Micro or Massive?

Updates VS. Expansions in the MMO Market

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There’s an itch going around lately, something that people around the industry are talking about in open public or behind people’s backs. It’s a dirty little thing that everyone is interested in for one reason or another but sometimes are too ashamed to admit they are interested in it. This little thing would be none other then World of Warcraft’s Burning Crusade, the first major expansion to the steamrollering MMO of WoW. Is an expansion worth all the time and effort involved by the Developers, or would the time be better spent in producing continual content in ‘micro’ packs.

When it comes to Warhammer Online, so far we’re only hearing things about the physical release of the game with almost no emphasis being placed on the production of additional content such as expansions or updates. To date the most we have really heard about EA Mythic’s plans for Warhammer Online expansions is the fact that some of the other loved Warhammer Races are expected to be released in future expansions. Now personally I would be a huge fan of a “Rise of the Rat” expansion to Warhammer Online, introducing my favorite Skaveny friends but at the same time there’s always the question if a “Year of the Rat” would be better?

The big reason that expansions have always interested me, as a player is because of the syndrome that can only be described as a “child at Christmas”. Even with a game like Warcraft where there has been a decent stead of updates over the past two years, I still find that the Burning Crusade offers something of a treat to any dedicated fan of the game. The only other game I found that offered such a treat when it came to online expansions was EVE Online. This was because it offered large upgrades for free, and this content was always enough to make huge strides in the game’s development and not just a small update like other MMO’s are known for producing. It’s because so many MMO’s right now are producing content based around either major expansions or micro updates that they get into situations where half their fanbase becomes angered at how the game is managed, as the split for continual VS. Expansion updates seems to be a good 50/50 split in my eyes.

Micro updates seem to be popular in certain MMO’s and from what I’ve seen of Dungeons & Dragons Online there seems to be a lot of continual updates that go by the Micro Update pattern. With a game like Warhammer Online it can be expected that we’ll see quite a few of these updates at first to keep content fresh and the PvP scene that’s so integral in a vibrant state, so players can enjoy the game. As with any Player Vs. Player based game there need to be updates to match any sort of exploit or class imbalance that becomes evident by playing. A lot of players prefer the management that micro updates bring to their respective game as it keeps developers on top of current events with almost immediate changes to things that drastically need changes. The other nice thing about micro updates is that players are always getting new content, and while it may not be a major new piece of content every month, there’s likely something to interest players even the slightest bit in-between more major updates.

Players have been really spoiled by World of Warcraft as after their near six months with no major patches Blizzard came out with a slew of new patches including several new instances and implementations, something I am not certain we can expect from Mythic at this point in development. Obviously with the game not being released it’s hard to guess how well it will be received by the fan base and what kind of support Mythic will have to keep it going, but even if a portion of the existing Warhammer Fantasy fans jump onboard we may be able to expect quite a bit. It would be nice to see Mythic able to pump out monthly content for WAR after its initial launch, and it might not be that too far fetched an idea. Players are always hungry for more content, and the key with MMO’s is always giving them just enough to keep them satiated until your next big patch or expansion comes out.

I honestly can’t say if I prefer micro updates or the more tradition game method of releasing expansions. In the current market there are just so many different options that developers can go with when it comes to maintaining their game; with various different levels of updates that they can go into to support their respective MMO. If you’re a fan of smaller fast paced updates that come out every week, or larger updates filled with days upon days of new content, there might be a place for you when Warhammer Online comes out. It’s just a matter of wait and see at this point… in the meantime feel free to try out Warcraft’s Burning Crusade to keep that itch for new content satisfied, since we know everyone plays WoW nowadays!