07-17-2006, 01:28 AM
The problem is simple: The developers of World of Warcraft have gotten lazy and arrogant, because there is no competition. They're under pressure from debt-laden Vivendi to throw those numbers up on the board, over-perform, rake in the $, full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes. So Blizzard, with no MMO experience, is left to wonder, what is the best way to make money in the MMO business?
The first step is to build a huge audience. They've done that, with their wonderful 1-59 game, Warcraft brand, past record, and uniquely polished gameplay. 1-59 WoW is, IMHO, one of the top 5 games I've ever played (and I've been a heavy gamer since 1975, a videogamer since 1978).
Then, when you have people so roped into the game that they don't want to give up their 500-3000 hours invested, at any price, you change the rules.
Slow down the content. Narrow the available content to a fixed, predictable ascension (the infamous "tiers"). Destroy the small, fun-oriented guilds by making the content require 40 people. Why? Because fun-seekers quickly realize that the game is no longer fun. You can't make them want to play anymore, so you have to addict them. Force people to run the content dozens of times to get what they want. All of this requires a huge, juicy carrot, which carries the name "Epic Gear."
Well naturally, the 10-20% hardcore fanbase that came over from EQ is going to drool over this until their keyboards short out. Everyone else has to be coerced. Some will relent and join the raiding grind. Others will insist on solo play; for them you give them the opportunity of very sparse, very distant, very mediocre epics (the reputation grinds). For everyone else, you offer a seemingly viable alternative: PvP.
PvP is good, because like raiding, it forces the players to keep running the same content many times to get what they want. Only this time, it's not dozens of runs required; it's hundreds. This keeps the people who don't want to raid roped in for one. The carrots get bigger and bigger ... the fattest, most succulent ones in fact, are just about as good as raid tier 2.
Unfortunately, cheaters ruin everything. The only way to get to rank 14 is to sacrifice your health, job and sanity (or education, if you're lucky and young), and play 24/7. Or, hire a company to do it for you. Or, have many people ("cheaters") break the terms of service and play your account. However you do it, the only deadset iron requirement is: 24/7.
Needless to say, 99.99% of the game population cannot do this. Count the number of past and future rank 14s in the world, and divide by 6.5 million. That's how many people in the world get raid-equivalent gear through not raiding. For everyone else, it's an unattainable mirage, forever distant, forever so very close. You can keep crawling across the desert until you die, or you can go back where you left the last oasis behind.
That last oasis has the name, Raid or Die.
Why raiding? The developers and CMs have already told you. Content takes a long time to build, and a short time to burn through. For Blizzard, it's even worse. They have a ridiculously long development cycle (remember waiting for Lord of Destruction?), and a rabid fanbase, because their games are so good. So not only does it take even longer to build things, the players eat up what they're served even more quickly than usual. So the only solution is to build content that will withstand many, many uses. To make it palatable, make it the only game in town for those 99.99% that can't hit rank 14.
And that's how you squeeze the most money possible out of an MMO. Maximum time, minimum content. Raid. Or. Die.
Of course, doing so requires your CMs to lie quite frequently; it requires you to make yourself a liar, turning your back on the "hardcore players' epics swords won't move mountains, they'll just look cool and burst into flames" promises you made a few years ago. So very long ago, when people believed in you, because back then, you were telling the truth.
I lay all of this at the feet of one Jeff Kaplan, the master of the Raid or Die philosophy. Blizzard is no longer Blizzard; it's a corporation filled with money-hungry sellouts. All of the people with integrity are gone. (Hellgate London, where are you?) The only people left are the ones willing to lie and sell their souls, in the name of the almighty $.
Now as you may have guessed, I used to be a Blizzard fanboy. Ever since Orcs Vs. Humans, I've played every one of their games to death, and had a blast. I still play them. I've advocated them on websites, in person, I've guided people away from the EA software racks and toward Warcraft III, or the Starcraft battle chest, or Diablo II.
No more. I'm sick of being lied to, and disgusted with what this company has become. It's not that I can't raid; I have a great guild that always leaves that gate open for me, and is willing and eager to attune me for anything I want at the drop of a hat. Even though they're all strangers (the small friend guilds are all consumed, due to the 40-person requirement), they've been very good to me.
