New MMOs – The Mount Everest between your game and my money

This post came about in an odd fashion.  I was going to write my short impressions about Allods and why I may or may not, play it at launch.  Much of that conversation was predicated on understanding what “makes” a game an enjoyable investment of my time.  As such, I thought I’d discuss those criteria first then circle back to Allods in a later post.

I’ve played many MMOs since I first ventured into this hobby.  Two were home for a solid block of time.  When I made the jump from EQ1 and AC1 to AC2, I played AC2 until they closed the doors.  When our guild left AC2 and reformed in WOW, I played WOW for 3.5 years solid.  During that final year, when I was already experiencing WOW-fatigue, I tried other games that I hoped would be my new home.  VG, EQ2, EVE, AOC, LOTRO and WAR, were all contenders.  One failed miserably to meet my expectations.  The others missed the mark enough that I didn’t stay as long as I’d hope.  EQ2 and EVE are in a different sort of place, where I come and go at least a couple of times a year.  Beyond these games, I’ve played just about every AAA fantasy title that has come along, including F2P Runes of Magic and most recent P2P entrant, Aion.

Having sampled so many fantasy MMOs – some of them stellar in particular areas, new games have a very high bar they must reach before they can wrangle a subscription out of me.  I call those criteria Mount Everest times five (MEx5) - polish, content accessibility, fluid combat, ambiance and uniqueness.  If you want my money, you must at least reach MEx3 or it’s a lost cause.

MEx1 is polish.  Yes, I know we’re all sick of hearing that word as it relates to the standard Blizzard has set with World of Warcraft.  As sick of the word as we might all be, there is no denying it has become a minimum requirement for many players.  It’s now an ingrained part of our evaluation psyche.  Three plus years in WOW has left me with certain expectations about content quality, accessibility and basic features.  I'm not going back to the stone ages of the genre to feel a virtual epeen of some sort.  It's a game.  It's an adventure.  It WILL NEVER be a second jog again.  Those days are gone.  I don’t expect perfection day one but things like poorly designed chat, auction houses and in-game mail systems will stick out like a sore thumb.  A user interface that sucks and doesn’t allow me or modders to adjust the suck, are strikes when evaluating this criteria. 

MEx2 is accessibility.  If you want me to play your game then I must be able to experience a vast majority of the content.  Grouping is fine but the minute it becomes a large impediment to progression, I’m out.  I can tolerate forced grouping in the end game.  I accept grouping is necessary for instanced content.  But I’d better have something fun and valuable to do without a group or you can keep your game.  Large chunks of time spent standing around with my thumb up my bum looking for a group just to do the content - have my adventure in your game, is unacceptable.  My tastes, responsibilities and time constraints have changed.  I’m not a college kid pulling all-nighters to play a game.  And no, this change wasn’t dictated by WOW.  WOW didn’t ruin me as a player.  Nor does the fact that I played WOW make me less of a gamer.  My requirements for gaming have evolved as my life changed – more responsibilities and less leisure time means games evolve with me or fall by the waste side.

MEx3 is ambiance.  Interacting in an engaging fantasy setting that is alive with other players is why I play MMOs.  The graphics must be appealing and well rendered.  I don’t have a preference for stylistic or realistic but whatever the method, it better be high quality.  Poor graphics is a deal breaker for my ability to enjoy a fantasy setting.  If I can’t enjoy the view, I won’t enjoy the game.  AOC is superb.  Aion is sublime.

MEx4 is engaging combat.  Age of Conan was the game that heightened my tastes above the “stand here and spam” routine.  Sure, it got too button intensive over time, but it showed me that combat could be smooth, elegant and visually engaging (bursting animations over my head doesn’t count), while allowing situational attack sequences/combos.  Aion applied a subtler approach to combos that is equally effective, with a grace and flourish unequaled in my gaming experience.  I’m not a fan of FPS games.  FPS-style combat or point of view applied in a MMO doesn’t appeal to me.  I understand that beyond targeting and advantageously using the environment around you, they all come down to click 1-2-3.  Yet AOC and Aion do it in a way that is viscerally engaging and I feel in the moment during combat.  Additionally, if mob-pathing, targeting and AI are awkward I will notice.  If executing skills feels not synchronized or erratic I won’t like it.  Combat is too core of a mechanic for me to tolerate it being  poorly done.

