Happiness is?
”We’re not talking even grow to beat up the 800-lbs gorilla, we’re just talking survival. We’ve all seen now what happens to MMOs when either they launch and don’t meet the quality bar or they think they can’t meet that quality bar: they don’t survive.” – Scott Hartsman, from “Talking Kunark with Scotts Hartsman”
I doubt there is anyone in the country that has not heard the name “World of Warcraft” (WoW) by now – Activision/Blizzard does a very good job at making sure of it. After all, they publish their subscriber numbers like McDonalds used to publish their number of hamburgers served on their signs. When Paul Barnett was on the No Prisoners, No Mercy show he spoke of a time that is sure to come when the 800 pound Blizzard Gorilla will fall flat on its face (mind you that is not likely to happen any time soon). There seems to be no stopping the WoW Gorilla, even in an era of economic downturn. Mind you, there is that school of thought that believes that the entertainment industry thrives during bad times. After all, the movie industry seemed to thrive (at least one of my professors claimed so) during the “Great Depression” in the United States. The “Blizzard” in Activision/Blizzard still seems to have as much weight as it always did these days. They are some of the few developers in the industry that can still say “a game is done when it is done” and make it stick with a publisher. Now I will be the first to admit that the famed “Blizzard attitude” was not what it once was. Back in the days when the Outlands expansion was new, and everyone was trying to “get keyed” so they could have access to the upper level instances Jeff Kaplan was asked about skipping the Karazahn instance and moving on to the next one up the progression ladder. His reply back then was simply to reply that you could, but “have fun storming the castle.” But these days even the famous 800 pound gorilla has tempered his famous attitude. Even the developers at Blizzard have heard the hue and cry of players. Players want more player friendly instances? They got it – much to the dismay of the self described “hard core” raiders. Go back and make the old classical world new again? They once said they would never do it. But now with the upcoming “Cataclysm” expansion they are.
Even the 800 pound Blizzard Gorilla has changed around WoW to make it compatible with the hopes and desires of as many people as possible. Perhaps, and it is just a thought, players are getting a bit too much respect. Here is what I mean…
In trying to please most of the people all of the time, it seems easy to please many of the people little of the time. In other words, it is impossible for any game to be all things to all players. That won’t keep anyone from trying to accomplish just that, however. That is why, when a game comes along like Darkfall or Fallen Earth it deserves such a thunderous round of applause, no matter what we may personally think about the game. Why? Dr. Richard Bartle said it best:
“I urge you, if you see something you like, that takes MMOs in a new direction, that says something that makes you think (you don’t have to agree with it – so long as it makes you think), then please give it publicity. Then, you’ll have people who genuinely deserve your praise, not someone who is merely where they are through an accident of history. I’d much rather potter away in the garden shed of my blog than have scorn poured on me every time I open my mouth on the subject of MMOs, I can assure you..!”
– Richard bartle, comment on “Richard Bartle Encourages New Writers and Offers New Insights May 21, 2009”
Each time a new game comes out, players flock to it for the first month. You can call them “virtual tourists from WoW”, you can heap whatever adage on them that you want. But the simple question remains is why do so many players leave after the usual “first free month?” Are they simply taking a virtual tour? I think not, after all, even if the first month is free the cost to buy the game is not. Certainly there will always be what is called “external influences” in some sectors of business – factors beyond the control of the creators of the game, or difficult to control at best (think “gold seller spam”). Even so, perhaps there is more at work here…
There is line from old song that speaks of “looking for love” in all the wrong places – perhaps it is the gamers themselves that are at fault for this trend in gaming. Gamers go from game to game looking for the next big fix, the next big Wow Killer, something to replace the game they left behind. In the end, however, there really is no “Holy Grail” of gaming. There is no “ultimate game” that will bring players the happiness they seek. Perhaps the problem lays not with the game but with the gamers – myself included.
See you online,
Julie Whitefeather
Side Notes
Keen from Keen and Graevs has two interesting posts recently that are a good read on related subjects: “Is too much emphasis placed on our happiness?” (Available here: ) and Mmorpgs are being designed for too many players (available here: )
For myself, at the moment, I’m just looking for an engaging world to play in.
There is an “ultimate game” out there for me… but it won’t be within reach until someone really incorporates the old concept of “virtual presence” into an MMO–complete with hi-res 3d head mounted displays .
There’s a Taiwanese “light novel” series called “1/2 Oujo” (or “1/2 Prince”) that centers around a 22nd century MMO that’s played while you sleep. Not sopisticated literature, but I got a kick out of it. And it’s a game I kinda want to play.
There’s an authorized translation being done by a group of fans at halfprince.wordpress.com
Each persons concept of the “ultimate game” is, obviously, different. Each of us look for the game that will provide that certain “je ne sais Quoi” as the French say. For me, different games provide for many varied interests of one sort or another. In the end, I applaud when an “indy” developer like Icarus does something different than the “tried and true” methods by many of the larger game developers.