But it's not that I can't raid. It's that I simply do not want to. The game is over for me now. And so, I've not only cancelled, but I warn everyone I can about what the game is from 1-59, and what it becomes at 60. Some of my still-addicted friends are pained by this; they tell me $40 and the expansion will combine to become the ultimate panacea, fixing everything. I tell them it's not worth it. Do you honestly believe that this company, this husk of Blizzard, is going to give you equivalent gear, equal rewards for equal effort, for every playstyle? They're not. They're going to coerce you into buying a new product, and then 10 levels later, it's going to be back to Raid or Die.
They don't know what else to do. They've run the numbers many times. Low development cost, high player use is the way to go.
They have the luxury now of a virtual monopoly. They have, flat-out, the best game out there. Not only because 1-59 is a fantastic game, but also because there is no true competition.
The competition is coming, of course. Vanguard, although it looks to me like a stale copy of Everquest 2, is going to turn many raiders' heads. Especially now that Blizzard is nerfing the Horde, gradually shifting everyone over to the dominant faction. When there is only one true faction, there is no need for PvP. There's no one to fight against. You raid, or you pay and sit around Orgrimmar, remembering the good days, too reluctant to throw away 2500 hours and admit that you were lied to. Those who still want PvP, who want to face intelligent opponents instead of AI scripts, will go over to Age of Conan, and then Warhammer Age of Reckoning in 2007. WoW will slowly suffer the death of a thousand cuts. No game can dethrone it. But every better game that's going to come out is going to nibble away at it, until millions leave, and WoW becomes an Asia-only game like Lineage 2.
I know the fanbois and the hardcore raiders are going to jump all over this, but I no longer care. They've raised their flag, and I've raised mine. I'm not budging. Something better will be along soon, and subscribers will be taken away. Those who choose to stay with WoW should welcome the competition, because only when the numbers are slipping, when Vivendi is demanding answers, only then are the Blizz people going to listen to and respect their remaining customers. We all stand to play better, more interesting games in the next few years, when WoW begins its long deserved decline into the mediocre numbers of EQ and DAOC.
That's all. Apologies for typos, I only went through this once with no edits. And yes, I do feel much better now. Good luck to you all, in whichever virtual worlds you choose to play.
The first step is to build a huge audience. They've done that, with their wonderful 1-59 game, Warcraft brand, past record, and uniquely polished gameplay. 1-59 WoW is, IMHO, one of the top 5 games I've ever played (and I've been a heavy gamer since 1975, a videogamer since 1978).
Then, when you have people so roped into the game that they don't want to give up their 500-3000 hours invested, at any price, you change the rules.
Slow down the content. Narrow the available content to a fixed, predictable ascension (the infamous "tiers"). Destroy the small, fun-oriented guilds by making the content require 40 people. Why? Because fun-seekers quickly realize that the game is no longer fun. You can't make them want to play anymore, so you have to addict them. Force people to run the content dozens of times to get what they want. All of this requires a huge, juicy carrot, which carries the name "Epic Gear."
Well naturally, the 10-20% hardcore fanbase that came over from EQ is going to drool over this until their keyboards short out. Everyone else has to be coerced. Some will relent and join the raiding grind. Others will insist on solo play; for them you give them the opportunity of very sparse, very distant, very mediocre epics (the reputation grinds). For everyone else, you offer a seemingly viable alternative: PvP.
PvP is good, because like raiding, it forces the players to keep running the same content many times to get what they want. Only this time, it's not dozens of runs required; it's hundreds. This keeps the people who don't want to raid roped in for one. The carrots get bigger and bigger ... the fattest, most succulent ones in fact, are just about as good as raid tier 2.
Unfortunately, cheaters ruin everything. The only way to get to rank 14 is to sacrifice your health, job and sanity (or education, if you're lucky and young), and play 24/7. Or, hire a company to do it for you. Or, have many people ("cheaters") break the terms of service and play your account. However you do it, the only deadset iron requirement is: 24/7.
Needless to say, 99.99% of the game population cannot do this. Count the number of past and future rank 14s in the world, and divide by 6.5 million. That's how many people in the world get raid-equivalent gear through not raiding. For everyone else, it's an unattainable mirage, forever distant, forever so very close. You can keep crawling across the desert until you die, or you can go back where you left the last oasis behind.
