Loading... Expansion Appeal

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Posted Tue, Dec 08, 2009 by B. de la Durantaye

Welcome to the 1,224th edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

Among other things, expansions are an important part of a MMOG's lifespan. If there's not enough new content coming in, the game will inevitably wither away. But when is it a good time to expand a game, and how can a developing company keep their players happy and busy so they don't get bored? We take a look at this today in Loading... Expansion Appeal.

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is The Pulse?).

Here are today's top 5 Pulse results:

Biggest movers today:

EverQuest (UP 5 to #14)
Star Trek Online (UP 3 to #11)
Champions Online (down 2 to #15)

Recent Releases

9/22 - Fallen Earth (release date)
9/22 - Aion (release date)
10/8 - Cities XL (release date)
11/3 - Dragon Age: Origins (release date)
11/10 - Final Fantasy XI Ultimate Collection (release date)
12/1 - LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood (expansion)
12/1 - EVE Online: Dominion (expansion)
12/2 - DOFUS 2.0 (upgrade)

Upcoming Releases

12/15 - EverQuest: Underfoot (expansion)
2/2 - Star Trek Online (release date)
2/16 - EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
Early 2010 - APB
Q1 2010 - Global Agenda (release date)

Loading... Daily

Life of a MMOG begins at its launch and ends when there are 300 people left playing. Some say it's not how you come into the world, or even how you leave it, but how you live your life. The same can be said about the games we play. Unlike single player games, you never "beat" the game. And if you do, the developing company has given up on it. It's a constant tug-of-war between players and developers as players rip through content often faster than new content can be developed.

So when's the proper time to launch a full-blown expansion? It really needs to be carefully weighed. How many people are playing your game, and of those, how many have already gone through the existing content? There is always going to be the amazing group of players that will finish content that took years to develop in nine days. (Bill Roper, Cryptic Studios, Champions Online Panel, New York ComicCon '09 - 38m30s) Mostly, though, it's important to consider the bulk of your active player base. Waiting until even 10 percent of the active population are level capped before you start working on an expansion is too late. Plans need to be in the works from launch day, or shortly thereafter. The sooner a devco starts the development process, the sooner it can be packaged and ready to go when it's needed.

Expansions can't be hack jobs either. There has to be a significant amount added to the game to make it viable. As much as players may complain about a "grind," time sinks are extremely important to a game. It's just not humanly possible (at least not with a realistic budget) to launch new solo, group, and raid content as fast as players can blow through it. Not only does the content need to provide enough of a challenge that it will take a good while for players to master, but there needs to be other forms of advancement to keep players busy. Achievements are a good example, but perhaps the best example can be taken from a much older game, EverQuest. In Classic EQ the Alternate Advancement system ensures your players will always have ways to improve their character. With literally thousands of AA options available only the elite few will ever have them capped.

Crafting can be another part of the time sink. The rewards should be good, but the easier you make the crafting aspect of the game, the faster players will advance through it. It's a challenge to make crafting enjoyable, rewarding and time-consuming but it can be done. SOE also hit a home run with their crafting system, this time in EverQuest 2. Advancing to become a level 80 crafter is no small feat. It takes weeks, or more realistically, months to reach maximum level. And it's not a boring "Create All" button. Tradeskill group instances offer quests in which you can bring a group into a private instance and craft for a goal. For instance, a giant robot may have short-circuited and is killing the city's inhabitants, and it's up to the crafters to build a new mega-bot to defeat the evil machine. You'll craft various components to build the bot, and will be able to actually see the new mega-bot slowly being constructed into a fully functional champion droid. The fun part comes at the end of the quest when the robot is complete and the two bots battle to the death. All the while, you'll earn valuable crafting experience and item rewards.

Epic quests are becoming a thing of the past too, and it's a shame to see. There was a time that if you were committed enough you'd be able to progress through a quest that would often take months to complete to earn the best weapons/armor/mounts in the game. More and more games are taking the easy route of simply having all of these items drop in raids, or purchasable through a token merchant who'll take tokens you earn through group content or even solo quests.

With all of these time-sinks ignored it's little wonder players are getting more bored than ever. It takes so little time now to rush through an expansion that they're almost not worth the time investment it takes to create them. That is, unless you're a mega-corp whose fans will buy anything you tell them to.

