusive rewards, otherwise where is the gratification? Would a PvMer fight a challenging (though fun) boss mob more than once if there was no reward at the end of the day?
When it comes to PvP, and in the case on the forums, PKing, it's usually up to the designers to provide their players with ways to limit the "inconvenience" to those who do not wish to PvP or to set up a smooth learning curve so the barrier to entry isn't too brutal. Some games succeed at it better than others. And some, by design, not so much. Darkfall is the perfect example.
I want to believe I'm not wimp when it comes to taking a beating (in game!). But when I tried Darkfall, I experienced exactly what PvMers describe feeling when forced into a PvP situation (that they usually lose) when simply trying to PvM. In Darkfall, there are no safe zones even in noob towns, anywhere, period. When you die, you lose absolutely everything (except your noobie weapon that you can't gain skills with). And every time I would step out of town to fight the (much too rare) goblins or trolls to level a bit, one or two PKs would show up and rape 10 noobs in the blink of an eye with us barely doing a scratch to him/them. Some nights, you couldn't even reach the goblins without getting PKed again. It was the most frustrating experience ever. I felt like the sacrificial lamb offered to slaughter for the greater amusement of relentless bullies.
I toughed it out for a while, knowing from the get go I wouldn't renew my subscription. It was shocking to see myself cussing out those PKs. But in truth, what bothered me wasn't getting PKed. It was the fact that I was helpless, the fact that I had no way of honing my skills before I was thrown to the wolves. The fact that these guys knew it and abused the heck out of it. Those PKs were a minority, but their presence was overwhelming. And because Darkfall's UI is so different (quite unique and interesting), it's an extra barrier that made things even harder.
In the end, it just reaffirmed (to me) what I've always believed. When it comes to PvM and PvP it's always about choices. I chose not to be farmed by the PKs in Darkfall and cancelled my subscription. It's both my gain and my loss. Many others have toughed it out and experienced some of the cool other content in the game. To me, it wasn't worth the aggravation and I'm ok with that "loss". Similarly, players in UO and most other MMOs out there, can make the choice to exclusively PvM or to PvP as well. It is your choice whether or not to expose yourself to danger. If you choose not to, then you also choose not to have access to certain rewards (other than buying them where applicable). But be grateful that in those other games you at least have a safe environment where you can learn and grow before you face the beast. Because at the end of the day, the beast is really just another Joe who has been doing it a bit longer than you and has learned a few tricks along the way.
There simply never seems to be any way around the irreconcilable differences between PvMers and PvPers. The hatred and venom between them is mind boggling at times. So while chilling at my parents' house, I stumbled on an old movie I had loved when I was a teenager called Enemy Mine and I couldn't help but draw the parallel. The story is about this human pilot fighting an alien enemy. Both end up crashing on a hostile, abandoned planet and are forced to cooperate in order to survive. Through their hardships, they get to know each other, understand and respect their differences. From mortal enemies they became more than brothers because they learned to view the world through the other one's eyes and realized being different doesn't mean being bad.
PvP isn't for everyone but it's not because you do that you're necessarily a jerk. And it's not because you don't that you're automatically a wimp. Some people are vegetarians, others love meat. They're still people and one isn't better than the other. Trying to walk in the other guy's shoes doesn't mean it will grow on you. Some things aren't meant for everyone, but it could at least help you realize that the other guy is your normal every day Joe, cool friend, good brother, good husband, good neighbor. Just a dude who is different, like that Drac from the movie was.
Being mainly a PvPer myself, every time I see these threads, I systematically have to fight back the "here comes the whine" (+ rolls eyes) reaction. Especially in a game like UO where 75% of the content is exclusively PvP-free. It blows my mind when PvMers begrudge any crumbs tossed the PvPers' way. Of course there should be PvP-exclusive rewards, otherwise where is the gratification? Would a PvMer fight a challenging (though fun) boss mob more than once if there was no reward at the end of the day?
