by Karen Hertzberg on Dec 16, 2009
Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
Guilds can make or break a MMOG. In fact, you might say that
the MMOG with the highest number of loyal guilds wins. (Just ask
Blizzard.) But building a game that attracts guilds seems rather hit or
miss. What's the magic formula? See whether or not we're able to
uncover it today in Loading... The Guild Factor.
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You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse (
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).
Here are today's top 5 Pulse results:
WorldBiggest movers today:
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/769">Requiem:For a while, I enjoyed Aion. When I'd been away from the game for a
while, I found myself missing it and wanting to play, which is
usually a sure sign of a good game for me. I was intent on leveling up
my character and, unlike some Western gamers, I wasn't really minding
the Eastern grind and the slower level progression. The
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72385">lore
was interesting. The game world was vast and beautiful. My character
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75054">looked epic
and executed exciting skills. And I was part of a small but cool guild.
The most fun I had in Aion was running the Krall quest line with some
guildies. We'd meet outside of Verteron Citadel and, beside our
fearless leader, none other than Ten Ton Hammer's esteemed Ben de la
Durantaye in Templar form, we'd charge in and wreak havoc. Ben's
tanking style is fast and relentless. I'm reminded of Marty
McFly in Back to the
Future telling the stunned band at the Enchantment Under
the Sea Dance, "All right, guys, uh, listen, this is a
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w28Eh95gRQM">blues riff
in B; watch me for the changes...and try to keep up, okay?"
We tore the Krall stronghold up, and then tore it up again. And it was
hella fun.
But, after a while, the grind seemed to get to some of our guild
members and a few stopped showing up. Some leveled much faster than the
rest, leaving those of us whose schedules don't permit power gaming in
the dust. Others, with even busier work and family lives, lagged behind
the ones in the middle. The guild was small enough, and the gaps were
great enough, that logging into Aion meant a session of soloing. And,
regardless of how much I happen to like soloing, playing alone got old
after a while.
Is it the guild's fault that my interest in Aion waned? Of course not.
We've talked
before about how games live and die by the strength of their
communities, and now I'll take that a step further and suggest that
they also live and die by the strength of their guilds. Having large
and powerful guilds loving your game is definitely an asset for any
MMOG--just ask Blizzard or CCP how it's worked out for WoW or EVE
Online. But smaller, family style or casual guilds have an impact, as
well, and I believe the next MMOG that can keep both types of guilds
entertained will be a winner.
The problem seems to be that building a game that attracts the
attention and loyalty of established guilds is a bit hit or miss. I'm
not sure anyone has found the magic formula or, if they have, I'm not
certain we've truly identified it yet. Certainly features like robust
guild management tools and
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48178">Web
features with real-time updates help. Fun, addictive gameplay
is essential, but that's sort of a given. Strong end-game content goes
a long way toward keeping the hardcore guilds happy, especially when
it's in place early on so those same guilds don't have to wait for it
to arrive in successive updates once they've completed their
post-launch race to the level cap. But we know all these things
already--I'm not telling you anything new. And I'm not telling MMOG
developers anything new, either; most of them have been striving to
make these features and more available in their AAA games.
But if games like Aion and its predecessors this year did their level
best to include the features I've mentioned above to attract the
loyalty of guilds, then why aren't they more successful? Why have we
yet to see the fabled "WoW killer" after 5 years of World of Warcraft's
dominance over the MMOG industry? I'm not sure there's an easy answer,
but I'm willing to bet that the next game to find it will succeed in a
way that others haven't.
If you're in a guild, what do you think it will take for a game to win
your guild over for the long haul? Does your guild affiliation, or lack
thereof, influence your enjoyment of a game as well as how long you
stick with that game? Talk about it in the
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48497">Loading...
forum.
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- Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg and the Ten Ton Hammer team