The popularity of MMO gaming has seen a sort of renaissance in 2008; we have watched the release of
much anticipated and hyped titles along with major expansions from a couple of fan favorites. Some of
these releases soared into fame and popularity amongst the gaming community and others fell flat on their
faces. Unfortunately for us we dont have crystal balls that predict which games and game features will
rocket into success, but we can look back and point our fingers and laugh. Hard.
Ten Ton Hammer presents: 2008s Best Game Concepts with the Worst Execution.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Realm versus Realm
Has anyone noticed that game names are getting longer, more complicated, and riddled with punctuation? Our first game displays all of these haughty features and so much more! WAR was expected to knock World of Warcraft right down from its long held pedestal.
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Umm..Hello? Anyone?
The guys over at Mythic were experienced, sure of themselves, and holding the license to one of the most popular fantasy series of all time. How could it go wrong? Traditionally, heavily PvP-based MMOGs find a limited audience, but it was thought that the unique feel of WAR would win over the masses.
For those that didnt play Dark Age of Camelot, RvR was a totally new concept. The idea was that this intriguing style of play would draw players in and hold their attention without the aid of silly things like compelling PvE gameplay. Did it work?
To be honest, scenarios and open RvR areas are amazing ideas and fantastic when executed correctly. However, faction imbalance and poor population wreaked havoc with the implementation. Scenario wait times were tremendous on many servers, assuming that you ever managed to get into a scenario at all. RvR battle areas were just plain dead except for the wandering stragglers completing their sad little quests. The initial absence of RvR gameplay left little else to do for most players and ended up disappointing many.
What could have been done better? Its hard to find balance in a population, especially during the first few weeks after release when everyone on the planet is just trying on the game. Couple this with a balance sensitive feature and we have a train wreck in the making. Not a whole lot could have been done to avoid it in the early days except maybe control server options and put caps on faction choices, but these limitations likely would have driven players away anyway. Most of these issues have been or are being dealt with now in a reasonable manner, and those who managed to hang on during the turmoil are enjoying a whole new RvR experience.
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Launch
This was another game that was supposed to be huge. Pre-order sales were insane and hype was off the chart! Funcom had in their chilly Norwegian hands the most anticipated MMORPG of all time and then launch happened.
Making a game is difficult. We know that. Sometimes features get pulled and concepts go unfinished in the name of taking a money sink and turning it into a money maker. There comes a point, though, where trimming away a little bit of crust ends up taking out a big chunk of the sandwich and that is exactly what happened with AoC. Everything Age of Conan should have been was contained within the first 40 levels of the game and then nothing.
Players were finding that once they made it into the mid and upper levels that there just wasnt a whole lot to do that was even remotely different from the previous levels. PvP was lacking, crafting was confusing and complicated, and exploration was limited. The most anticipated game of the year ended up being hailed as a dud.
What could have been done better? Let me start off by saying that I love this game in unnatural and likely illegal ways, but even I am not blind to the mess that was launch. Pushing launch back by just a few months to address technical issues with players, in-game bugs, and lack of higher end content would have benefitted the game immensely. Progress to correct these shortcomings has been made by leaps and bounds over the last few months, and we are finally seeing the vision being realized. That said, fans are fickle and we have yet to see a game overcome a bad launch. Age of Conan has a small and devout following still, but it will never be what it could have been.
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Low-end Content
With more than 11 million subscribers worldwide, there seemingly isnt much that the king of online gaming can do wrong, but alas no one is quite THAT perfect.
Wrath of the Lich King is the second expansion to come out of Blizzard for the wildly popular World of Warcraft MMOG.
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Interested in a new class?
Only if your
current character is high enough!
Starting out as a rather simple game, no one would have guessed that it would hit mainstream pop culture so fast or easily, but WoW managed to bring online gaming out of the hidden depths of the chubby teen boys bedroom and into the lives of countless households all over the world.
So how did this giant flub up? Yeah, we get that WoW doesnt need new subscribers, but is pushing an expansion that only caters to the high-end and well-played subscription base really all that cool? Wrath of the Lich King is everything that any dedicated WoW player could ever want more of the exact same. The regurgitation of the same old content does nothing to beckon in players who have left out of boredom or an intolerance to Chuck Norris jokes. The most interesting content, new areas, quests, and the new playable class are all only available to high-end players.
What could have been done better? Toss us a bone! There are still some people that dont play WoW and even some that play so casually that they havent reached high-end just yet. Adding a little bit of new content for low-end players and making the new class available to everyone can still bring in the next million players or woo back those that who wondered over to greener pastures.
EverQuest and EverQuest II Station Cash
Games are made for one reason and one reason only; to make someone money. Coming up with new and interesting ways to make money off of their games is the job of Sony Online Entertainment. SOE has gotten a bad rap for a number of years now after being caught up in the drama of the NGE for Star Wars Galaxies, and being known as the foolish folks that implemented the widely joked about /pizza command, but not even the most jaded of SOE subscribers saw this new feature coming.
Station Cash is the brand new addition to EQ and EQ2 that allows a player to spend their real life, hard earned cash to purchase in-game items. This makes SOE a bit more money and gives the player-base an opportunity to purchase items for fun or convenience.
The public announcement of Station Cash was met with mixed reaction. Those who were opposed did so openly and vehemently likely frightening the supporters into silence, so it was mostly complaints and knee-jerk reactions that made their way onto the official forums. The most well thought out argument against Station Cash is that a monthly subscriber shouldnt have to pay incremental fees to access some features in the game. Its hard for consumers to change pace when the rules have been set for so long and changing a business model this far into the game seems almost like a sleight of hand trick at a bad magic show.
What could have been done differently? The polite thing to do would have been to ease the players into this rather than rush to clean up after the initial freak out. The abrupt posting of the Station Cash FAQ and support forum sent players into a frenzy before they had any idea what it all meant. Communication with the fans is never a bad thing and when people pay you money, it is always the right thing. Since the announcement, SOE has done a good job at easing some of the biggest fears of the current player-base. Subscribers have been reassured that the addition of minor micro-transaction doesnt mean that these games are going to free-to-play business model and that the market will only sell non-game breaking items, which is all very good news for the diehard fans.
So what have we learned from these gaming faux pas from the last year? A few wise adages come to mind: Good things come to those who wait, never judge a book by its cover, even the mighty can stumble, and a penny saved is a penny earned.
Enjoy the rest of 2008 and we will see you all in 2009 for another year of game launches and expansions with
all the gaming industry news that you could possibly desire!