When it comes to PvP, and in the case on the forums, PKing, it's usually up to the designers to provide their players with ways to limit the "inconvenience" to those who do not wish to PvP or to set up a smooth learning curve so the barrier to entry isn't too brutal. Some games succeed at it better than others. And some, by design, not so much. Darkfall is the perfect example.
I want to believe I'm not wimp when it comes to taking a beating (in game!). But when I tried Darkfall, I experienced exactly what PvMers describe feeling when forced into a PvP situation (that they usually lose) when simply trying to PvM. In Darkfall, there are no safe zones even in noob towns, anywhere, period. When you die, you lose absolutely everything (except your noobie weapon that you can't gain skills with). And every time I would step out of town to fight the (much too rare) goblins or trolls to level a bit, one or two PKs would show up and rape 10 noobs in the blink of an eye with us barely doing a scratch to him/them. Some nights, you couldn't even reach the goblins without getting PKed again. It was the most frustrating experience ever. I felt like the sacrificial lamb offered to slaughter for the greater amusement of relentless bullies.
I toughed it out for a while, knowing from the get go I wouldn't renew my subscription. It was shocking to see myself cussing out those PKs. But in truth, what bothered me wasn't getting PKed. It was the fact that I was helpless, the fact that I had no way of honing my skills before I was thrown to the wolves. The fact that these guys knew it and abused the heck out of it. Those PKs were a minority, but their presence was overwhelming. And because Darkfall's UI is so different (quite unique and interesting), it's an extra barrier that made things even harder.
In the end, it just reaffirmed (to me) what I've always believed. When it comes to PvM and PvP it's always about choices. I chose not to be farmed by the PKs in Darkfall and cancelled my subscription. It's both my gain and my loss. Many others have toughed it out and experienced some of the cool other content in the game. To me, it wasn't worth the aggravation and I'm ok with that "loss". Similarly, players in UO and most other MMOs out there, can make the choice to exclusively PvM or to PvP as well. It is your choice whether or not to expose yourself to danger. If you choose not to, then you also choose not to have access to certain rewards (other than buying them where applicable). But be grateful that in those other games you at least have a safe environment where you can learn and grow before you face the beast. Because at the end of the day, the beast is really just another Joe who has been doing it a bit longer than you and has learned a few tricks along the way.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Anticipation
Whenever a new game or expansion is about to be released, fans are always dying with curiosity and anticipation. Will it be as good as we hope or worse than we expect? But one thing people often don't realize is that the Devs are just as excited and anxious, for pretty much the same reasons!
Players complain about being bound by the NDA when they wish they could share what they're testing with their buddies, but imagine designing something for months and having to keep quiet about it? This is when we finally get to show off those (hopefully!) cool features we secretly worked on. It's also when we find out if it was a hit or a miss.
Since we're still frantically working on finishing some of the features, the content is being delivered in stages. I can tell you that there's nothing worse than realizing that one of your features isn't going to make the next publish because of whatever bug. Whether the bug is your fault or someone else's is totally irrelevant. It's just disappointing. You know annoyed you feel when you're waiting for a highly anticipated patch just to be told the Devs delayed by another week? However valid or not the reason for the delay, you still feel cheated. So we're all in the same boat, just for different reasons.
But for our features that do make it, there's a mix of dread and excitement about how it will be received. I won't lie, after the last publish I was all over the forums reading players' comments about their first impression of the latest additions. Did we live up to their expectations? Exceeded or majorly failed?
After that though comes the "time to bang your head on the wall". Silly things such as "we would love to test this but you guys forgot to give us the tool to craft it with". Or better yet, "sure, I'll fight the boss monster if you guys would be so kind to put a doorway in". And we're like: how the heck did we forget that?! Silly stuff that makes you want to kick yourself. We're just as frustrated that you're not able to try some of the stuff. More so even, because our oversight caused it.
