Lord of the Hype: MMOGs and the Hype
Machine
By Ralsu
The buzz for a new massively-multiplayer online game (MMOG) starts
shockingly early these days.
Sometimes a company will announce a game
is starting development well before the first line of code is written:
Hat Games Executive exits his office on a Friday afternoon and bumps
into the night watchman in the parking lot..
[Watchman]: Evening.
[Exec]: Evening. Say, what’s that you've brought to read?
[Watchman]: Oh this? It's a wrestling magazine. I can't get enough!
The following Monday…
[Shiny Hat Games Public Relations Specialist]: Shiny Hat Games is proud
to announce that it has begun development of Wrestling League Online, a
massively-multiplayer online wrestling game scheduled for release in
2009.
Sure, my story reeks of hyperbole (and you thought you’d never need the
stuff you were supposed to learn in 9th grade literature!), but it
bears some truth. Simply put, some companies decide to announce plans
for a game as soon as possible to stir up interest and ensure success.
The question I’ll explore is whether the “hype machine” helps or hurts
MMOGs in general. Then I’ll analyze how hype may be affecting Lord of
the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (LOTRO).
Hype Makes Right
Ever plan a party and didn’t mail invitations so almost nobody showed
up? Anticipation is a powerful tool. Let’s look at our example of
Wrestling League Online (WLO) from earlier. The moment WLO is
announced, MMOG fans will begin to hunt for a good description of the
game to find out what it’s about. Because of an innovative design
concept, gamers will read up on WLO during the development process.
They’ll watch to see if WLO is moving the direction they want and if
Shiny Hat Games is receptive to gamer feedback. They’ll see the
developer posts that promise an extensive ladder system and frequent
content updates.
Another annoyance that comes from lack of hype is when you arrive at a
function in jeans only to realize that it is a formal dinner.
Advertising what’s going on early in
href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album02&id=prozac&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php">
alt="drugs"
src="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album02/prozac.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 95px; height: 145px;" align="left">
a game helps avoid a messy situation in which gamers feel they don’t
have enough information to know whether or not the new game will be
good. WLO’s intrigued fans will opine about some feature that seems
lacking or praise the measures Shiny Hat Games is taking to prevent
griefing. They’ll argue with fellow community members for months about
WLO is really a MMOG or if it is merely an online game. Several major
gaming news sites (like
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com">Ten Ton Hammer) will interview
the key designers behind WLO and post their thoughts. By the time WLO
enters beta, fans will know if it is a party they’ll want to attend.
Shiny Hat Games will find an instant customer base at launch in those
who like what they’ve seen.
Lastly, have you ever discovered with regret that you’d missed an
author’s book signing at the local bookstore? Promoting the involvement
of a celebrity or a respected company can really boost interest in a
game. Shiny Hat Games' marketing folks would have to be on drugs
style="font-style: italic;">not to put out information that a
famous wrestler will be modeling for motion capture in WLO.
Those Who Hype Loudest Usually Have the Least to Hype
Sometimes mailing invitations too early is worse than mailing them
late. It’s hard to be excited about an event is too far away to feel
real. Continuing with the imaginary Wrestling League Online (WLO),
announcing the game 3 years out could do more harm than good. The
announcement of WLO should be an electrifying moment. Fans of MMOGs are
happy to hear just about any game planned, and so they go nuts. But WLO
isn’t coming out until 2009. That means open beta will likely occur in
2008. In the meantime, a dozen other MMOGs will land on store shelves.
Only hardcore wrestling fans will think of it as more than another game
in a pile—and it is so far out that it’s easy to forget about in the
face of more immediate options.
The more time you have to think about going to a party, the more you
expect out of it. After waiting for a party for years, it’d damn well
better feature some clowns and an acrobatic monkey. With WLO almost 3
years out, people definitely have enough time to know what to expect.
The thing is, they’ll come to expect more. Anybody remember what
happened to Fable? Fans of that game where promised a very open-ended
world where every decision impacted gameplay in the future. It was an
ambitious project that didn’t come out as promised, and people were in
no mood to forgive the absence of features announced from the first day
of development. If WLO is hyped as having the most intense
wrestling-based battle system ever in a videogame, then Shiny Hat Games
has to deliver.
The marquee above the ticket office at the college in my town was
announcing a night of comedy with Bill Cosby when we first moved here
last August. I was jazzed about it. Unfortunately, Mr. Cosby had to
reschedule for reasons unknown to me, and his concert got pushed from
November 2005 to November 2006. I’ve had nearly a year to think about
it, and now I feel apathetic about the show. I’m sure Mr. Cosby will be
just as funny this year as he would have been last year, but something
is different. It works the same with videogames I think. No matter how
great WLO will turn out to be, give people too long to wait for it and
they may just lose interest. Often times, announcements of celebrity
contribution to a project are better left for closer to release.
LOTRO’s Hype Machine Needs Repairs
Any game based on Tolkien's Middle-earth draws the attention of
hardcore Lord of the Rings (LotR) fans. The trick is convincing other
MMOG gamers to want to
href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=LotRO_Screenshots&id=Brandywine_Bridge&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php">
alt="Bridge"
src="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/LotRO_Screenshots/Brandywine_Bridge.sized.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 257px; height: 200px;" align="right">
play the game, too. To that, LOTRO needed to be announced early, and
early it was. Turbine and Vivendi first announced LOTRO in May of 2003!
Since then, the game that was once one of the most anticipated of 2004
became and exciting prospect for 2005 and a distant hope for 2006. With
a
href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=72">projected
release in 2007, the buzz for LOTRO has dwindled to just that made
by the staunchest Tolkien fans.
Much of the rest of the MMOG community has turned its sights elsewhere.
Never mind that LOTRO has stunning graphics, a solid battle mechanic,
and
href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=72">the
game was projected to carry an M rating to allow for more realistic
combat. It has simply been too long. Players need to get their hands on
a working beta--and soon!
In the end, Turbine will likely deliver a quality product in LOTRO.
Unfortunately, I'm not optimistic about its reception on a market that
is seeing more competition all the time. Other titles have already
scooped up potential subscribers, and I fear more will leave to games
released sooner.
Final Thoughts
The Hype Machine works if built properly. A company must announce its
game far enough out to let people get excited about it—but not so far
out that they forget about it. The company must clearly communicate the
game’s features and then deliver on its design concept. Finally,
special contributors (writers, designers, artists) should be kept under
wraps until the company has something to show fans. Turbine hasn't
succeeded in these areas with LOTRO, and the game may face a difficult
future as a result.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Lord of the Rings Online Game Page.
