Another year, another game, and another launch.  Players stand, once
again with money in hand eagerly awaiting the next big thing that will be the
answer to all of their gaming needs and desires.  As victims, or perhaps
willing participants, of the hype machine that cranks before the launch of every
game, we find ourselves riding this roller coaster of hype and finding
ourselves let down again and again.  This time the target of our greedy
affection is the long awaited fantasy MMOG, Aion and I fully expect to
see the hype drama play out once again.

I like hype.  I greatly enjoy the build in community excitement before a
launch.  In a matter of months, players come alive across the 'net sharing
in each other's joy and hopes, making new friends and planning ahead for those
glorious days when we can all log in and enjoy our game.  Hype is a double
edged sword though, and if the pre-launch high is the blissful night at the club
then the days after the launch are surely the hangover.

Hype has a specific anatomy and as with anything that you choose to change,
you can avoid the post-launch let down and go on to have a friendly relationship
with Aion, or any other game you may want to play in the future. 
All it takes is a little perspective.

The Meeting

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Beautiful imagery is designed to get your attention

It could be a news piece you spot online, perhaps a friend shares a link to
some screenshots.  It always starts differently but the feeling is always
the same.  You see a game that has promise written all over it and you put
it on your list of "must follow" games.  If you're anything like myself,
games come and go from that list with scary regularity.  Fans know what
they like and they know what will appeal to them fairly early on.  Even in
the concept phase, we feel that little tingle that tells us that this could be
the one!

Development studios worth their weight know how to play the marketing game
this early in development.  They trickle out small bits of information that
really doesn't share details but only cleverly teases you.  Hook players
early and hook them well!  BioWare and Funcom are currently doing amazing
jobs of hyping their games, Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Secret
World respectively.  Aion has certainly seen a nice build of
hype, one of the first of this magnitude for an Asian based MMOGs crossing over
borders.

Following games early on is fine and dandy but don't get caught in the trap
of thinking that concept alone will bring you what you crave in a game. 
Sure, Star Wars: The Old Republic is an amazing idea but if you are a
sword and sorcery devoted player, blaster fights and space travel may not do it
for you so why invest your time and energy in something that could never win
your heart or your monthly cash?

The Courtship

The games that have gotten past your initial scrutiny continue their assault
of woo worthy material and dang, don't those screenshots look really good? 
Whether you are an old hand at game development or if this is your first, this
is really the time you get sucked in.  Community sites post relentless
amounts of interviews and convention coverage to tantalize and entice gamers,
screenshots are shared regularly, and the occasionally tidbit is leaked that
make us feel we are seeing something special.

The greatest build in hype happens at this point and the frenzy can be nearly
overwhelming.  So many of the aspects of the game click in all the right
places and while details are still vague on most of the important features, we
still can't help but get wrapped up in the momentum.  Age of Conan
is a great example of why getting too caught up at this stage is a bad idea. 
During this time, open beta participants saw the well thought out first 20
levels of the game but prior to launch, many did not see beyond that and the
assumption is that everything in the game is just as lovely as what developers
shared with us.  Unfortunately, AoC had an awful lot of problems that were
artfully buried in mid and end game and the hype, to the tune of over 700,000
pre-orders, bit back in a post-launch let down that I had never experienced
before.

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Age of Conan's Tortage - Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper to find the flaws

Where do we go wrong?  The gamers' assumption should always be that
gaming companies are putting their best foot forward.  These games are
their children, and just like a doting mother, they can't always see just how
ugly their baby truly is.  MMOGs are a business and while it may be our
passion, for the suits that hold the purse strings it can be less about vision
and the integrity of a game and more about bottom figures and deadlines.  I
often say though that gaming companies cannot earn what we don't give them and
it is every consumer's right and responsibility to make clear that unfinished
games are not tolerable by choosing to spend our gaming dollar wisely.

The Honeymoon

Sweet, sweet destiny!  Launch finally arrives and like the dedicated
fans we are, we log in and joyfully chuck away hours, days, or weeks of our
lives to this great pastime.  There is nothing in this world better to me
than the first couple of months in a new game and even if it isn't the right
game for me in the long run, I'm perfectly willing to enjoy the ride.

This is where a lot of players will start seeing the minor (and sometimes
major) flaws in the game.  We can ignore them for a short time, but
eventually we have to deal with it, particularly if we have rushed into end game
and have exhausted much of the playable content.  The newness can sustain a
gamer for a while, but once the newness is gone...

The Let Down

The hype machine is the greatest blessing and the great curse for games. 
Without hype, hundreds of thousands of players wouldn't even bother taking a
look, smashing games before they even get a chance to win us over.  With
hype, hundreds of thousands of players get sucked in only to find out that they
weren't quite getting what they bargained for.

I believe that forums, both official and community based, are a great social
experiment centering on the let down.  The difference between pre-release
and post-launch forum activity is like day and night.  The vibe turns
around so quickly from one of uplifting excitement to one of naked disdain that
one would hardly believe it was the same community if they hadn't witnessed it
for themselves.

So then how do we avoid our own let down and why do we even want to?

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Enjoy what you can, while you can

First, realize that there is no perfect game.  Even the best game in the
world will not be flawless and it will not appeal to everyone.  That's not
the game's fault or the gamers' fault, it's just a matter of fact that is much
easier to deal with once accepted.  Once you stop looking for the perfect
game and start looking for a good game for you, things will go a lot smoother. 
This does not mean you have to settle for subpar games but it does mean that
you need to understand that flaws are simply a part of, well, everything.

Second, enjoy games for the sake of gaming! You don't have to slap a ring on
it and marry it, so as long as you think of each game that you pick up as a
casual relationship then you don't have to feel bad when it becomes time to walk
away.  Games are meant to be fun and even if it ends up being not the right
one for you, you can still partake in the many blessing of MMOGs.

In the end, your gaming experience will always be what you make of it. 
No, there really isn't a holy grail of games out there waiting for you but there
is an amazing variety of MMOGs that have a lot to offer if you just ride the
wave of gaming goodness and stop searching for what you may never find. 
Take this food for thought with you as you make your way into another release. 
Aion may not your "happily ever after", but it might just make a great
"for right now".