I spent the week-end beta testing on my normal player account. There's nothing more enlightening than to be down in the trenches with the rest of the guys, especially when they have no idea who you are. You share their pain on the mobs that are way overpowered or so easy they bore you to death. I've said this before and this week-end reinforced that conviction further: you cannot understand your players' pain unless you experience it first hand. You HAVE to play your own game.
Next week will be crazy. There are a lot of bugs to fix from the previous push. And from my own experience this week-end, a lot of tweaks and balance are needed to get some of the features to go from functional to fun. But there are also more features I want to get in so I better find a way to meet the cut off date somehow! Because I'm a big kid, and I just can't wait to show off the new toys we get to play with! :D
Players complain about being bound by the NDA when they wish they could share what they're testing with their buddies, but imagine designing something for months and having to keep quiet about it? This is when we finally get to show off those (hopefully!) cool features we secretly worked on. It's also when we find out if it was a hit or a miss.
Since we're still frantically working on finishing some of the features, the content is being delivered in stages. I can tell you that there's nothing worse than realizing that one of your features isn't going to make the next publish because of whatever bug. Whether the bug is your fault or someone else's is totally irrelevant. It's just disappointing. You know annoyed you feel when you're waiting for a highly anticipated patch just to be told the Devs delayed by another week? However valid or not the reason for the delay, you still feel cheated. So we're all in the same boat, just for different reasons.
But for our features that do make it, there's a mix of dread and excitement about how it will be received. I won't lie, after the last publish I was all over the forums reading players' comments about their first impression of the latest additions. Did we live up to their expectations? Exceeded or majorly failed?
After that though comes the "time to bang your head on the wall". Silly things such as "we would love to test this but you guys forgot to give us the tool to craft it with". Or better yet, "sure, I'll fight the boss monster if you guys would be so kind to put a doorway in". And we're like: how the heck did we forget that?! Silly stuff that makes you want to kick yourself. We're just as frustrated that you're not able to try some of the stuff. More so even, because our oversight caused it.
I spent the week-end beta testing on my normal player account. There's nothing more enlightening than to be down in the trenches with the rest of the guys, especially when they have no idea who you are. You share their pain on the mobs that are way overpowered or so easy they bore you to death. I've said this before and this week-end reinforced that conviction further: you cannot understand your players' pain unless you experience it first hand. You HAVE to play your own game.
Next week will be crazy. There are a lot of bugs to fix from the previous push. And from my own experience this week-end, a lot of tweaks and balance are needed to get some of the features to go from functional to fun. But there are also more features I want to get in so I better find a way to meet the cut off date somehow! Because I'm a big kid, and I just can't wait to show off the new toys we get to play with! :D
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Dilemma
Design vision and player wishes often seem to clash. Sometimes it's a minor difference in opinion/expectation, sometimes it's fairly significant. And that can be seen in some of the heated posts on game forums. Players wonder why the heck we don't just give them what they want. Some designers will take the "cuz I said so" approach while some will take the "there's a good reason, just trust me" approach.
I personally believe in the honest, open dialog approach. But I understand why so many don't. Frankly, players chew you up regardless so it's reasonable to ask yourself: why bother?
As designers, we have to strive not to fall into the: I'm gonna do this because I can, I got the power and because that's what "I" like. Which is somewhat paradoxical as I also consider designers to be artists and I do not believe an artist should bastardize his art to please others. He should be true to his vision and let others discover its beauty.
But then, we're not truly artists, are we? I guess we're more like scriptwriters on a TV series who have this (hopefully) awesome story to deliver in so many episodes. Sometimes we need to adjust some characters or events based on our audience's response. I remember thinking that when I watched the cast interviews of Battle Star Galactica before the finale. They were saying how Anders (who was only meant to have a small 2-3 episode role) was turned into a main character in reaction to the fans hating him so much for hooking up with Kara (I hated him for it too and ended up loving him by the end of the series!).