So, the simple answer to expansions? It all depends on how much gameplay you put into the game previously. If you've rushed out content, don't be surprised to see players attacking your forums demanding more content. If you've thought it through, dangled some carrots appropriately and given players enough optional content to keep them busy for months, then you may have bought yourself enough time to properly develop a new expansion.

Disagree? Tell me in the forums.

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our WoW News Discussion

3.3 to go live tomorrow

Ten Ton Hammer's favorite volunteer WoW moderator, Maegwynn, shared an unofficial report from WoW.com saying that patch 3.3 will "go live tomorrow," which, by the time you read this, will be today. If you're deep in the throes of World of Warcrack withdrawals because the servers are down for patching, then you're not alone--you can congregate in this thread to share your misery with your fellow addicts.

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Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread

"Also looks like an extra long maintenance...1 AM PST/4 AM EST and end at 11 AM PST/2 PM EST. And we all know 11 AM PST/2 PM EST ain't going to happen.

Ethec, you'd best bring in some extra Shetland Ponies. Going to be a busy day here tomorrow. Lots of idle hands going through withdrawals. "

- kitsunegirl
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Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!

9 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG features today! 29 in December! 2,210 in 2009!

New Exclusives, Features, and Guides today at Ten Ton Hammer

Age of Conan Evolved - A Synopsis of The Rise of the Godslayer Preview
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Aion Enchantment Guide
Armor is really the biggest investment you make for your character. Making these investments more worthwhile for longer is what enchantments can do and if you haven’t tried using them yet then you are not getting the most you can out of your gear. Learn more about enchantments in our guide and find out how easily you can get more from your gear.
Aion Cleric PvP Guide
The battlefield is a terrible place, but it's not so terrible for us Clerics. We can outlast anyone if we're not bursted to nothing before we can react, and having resistance spells and chain mail/shields make it all the more easier to ensure the onslaught. We are the one class no PvP squad is complete without, with the very best in group heals and mass resurrection. We cover how to drop the individual classes and some oft-forgotten group tactics in our Ten Ton Hammer guide to the holy man/woman's PvP experience!
Champions Online : Hands On Impressions Part 2 - Mid Levels
Wondering what the mid-levels game play of Champions Online is like? Will it rock, making you dream of spandex, or will it suck, making you want to become a villain yourself to wreak your vengeance upon the world? Your friends at Ten Ton Hammer are here to critically examine that important mid-level range in this MMOG and give you their honest impression of the game as you level from roughly 18 to 32.
Guild Wars 2 Races of Tyria Trailer Q&A with Ree Soesbee - World Designer and Writer
Explore the races of Guild Wars 2 (GW2) with a new video trailer and Q&A with World Designer and Writer Ree Soesbee. In NCsoft's latest release of GW2 information, the five playable races are explored and players gain insight into each race and their respective homelands.
Ten Ton Hammer's Gifts for Gamers 2009
It's the holiday season, and once again we have fun gifts for the gamer in your life, ranging from the practical to the fashionable to the utterly ridiculous but über cool. Since times are tight this year, we have gifts under $20 dominate our list this year. Enjoy the list, and happy holidays from the Ten Ton Hammer team!
The Overpull - "D&D, WoW, and Grues"
The Overpull is here again this week bringing you all of last week's news, an interesting editorial on D&D vs. WoW, and a nice look at Pandas and WoW in our lore corner. How is it even possible to say D&D vs. WoW? I don't know, but The Overpull has done it and you're going to have to read it to find out. So while you're waiting for the servers to come up on this Tuesday have a look at The Overpull.
WoW: Are you an Overachiever?
In a free flowing game like the World of Warcraft there is room for a lot of things going on. Different people play the game differently, some people PvP, some people raid, some people craft, and it seems like there are about a million other things that people can do in the game. One that has taken off with what seems like a life of its own since its launch is the achievement system. With so many players spending so much time and effort on achievements Byron “Messiah” Mudry had to check it out and weigh in with his own opinion.
WoW: Paladin Equipment
Paladins, more than most classes, have a lot of gear to choose from. This is due to the fact that they can pretty much do whatever they would like. After all the only role they can not fill in a group is ranged DPS. However, with all these choices come complications. Which gear is best, which stats are best, how about glyphs and enchants? Which is best for each of the three talent specs? Have no fear, Byron “Messiah” Mudry steps in to keep it nice and simple for everyone. Read on and find out all about Paladin Equipment.