MEx5 is uniqueness – you’re thang, the aspect that makes your game unlike the other games I’m playing.  This “thing” could be a twist on a feature commonly seen in MMOs – Aion’s flying and glide mechanic, WAR’s Scenarios and Public Quests/Open Group mechanic.  It could be something new such as aerial combat.  Other times, it’s the environment itself and that world’s rules of engagement which are unique like EVE, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Darkfall, Wizard101, Fallen Earth, etc.  I don’t have to have MEx5 to enjoy a game but it certainly doesn’t hurt.  I’ve lowered my standards for MEx4 to play a special  MEx5 .  W101 would be an example where the appeal of the environment out-weighed the actual combat mechanic, which grew routine after a time but was offset by the strategic game-play.

With these 5 criteria ingrained as part of my MMO selection process, it’s harder for new games to gain me as a paying customer.    I might dabble in a game - buy the box and enjoy the 30 days of free play included.  However, you won’t find me on a subscriber list unless a game reaches MEx3 in high fashion.  Even if I subscribe, you won’t keep me past a couple of months unless you‘re MEx3.5.  And no, it's not that I run back to WOW because I'm just a tourist.  AAA titles cost money.  No one is buying the boxes in the hopes of not liking the game.  Let's get real.  We're buying what we hope is going to fulfill our gaming needs in an entertaining fashion.  When it does that person stays subscribed.  When it doesn't that person leaves. 

The good news is that if you can crest the peaks to MEx4, while continuing to deliver new content and character progression, you’ll get multiple subscriptions from our household.  It’s not uncommon for us to have at least 3 simultaneous subscriptions to a MEx4 level game.  MEx5, while the pinnacle of my personal criteria, is often a niche game where only one person is subscribed.

Morale of the story - There are experiences from other games standing in between your new game and my wallet.  You’ll need to do it DIFFERENT or BETTER than, where I’ve been before.  AND whatever you do, it has to be done with polish and consistency, while being accessible and fun.  Don’t do things differently just ‘cuz and fuck it up.  I’ll see right through you and walk away snickering.

Comments

[Tipa]

Are you still playing Aion?

[Tipa]

Also, I'm not sure I'm so hard on graphics and polish as you. I can totally enjoy a MMO like Dragonica which has great arcade-flavor gameplay and simplistic graphics. I guess I have only one Mount Everest, but it's five times as high as the real one: The game has to be FUN, and I admit that this is an entirely subjective opinion. If I am having fun, I can put up with a lot.

[CreepTheProphet]

It's good to see you blogging again! I think you're right on with these. While I know a lot of folks may not have put them into words, I think there's a silent few who think along the same lines when it comes to playing MMO's.

MMO's either grab you or they don't. The ones that do grab you, they're immersive and they let you get lost in the game for a little bit. The ones that don't, they may be fun to play for a while, but they just don't qualify as keepers.

[Saylah]

@ Tipa - I'm subscribed but not playing Aion. It's missing some sort of pull to make me log in. However, when I do log in and plan only to stay for a little while, I end up playing for a few hours. So it's not like I don't have fun but... Dunno. I think about W101 but Mooshu really did me in until I see your posts and I think, "Man, I need to go back." lol

[Saylah]

Thanks Creep. It gets quieter at work this time of year so, I have a bit more time.

[Saylah]

@Tipa - Yeah, the graphics have to be very appealing for me to play. W101 and FR while not realistic graphics by any stretch there were well done, whereas the minute I logged into Domo I knew I wouldn't be staying. Good graphics or no graphics - can't do the in between. Strange.

[Bhagpuss]

My MMO gaming arc is probably pretty similar to yours, and I don't disagree with many of your observations, but overall I think I draw some very different conclusions.

After a decade of playing MMOs from 20 to 40+ hours a week, I no longer expect, or want, a single MMO to grab and hold all of my attention. Actually, that never happened. Even back at the beginning of the Noughties I wasn't just playing Everquest, my first MMO. Even before DAOC, while playing EQ I also tried Anarchy Online, Asheron's Call, UO, The Realm, Endless Ages and probably others now forgotten. I applied for every MMO beta I saw and bought most MMOs that actually launched.