That last oasis has the name, Raid or Die.
Why raiding? The developers and CMs have already told you. Content takes a long time to build, and a short time to burn through. For Blizzard, it's even worse. They have a ridiculously long development cycle (remember waiting for Lord of Destruction?), and a rabid fanbase, because their games are so good. So not only does it take even longer to build things, the players eat up what they're served even more quickly than usual. So the only solution is to build content that will withstand many, many uses. To make it palatable, make it the only game in town for those 99.99% that can't hit rank 14.
And that's how you squeeze the most money possible out of an MMO. Maximum time, minimum content. Raid. Or. Die.
Of course, doing so requires your CMs to lie quite frequently; it requires you to make yourself a liar, turning your back on the "hardcore players' epics swords won't move mountains, they'll just look cool and burst into flames" promises you made a few years ago. So very long ago, when people believed in you, because back then, you were telling the truth.
I lay all of this at the feet of one Jeff Kaplan, the master of the Raid or Die philosophy. Blizzard is no longer Blizzard; it's a corporation filled with money-hungry sellouts. All of the people with integrity are gone. (Hellgate London, where are you?) The only people left are the ones willing to lie and sell their souls, in the name of the almighty $.
Now as you may have guessed, I used to be a Blizzard fanboy. Ever since Orcs Vs. Humans, I've played every one of their games to death, and had a blast. I still play them. I've advocated them on websites, in person, I've guided people away from the EA software racks and toward Warcraft III, or the Starcraft battle chest, or Diablo II.
No more. I'm sick of being lied to, and disgusted with what this company has become. It's not that I can't raid; I have a great guild that always leaves that gate open for me, and is willing and eager to attune me for anything I want at the drop of a hat. Even though they're all strangers (the small friend guilds are all consumed, due to the 40-person requirement), they've been very good to me.
But it's not that I can't raid. It's that I simply do not want to. The game is over for me now. And so, I've not only cancelled, but I warn everyone I can about what the game is from 1-59, and what it becomes at 60. Some of my still-addicted friends are pained by this; they tell me $40 and the expansion will combine to become the ultimate panacea, fixing everything. I tell them it's not worth it. Do you honestly believe that this company, this husk of Blizzard, is going to give you equivalent gear, equal rewards for equal effort, for every playstyle? They're not. They're going to coerce you into buying a new product, and then 10 levels later, it's going to be back to Raid or Die.
They don't know what else to do. They've run the numbers many times. Low development cost, high player use is the way to go.
They have the luxury now of a virtual monopoly. They have, flat-out, the best game out there. Not only because 1-59 is a fantastic game, but also because there is no true competition.
The competition is coming, of course. Vanguard, although it looks to me like a stale copy of Everquest 2, is going to turn many raiders' heads. Especially now that Blizzard is nerfing the Horde, gradually shifting everyone over to the dominant faction. When there is only one true faction, there is no need for PvP. There's no one to fight against. You raid, or you pay and sit around Orgrimmar, remembering the good days, too reluctant to throw away 2500 hours and admit that you were lied to. Those who still want PvP, who want to face intelligent opponents instead of AI scripts, will go over to Age of Conan, and then Warhammer Age of Reckoning in 2007. WoW will slowly suffer the death of a thousand cuts. No game can dethrone it. But every better game that's going to come out is going to nibble away at it, until millions leave, and WoW becomes an Asia-only game like Lineage 2.
I know the fanbois and the hardcore raiders are going to jump all over this, but I no longer care. They've raised their flag, and I've raised mine. I'm not budging. Something better will be along soon, and subscribers will be taken away. Those who choose to stay with WoW should welcome the competition, because only when the numbers are slipping, when Vivendi is demanding answers, only then are the Blizz people going to listen to and respect their remaining customers. We all stand to play better, more interesting games in the next few years, when WoW begins its long deserved decline into the mediocre numbers of EQ and DAOC.
That's all. Apologies for typos, I only went through this once with no edits. And yes, I do feel much better now. Good luck to you all, in whichever virtual worlds you choose to play.