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Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Vanguard previews
With the Vanguard NDA just having been lifted, I'm not the only one to have blogged his first beta impressions. Van Hemlock has a list of links to Vanguard previews. He is also complaining that there is too little beta testing going on in a beta test, which is certainly true, but not something I tend to get angry about. A beta test doesn't just need people trying exotic things, but also a large number of average players just doing what they would do in a real game, and just reporting the bugs that stopped them from doing normal stuff. Van Hemlock proposes to ask "What happens if I try to combine my crafting kit with that Paladin Trainer while I'm a ghost?", but even if something bad happened when you do, it wouldn't be high on the list of things to fix.
I reported a couple of bugs in the Vanguard beta: a spell description saying my spell dealt 419 points of damage, when in fact it was only around 50; a quest which was impossible to finish because you didn't get the quest item when you should have gotten it; and the fact that the boat didn't show up in 40 minutes of waiting. Broken quests, and especially broken public transport, are a lot more serious than obscure situations, unless of course the obscure situation leads to a duping bug. So if most Vanguard beta players do like me and just play and report the important bugs, it does already a lot of good.
And while companies *call* it a beta test, I doubt they aren't aware of the marketing implications. Open betas are part of the marketing strategy of any new game nowadays, not unlike free trials. At the very least it allows the company to measure interest in the product, and do some sort of server stress test, even if not a single bug is reported.
Anyway, Van Hemlock also writes a passages I couldn't agree with more: "Personally, I always knew that Vanguard wasn't going to be for me. I'd done my time on the grind, I've played 2000-era EverQuest 1 for my crimes, and feel that my debt to society has well and truly been repaid. I'm here for the EZ-mode, and don't care who knows it. Any game looking to differentiate itself from World of Warcraft by being more difficult, is probably not something I'd enjoy nowadays. Still, I'm old, bitter and twisted - there's millions of youngsters who have only ever known WoW, and it's good that they have the option of 'Challenging' if they want. Whether that actually turns out to be 'Challenging', or merely 'Frustrating' is another matter." Makes me want to write a blog post about the concept of "challenging". I'll probably do it sometimes this week.
Finally, although the link is in Van Hemlock's post, I'm linking to The Common Sense Gamer's Vanguard preview here too, because it is well written and comprehensive. Read it.
- posted by Tobold @ 11:19 AM Permanent Link
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In regards to the "challenge vs. frustration" topic, Brad McQuaid's "Vision TM" really fails to differentiate between the two. EverQuest's fault, and I suspect it may be the case of Vanguard as well, is punishing the player for playing a game. What they intended to do was make the game feel challenging, as well as give the player a real feeling of the importance of staying alive. What they got were frustrating corpse runs. How many times have people logged off naked and frustrated in EQ? Tons.
Besides, heavy penalty for death just means players don't feel like exploring as much. I'm not saying it should be a cake walk, but I don't like spending half of my time recovering from death in the game. I like to spend as much time possible enjoying it.
Besides, heavy penalty for death just means players don't feel like exploring as much. I'm not saying it should be a cake walk, but I don't like spending half of my time recovering from death in the game. I like to spend as much time possible enjoying it.
# posted by 
: 9/1/07 12:57
: 9/1/07 12:57
Hey Tobold (hey...I spelled it right ;))
Great post...and thanks for the compliment regarding my beta preview. Its appreciated.
Yes, testing at this point is more gameplay, volume testing(or stress testing) and marketing as well. Most of the major bugs are well known by the developers. I would be very surprised if someone experienced a bug that was unique.
I also agree with Van's assessment regarding hard core games. Games should be fun to play at all times. Death in a game should punish the player for a stupid decision, but not to the point where its no longer fun. Corpse runs and other hardcore ideas should not be gameplay elements in MMOs anymore...period.
Great post...and thanks for the compliment regarding my beta preview. Its appreciated.
Yes, testing at this point is more gameplay, volume testing(or stress testing) and marketing as well. Most of the major bugs are well known by the developers. I would be very surprised if someone experienced a bug that was unique.
I also agree with Van's assessment regarding hard core games. Games should be fun to play at all times. Death in a game should punish the player for a stupid decision, but not to the point where its no longer fun. Corpse runs and other hardcore ideas should not be gameplay elements in MMOs anymore...period.
There has to be some sort of punishment for dying, otherwise the majority of players aren't going to bother trying to learn how to play the game properly (and I don't mean L2P; I despise that over-used put-down that seems to be a permanent fixture of every games forum these days).
# posted by : 9/1/07 15:58
: 9/1/07 15:58
The problem is a "lack" of content. I put lack in quotes, because we're talking in relative terms.
Since any MMO publisher needs to keep its subscribers to make money, they need content for those subscribers. The easiest way to extend your content, without actually creating NEW content, is by making things very difficult, or a grind to reach.
Unfortunately, people see grinding as work, and then refuse to play because of that too!
I think the best thing an MMO can do is to create a lot of fun stuff, but make it reasonably attainable, and fun to get. You may lose people once the content is over, but if it's FUN, then people would be more likely to resubscribe when you bring out an expansion.
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Since any MMO publisher needs to keep its subscribers to make money, they need content for those subscribers. The easiest way to extend your content, without actually creating NEW content, is by making things very difficult, or a grind to reach.
Unfortunately, people see grinding as work, and then refuse to play because of that too!
I think the best thing an MMO can do is to create a lot of fun stuff, but make it reasonably attainable, and fun to get. You may lose people once the content is over, but if it's FUN, then people would be more likely to resubscribe when you bring out an expansion.
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