I was putting in most of my hours on one game, but there were always two or three more getting a few hours here and there in the background. What's really changed in the last two or three years is that now there's no Main Game.

Now it's three or four MMOs I am putting significant time into (WoW, Fallen Earth, Allods just now), a bunch more I am popping into for a few hours each week (NeoSteam, Warhammer, Dawntide) and a whole load more I am going to return to, or play soon (EQ, EQ2, Vanguard, W101, FFXIV, GW2, FR, Earth Eternal).

Whether I would pay to subscribe to any or all of these is by-the-by. The real issue is where would I find the time? Currently there are far, far more good, high quality MMOs available than I could conceivably do justice to, even if I was independently wealthy. As I have to go out to work four days a week, whether a game justifies a regular sub is really the least of my concerns.

[Saylah]

I'm not much for playing lots of games. I'd prefer a favorite along with one or two side games at best. I enjoy the trying but not hopping. I prefer reaching a full progression in one game. Going from BETA to BETA is an amusing distraction for me only when I'm not "into" something particular. I can see the appeal. I know others who do enjoy the variety. Tipa would be a blogger I like reading because she plays a variety of games. I can appreciate reading about them even if I'm not interested in playing them for myself. But that doesn't suit me very much.

[Capn John]

Good to see you posting again, Saylah, even if it will only be sporadically. I really haven't found an MMO to call home since quitting WoW...and since my W101 1-year sub expired. I've got (I think) 5101 Crowns to purchase zones (less the Crowns I spent to buy the Wizard City sub-only zones), but I can't see the necessity to buying any others, just yet. I did buy a few Turbine Points to both support DDO's new price plan and also to unlock a couple extra character slots, but nothing has really grabbed me as much as WoW. I think it's because WoW was my first MMO-love, and you never forget your first love. I think what made W101 so appealing (to me) was it was so unlike WoW that I never even tried to compare the two. Sure, they're both MMOs and share the basic features of such, but they're very different games with very different features. RoM? Similar to WoW. WAR? Similar. DDO? Similar. Free Realms? Kind of a cross between W101 and WoW, but with little of the appeal :P

[Saylah]

@Capn - Hi there. I've no home either and it would be nice to find a new one for long term play, even if I can't play as often as I have in the past.

[Kheimar]

WoW has created a kind of Catch 22 situation w/regards to MMO development. People invest in new MMOs expecting them to be WoWkillers, then put pressure on the producers to get the games out ASAP...resulting in crappy MMOs that lose their populations within six months.

[Tesh]

My home is still Puzzle Pirates. The community has its hooks in me (being on good terms with a couple of the devs via the forums helps) and the microtransaction model means I never have to pay money to go home. The short session gaming based on puzzles scratches an itch that no other MMO even gets close to.

I'm also having a lot of fun with the WoW map viewer. I finally bought the game from Best Buy for $5, installed it, and am just spending time zooming around the world. My wife thinks I'm nuts (in a good way, though, since I'm not spending money), but I'm honestly having more fun with the "dev camera" than I ever had playing the game (admittedly just with ten day trials).

This is a great article, Saylah! My criteria are different, but I am, if anything, *more* tight-fisted when it comes to putting out money for these things. I'm happy that more companies are trying non-sub options, though. Those companies are infinitely more likely to earn money from me than a game that sticks to subscriptions.

[Saylah]

@Tesh - Thanks. The more time passes, the less likely I think it will be that I will find that new MMO home. That makes me wish for more F2P games of the ROM and AO quality so I can come and go without the pressure of deciding about a subscription.

[GuyOnInternet]

I really like this article. I think it sums up things for the MMO community, as a whole, as far as what we are expecting these days. The only thing I would change is not have the list linear. That is, achieve 3 out of 5 but it doesn't matter which 3 (except for polish, that's a must) for me to try and 4 out of 5 for me to stay.

[Saylah]

@Guy - Thanks. It doesn't have to be linear. It's just personal preference. If I find a game that is overwhelmingly brilliant one thing but less in others, I'd still give it a go.

[Iggep]

It is really good to see you back at the blog Sayla. Have missed you while you were on hiatus!

[Saylah]

Thanks Iggep.