Like scriptwriters, we cater to an audience that gives almost instant feedback throughout the creation process. Sometimes our response will go against their wishes and still work out for the best (as in BSG) and sometimes it won't. But invariably, the fans' voices will influence the direction we take, sometimes steering us in a different path than originally intended.
In UO, I've been facing that same dilemma, namely with the gardeners. My vision as a designer, which was also shared by many on the team, isn't shared by quite a few of the gardeners. A bug introduced a way for players to grow some plants in hues we didn't want them because frankly they are an eye sore. While the bug was quickly fixed, we decided not to revert the few "ugly plants" they had obtained during the bug, since we figured that would be the end of it. But turns out players remained with a number of colored seeds that allow them to keep growing those horrors and cross-pollinating them, which makes me cringe beyond words.
So I looked into the code on how to revert all existing ones and neuter the remaining offensive seeds. Once I found the solution, I went to the gardeners forums to make a post telling them the fix for these abominations was on its way! But what I found was a really long thread of excited players sharing their experiments results, building up cross-pollination charts, giving each other tips on how to achieve certain hues and certain breeds. It was like watching a bunch of kids in a toy store. I had this strange mix of major annoyance, amusement and pride at how nice the kids were playing with each other.
And I just didn't have the heart to post... After thinking about it long and hard, I just reverted the "fix". It's still a hard to swallow humble pie but if it doesn't create imbalances and is just a matter of personal preferences, sometimes it's ok to let design vision take the backseat.
I personally believe in the honest, open dialog approach. But I understand why so many don't. Frankly, players chew you up regardless so it's reasonable to ask yourself: why bother?
As designers, we have to strive not to fall into the: I'm gonna do this because I can, I got the power and because that's what "I" like. Which is somewhat paradoxical as I also consider designers to be artists and I do not believe an artist should bastardize his art to please others. He should be true to his vision and let others discover its beauty.
But then, we're not truly artists, are we? I guess we're more like scriptwriters on a TV series who have this (hopefully) awesome story to deliver in so many episodes. Sometimes we need to adjust some characters or events based on our audience's response. I remember thinking that when I watched the cast interviews of Battle Star Galactica before the finale. They were saying how Anders (who was only meant to have a small 2-3 episode role) was turned into a main character in reaction to the fans hating him so much for hooking up with Kara (I hated him for it too and ended up loving him by the end of the series!).
Like scriptwriters, we cater to an audience that gives almost instant feedback throughout the creation process. Sometimes our response will go against their wishes and still work out for the best (as in BSG) and sometimes it won't. But invariably, the fans' voices will influence the direction we take, sometimes steering us in a different path than originally intended.
In UO, I've been facing that same dilemma, namely with the gardeners. My vision as a designer, which was also shared by many on the team, isn't shared by quite a few of the gardeners. A bug introduced a way for players to grow some plants in hues we didn't want them because frankly they are an eye sore. While the bug was quickly fixed, we decided not to revert the few "ugly plants" they had obtained during the bug, since we figured that would be the end of it. But turns out players remained with a number of colored seeds that allow them to keep growing those horrors and cross-pollinating them, which makes me cringe beyond words.
So I looked into the code on how to revert all existing ones and neuter the remaining offensive seeds. Once I found the solution, I went to the gardeners forums to make a post telling them the fix for these abominations was on its way! But what I found was a really long thread of excited players sharing their experiments results, building up cross-pollination charts, giving each other tips on how to achieve certain hues and certain breeds. It was like watching a bunch of kids in a toy store. I had this strange mix of major annoyance, amusement and pride at how nice the kids were playing with each other.
And I just didn't have the heart to post... After thinking about it long and hard, I just reverted the "fix". It's still a hard to swallow humble pie but if it doesn't create imbalances and is just a matter of personal preferences, sometimes it's ok to let design vision take the backseat.
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