Creating the Never
Ending MMO
By Shayalyn
|
Brad McQuaid,
Sigil’s CEO and Vanguard’s executive producer, is
quoted in my
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=421">interview
article saying that he dreams of designing the
“never ending MMO,” and that he thinks it could be
Vanguard. And while the idea of a never ending MMO is
certainly good news for Vanguard fans, creating one means that the
development team must provide a constant flow of new content to the
game. How that content is delivered involves important decisions.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways massively multi-player
online games traditionally deliver new content to their players.
The Live Update
Live updates are both a blessing and a curse to gamers. While
live updates mean new content, they also mean server downtimes and
delays, potentially lengthy downloads, and the occasional frustrating
change to the game that doesn’t sit well with many players.
In most MMOGs, live updates are the responsibility of the live team. This
is the development team that’s works on keeping the current
game fresh (by adding new content) and playable (by tweaking and fixing
existing content). Live updates are free and go out to all subscribers.
Sometimes they’re little more than patches and tweaks. At
other times they add some fairly substantial new goodies to the game.
Few gamers complain about live updates...unless, of course, the updates
are handled poorly or their favorite class has been swatted
with the nerf bat.
The Adventure Pack
Adventure packs made their debut with EverQuest II. The concept is
simple--the game’s live team puts together substantial
updates which include things such as new adventuring areas. These new
features are considered optional--they’re nice to have, but
not required for progression. (Or features required for progression
such as new game mechanics are patched in at no charge.) Adventure
packs are downloadable just like live updates, but unlike live updates
they’re not free. Adventure packs come with a small charge,
typically under $10. The intent of adventure packs is to provide a
significant amount of new content without requiring a full expansion.
Some players balk at the idea of adventure packs because they feel the
content they deliver should be free via live updates, and they fear
that adventure packs diminish the work that the team does on fixing
existing shortcomings in the live game. Another common concern is that
a game should deliver enough content to last from one expansion to the
next, and that if it doesn’t the game hasn’t
delivered what the players paid for in the first place.
The Expansion
Expansions are a much bigger deal as they add signifcantly more content
than either a live update or an adventure pack. Expansions are more
likely to add things like new game mechanics, continents, playable
races, and classes. EQ2’s
href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=983">Echoes
of Faydwer expansion, for example, adds the Fae as a playable
race, and brings back familiar locations from classic EverQuest such as
the tree city of Kelethin. Even the original EverQuest, still going
strong 7 years after its 1999 launch (talk about the never-ending MMO),
just launched an expansion: The Serpent’s Spine.
Blizzard’s first expansion for World of Warcraft,
target="_blank"
href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=511&meid=173">The
Burning Crusade, will launch in mid-January with two new
playable races.
Expansions naturally cost more than adventure packs ($30-40 typically)
and they offer much more new content. Vanguard will have its own
development team dedicated to working specifically on expansion
content. McQuaid has said that Vanguard’s expansions plans
are already mapped out for at least the next 7 years, and that Sigil
hopes to release expansions at the rate of one per year.
A Matter of Opinion
When it comes to adding new content, few gamers would consider
expansions unnecessary, and in fact most of us look forward to them.
Few gamers complain about live updates, either. That leaves us with the
adventure pack. How do gamers feel about this model?
Personally, I’m not crazy about adventure packs, but
I’d be more willing to pay for them if I knew that they added
something worthwhile (yet not essential) to the game. EQ2’s
first adventure pack left me with a bad taste in my mouth because I
felt it didn’t deliver enough content to make it worth paying
for. This has made me wary of supporting the adventure pack model in
general.
I also feel that games should launch with the content promised for the
game’s initial cost and subscription cost. It’s
true that a certain subset of power gamers will burn through content
faster than any developer can produce it, but if the general gaming
population runs out of content before it’s time for an
expansion, or if that content isn’t delivered via free live
updates, then the development team hasn’t delivered at all.
However, I can acknowledge that adventure packs could be a good thing
if done right. Obviously, the more money a game’s live team
has to work with, the more spectacular things they can make happen in
live updates and adventure packs. Adventure packs can bring an
additional revenue source above and beyond game sales and subscription
fees. That said, adventure packs should only be used when issues with
the game such as broken game mechanics and tweaking are handled
efficiently via live updates, and when the game is effectively
delivering enough content to last from release to expansions and so on.
Expansion packs should be a bonus, not a cure.
What’s your opinion on adventure packs? Vote in our poll and
share your thoughts in our forum.
border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="2">
What’s
your opinion of adventure packs?
style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">
- I like them. It’s a good way to get new
content without having to buy an expansion. - I’m with Shay--adventure packs are okay
only if they’re done right. - I’m skeptical. I guess I’d have
to wait and see how it worked in Vanguard. - I’m opposed to adventure packs. I
don’t want to pay for new content unless it’s an
expansion. - I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Vote
here and discuss adventure packs and how you would like to
see game updates handled.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Game Page.
