The End of the Line
by Medeor
<!-- if (!document.phpAds_used) document.phpAds_used = ','; phpAds_random = new String (Math.random()); phpAds_random = phpAds_random.substring(2,11); document.write ("<" + "script language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript' src='"); document.write ("http://ads.tentonhammer.com/adjs.php?n=" + phpAds_random); document.write ("&what=zone:93"); document.write ("&exclude=" + document.phpAds_used); if (document.referrer) document.write ("&referer=" + escape(document.referrer)); document.write ("'><" + "/script>"); //-->
The finish line is
just the starting line of the next race. The end is just the beginning.
Oh heck, insert your own silly romantic line here about how all things
old are new again. These old clichés are just as true in
life as they are in games. But what determines the finish line in a
massively multi-player online game?
The reality is, when I start a game, I will keep going until
it’s no longer fun. Sometimes that occurs within the first 20
levels; sometimes it’s a lot longer; and sometimes I make it
all the way to the [Cue the soft orchestral tones getting louder and
louder. Okay, now add the choir and say it with me with awe and
star-struck-ness in your voice please...] End Game.
Game developers have to make choices when creating their end game
content; they can go in a number of design directions. Game developers
know that those players looking to the end of the journey as their
starting point will race until they get there and then scream,
“Where’s the content?!” When it comes to
players looking for the value in the journey, not the destination,
developers need to find ways to keep them engrossed all the way to the
end game. It’s all about choices, resources and philosophy.
Vanguard has some additional hurdles to overcome because the philosophy
behind the game is to create an open world with no instances. This will
create significant challenges in regard to what they will be able to
implement in end game dungeons, etc.
From an outsider’s perspective, it appears that game
developers spend considerable time on the entryway into a game. Their
goal is to get you immersed so that you have a wonderful experience
regardless of what type of gamer you are. Then once you’re
hooked, they want you to look forward to garnering those additional
levels until you hit the magical apex of the online gaming world know
as the End Game. They’ve spent all this time getting you
there; now how will they keep you? When the last shout of
“Ding!” floats off into the distance and all of the
Hoorays, Grats, and Woots have died off, where will end game players
go, and what will they do? How can the developers make sure you, the
monthly-fee-paying player, will stay with their game?
At launch and up to the first sets of major content updates or
expansions, the developer has some time to work the end game into
something that will take shape after players start moving through the
system. But they need to start with something. It appears that there
are really two traditional end-game scenarios: creating raiding
dungeons; or the Hail Mary, open-ended,
please-let-us-figure-it-out-later play known as the Expansion Pack.
Raiding Dungeons
You know me, I’m all about helping you, and today’s
tip is that if you rearrange the letters of “raiding
dungeon” using hexadecimal equivalents, you get
“max level pacifier.” How else can you explain the
desire to play a game that takes you all over an artfully crafted world
(or a whole bunch of worlds) for level after level and then allows you
to be satisfied climbing down the same hole over and over again hoping
for some rare gem to drop in your hands? I have been part of a raiding
guilds and I have to admit that they can be fun, but they can also be
very tedious. This is one area where game development consistency would
be nice. If the end game raids are merely an extension of what has been
required to get to max level then there really isn’t a big
difference once you get there. However if you have been playing in
small groups or soloing all the way to max level and then you have to
raid to continue improving your character, well, that’s just
wrong in my book. (To steal a BoomJack-ism: “Blizzard,
I’m looking at you.”)
Throwing the Hail Mary
The other option that developers have when creating an end game design
is to create a hazy future out there and then fill it in as they go.
This is very common since the developers should be spending their time
on the opening chapters of the book. The problem is that the end game
becomes a slapped-together finish that’s disjointed with the
rest of the story. I’ve seen this numerous times in books
when you can tell the author is up against a deadline and
doesn’t bring the story all the way back around leaving loads
of issues dangling. Very similar to the (oh, deadline from Shay, I
gotta go, brb)…..
See, it doesn’t feel right does it?
So where does Vanguard stand in regards to this? The good news and the
bad news is that they are currently sitting squarely in each camp since
the game is still in development. From what I have read
(Shay’s latest
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=414">road
trip report is chock-full of goodness) it appears
that the Sigil team is sticking with their holistic approach of
starting at the 30,000 view and then zeroing in to create the details
that will all roll up into the vision of the team. With this in mind,
as well as Sigil CEO Brad McQuaid’s posts and screenshots,
this game will help you learn how to play (and you will die trying)
with an eye towards the next levels. In teaching this method is called
building blocks. In games I think it’s called...building
blocks. As with quite a bit about Telon, we don’t know what
will await us when we get to higher levels. Heck, most of us just want
to get in the game and see the low level fun and excitement.
Segue to
Medeor’s Playhouse
I have my own thoughts for a script of how end game designing looks in
real life:
Setting:
Medeor’s Sadistic Game Development Inc.
Picture the boardroom (or break room) discussion at my game
developer’s office:
Dev1: I
just spent 30 hours on a quest chain that will lead the player on a
leisurely pace through the countryside, and which intertwines an epic
tale of love, struggle and redemption. This is one of the 400 quests
we’ve worked so hard on to aid the players in learning their
characters and understanding the world around them.
Medeor:
Dude, they’re just going to use some third party site to
research the quest, blow through that in about 10 minutes without
reading the script, and wonder how to get to level X faster. We should
just use the same quest verbiage for each one – it would save
a ton of time and we could cut and paste them for all levels until the
end.
Dev1: But
we haven’t even figured out what we’re going to do
with them when they reach level X! We need them to wind around the
countryside, dern it!
Medeor:
Bah! At the end we tell them all it’s a big Chutes and
Ladders game and they just landed on a Chute and are back to level
1--too bad, so sad, welcome to Altville.
Are you that player who
races to the end game, or are you more about the journey? Let me know
on the href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?p=1227#post1227">forums style="font-style: italic;">. And this is a great
opportunity to try and stake your claim on a beta spot! Make sure you
go to the forums and post early and often. The more you href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=364">enter,
the better your chances of winning.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Game Page.
