by Chris Noll on Oct 12, 2010
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is the premiere daily MMOG newsletter, only from Ten
Ton Hammer!
Welcome
to the 1,438th
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Today we take a look at the
difference between a lure and a hook in MMO games. Is it more important
to have a cool element to draw players in, or is the hook of fun
gameplay the only thing that needs to be considered? We examine both
elements under differing circumstances today in
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/loading/2010/oct/12">Loading...
Hook, Line and Sinker.
You vote with what you
view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result
is the Ten Ton Pulse (
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/">What
is The Pulse?).
Today's
top 5 Pulse results:
Biggest
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/playerscore">playerscore.com.
As our
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rift/interviews/reader-submitted-questions-part2">
style="font-style: italic;">Rift
Interview series continues, I
started thinking about what draws gamers to the games they play.
Undoubtedly this is the primary component for developers too:
what is their game going to offer to not only get players interested,
but to keep them coming back?
Now certainly
style="font-style: italic;">Rift: Planes of Telara
has more to it than the Rift system itself, which is certainly a lure.
But taking a look at other games, often we see one single lure and then
the question becomes 'is it enough?'
I suppose the answer really depends on the lure itself, and how often
it's been done in the past. Taking a look at
style="font-style: italic;">DC Universe Online
for example, if it was 'just another superhero game' it probably
wouldn't be getting the kind of attention that it is. Or would it? If
we similarly look at
style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars: The Old
Republic, the only announced
lure is its depth of story. And that alone seems to be enough for
thousands of fans who are drooling at their keyboards even as they read
the title of the game.
Analyzing a bit further, the component that gets players to try the
game may not even end up being what keeps them in the game. My initial
draw to Age
of Conan, for example, was
its combat system. Even though I still enjoy that component of the
game, as I have played on and off over the past several years I find
it's the world itself that keeps drawing me back - the depth of detail
in the environments, and the life the AI brings to the game.
So then, how do you draw players in? I think it's simply a matter of
hitting them over the head with something big, bold and beautiful. The
idea of an action-based DC MMOG as promised by
style="font-style: italic;">DCUO
is pretty alluring. The originality of a rift system coupled with the
unequaled class system of
style="font-style: italic;">Rift: Planes of Telara
is also attractive. A universe that can be explored with rich
style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars
stories is read as Utopia for
style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars: The Old
Republic fans. Rewarding
unique action combat beckons players to
style="font-style: italic;">TERA.
All these games have a lure or draw. But there is one thing they share
in common. The lure will be spit out quickly if there's no hook. In
this case fun, rewarding gameplay needs to be the hook to keep players
in the game. We needn't look further than
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/loading/2010/oct/8">
style="font-style: italic;">Minecraft
to see that all anyone really wants is a fun game.
So does the lure itself matter? It does to a certain degree. If there's
no attraction it will be hard to get players into the game to get
hooked, particularly if we're talking about triple A games. Games like
style="font-style: italic;">Minecraft
don't need too much of a lure because they are free and simple word of
mouth goes a long way. One is much more likely to try out a free game
just because someone said it's fun than they are to spend $60+ on word
of mouth alone. A look at
style="font-style: italic;">DDO,
pre-F2P, lets us know that a game with a hook and no lure doesn't do
well long-term either outside the free-to-play market.
style="font-style: italic;">DDO
was on its last legs when it was a subscription game. Once they
switched the models though, there was nothing stopping many more gamers
from biting that hook.
So ultimately, which is more important? If a box and a subscription are
required, then both the hook and the lure share an important role.
Eliminate the initial price tag though, and it all comes down to the
hook.
Have other thoughts? Let us know in the
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=54086">forums.
From our
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=689">PC
& Console Games (Non-MMO)
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=54001">The
Best Strategy Game
A
question like "What's the best strategy game?" (in our
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=689">PC
& Console Games forum)
can only lead to epic threadness. Everyone has an opinion, and they're
all different.
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=54001">Share
yours!
=====================================
Awesome
Quotes from the Epic Thread
"Tropico
3? Seriously?"
-
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showpost.php?p=443805&postcount=3">megaflux
=====================================
4 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 36 Ten Ton
Hammer features in September! 1096 in 2010!
INTERVIEWS
The
Rift System - Rift: Planes of Telara Reader Submitted Q&A #2
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/rift/interviews/reader-submitted-questions-part2">http://www.tentonhammer.com/rift/interviews/reader-submitted-questions-part2
In
our continuing series of exclusive interviews with Trion Worlds, Ten
Ton Hammer gathers more details on the upcoming Rift: Planes of Telara
MMOG. In this session, we talk to William Cook, Dynamic Content Lead
and probe deeper into the nature of the rifts that are a hallmark of
the game. If you have any questions that you wish to be asked in a
future interview, please post them in our official Rift forum.
REGULAR
FEATURES
WoW
Weekly Report - New End-Game Zone, New Boomkin Mechanics and more
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/newsletter/issue88">http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/newsletter/issue88
The
WoW Weekly Report is our newsletter dedicated to giving you a
wrap-up of the previous week in news, stories, and more. This week we
look at some great World of Warcraft: Cataclysm including a look at the
brand new final leveling zone, the Twilight Highlands, and the new
battleground, Twin Peaks. We have previews for the changes coming to
Druid Boomkin and Warlocks with patch 4.0.1. In WoW news, the Cataclysm
release date has been confirmed, contests were announced, the BlizzCon
schedule was confirmed, and more.
FEATURES
& GUIDES
Guild
Wars 2 - A Complete Guide to the Hall of Monuments
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/guides/basics/hall-of-monuments">http://www.tentonhammer.com/gw2/guides/basics/hall-of-monuments
First
introduced with the release of Guild Wars: Eye of the North in August
2007, the Hall of Monuments offers players not only a means of
displaying visual representations of their in-game achievements, but
the opportunity to unlock unique titles and rewards for their
characters in Guild Wars 2. To help you maximize the points associated
with your account on the official Hall of Monuments Rewards Calculator,
we’ve put together a complete guide including plenty of
information for
both GW vets as well as those players who are just beginning their
journey into Eye of the North.
League
of Legends Hero Guides - Master Yi
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/leagueoflegends/guides/heroes/master-yi">http://www.tentonhammer.com/leagueoflegends/guides/heroes/master-yi
In
a competitive team-based game like League of Legends, one weak link can
quickly hand your opponents a win regardless of your performance. All
too often the fault lies in the hands of overzealous DPS chasing too
far, engaging too early, or not having a complete understanding of
their hero. Don't be that guy, and check out our first League of
Legends Hero Guide to Master Yi! The next time you see a terrible
Master Yi ruining your game, you can direct them here.
Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!
- Benjamin J. de la Durantaye and the Ten Ton Hammer
team