» Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:39 pm In any project that's being worked on there's always problems you want to avoid. If you're making a Pizza; you don't want it to taste bad, be flimsy, or give you an extended visit to the bathroom. If you're building a skyscraqer; you don't want it to be ugly, be structurally unstable, or be inconvenient to move around in. If you're developing an MMO; there's a whole list you don't want it to be. The following are some of the common pitfalls found in all MMOs, even the successful ones!
I'll use the term pitfall for negative aspects that turn players off from the game so that they have little desire to play it, thus not putting any more money into it. No game is perfect, but I hope TESO manages to avoid these issues!
Common MMO Pitfalls
1. Glitches and bugs everywhere! A polished bug-free game is always nice. It makes the game feel professionally made and of high quality. Players want to enjoy games and see everything is working as it should. Bugs generally give players bad experiences and leave a poor taste in their mouth. If features aren't working as they should, players become concerned and frustrated; sometimes causing them to leave the game entirely. Bugs are especially important to avoid in MMOs as it's important to keep people playing the game. MMOs are particularly vulnerable to bugs due to the nature of a complicated engine and multiple variables. Player exploitation, missing loot, non-working features, and glitched monsters are common bugs that punch players in the face while they're playing the game. If a MMO has lots of bugs in its early stages; players are often prone to leave or "come back later" once the bugs are gone. The first impression goes a long way both for players' experiences and game reviews.
Most games that are buggy are in such a state because they are forced to be released at a date which the game isn't ready. This hurts in the long run with minimal gains in the short run. The solution to avoid bugs is to take the time necessary to do thorough testing and ironing out every bug encountered. Bug testing is well worth every second put into it!
2. I'm at max level and there's nothing to do! Max level is where most players find themselves after playing MMOs for a bit. They're done with the leveling process but they still want to play the game on that character! Sure they can create another character to play, but they feel as if they invest the time into a character they should be able to have more fun with it. Maxed MMO players have a variety of different interests they want to pursue; whether it's killing challenging monsters, killing other players, crafting cool stuff, collecting fun items, etc. It's difficult to appease every interest but it's necessary in order to keep as many players possible for the long run. If you don't have good PvE, all of the PvE players will move on. If you don't have fun PvP, all of the PvP players will move on. If you don't support RP, all of the RP players will move on. If an entire population doesn't get enough attention; they'll leave the game for ones that can suit their tastes.
3. What is that supposed to be? They can't be serious! Art and feel of the game is very important; whether it's gear, or otherwise. No one wants to be wearing ridiculous looking gear or else they'll feel ridiculous. The look and style of gear is very important in having players actually want that gear. Some may argue that they don't care about art and graphics, and that stats and gameplay are the only thing people should be concerned about. But even if it had the best gameplay in the world, an MMO that has aesthetics of kitty cats in fluffy dresses shooting rainbow hearts at each other probably won't gain the interest of most MMO players (besides the few who are into that.) Chances are people are less prone to try to get gear that makes them look like some sort of dirty joke.
In terms of TESO; the Elder Scrolls series has been able to make awesome looking gear that isn't overly colorful, has huge spikes on the shoulders, or looks skimpy on women. I don't think people would quit a game because they were thinking "my shoulder armor isn't big enough" or "there's not enough skin showing on my avatar." Instead people may quit a game if they feel like the aesthetics don't fit, such as "I want to look like a noble knight but for some reason I've been looking like a space robot from anime." Sure art may be heavily based on opinion, but there's always a line when (mostly) everyone can agree on "Yeah... that looks bad." MMO players will shrug their shoulders and roll along with cool looking Elder Scrolls gear. Elder Scrolls fans on the other hand may feel alienated with extravagant over-the-top MMO style gear. Having the right image goes a long way.
4. This problem has been around for six months and it still hasn't been fixed!?! Players like to take comfort in the idea that problems with game mechanics, balancing, and content will be fixed in the near future. It keeps their confidence up and keeps them optimistic about the game and its future. They often become discouraged and disheartened however when the people who run the game don't even acknowledge issues. Players could create a super long forum thread with thousands of players agreeing there's a problem, but they will receive no answer from developers. A reply such as "This is a known issue and we will be looking to get this fixed/adjusted" or "Well it's this way because of this..." goes a long way in comforting players' fears about the future of the game. Fear and doubt make players feel that the game is not going anywhere (thus unsub in the future.) Of course it's also bad to just lead players along with promises but not actually provide fixes/adjustments, as then the players will not put any value into those promises.
It is definitely not productive to cater to every complaint in an MMO. But if there's an overwhelming issue of reasonable thought, then it should be addressed.
5. Hey, didn't I play this game before? It's nice to encounter a game and be familiar with a it. You know the game and understand how it works. You've played it many times before and perhaps became very good at it at some point. But didn't you stop playing that game because it no longer entertained you?
Nowadays new MMOs are looking towards the successful ones and trying to emulate them to gain a piece of their success. In some cases it involves having very similar features as the successful MMOs. In worst cases the new MMOs are exactly the same as the other MMOs, having the same exact feature or an inferior version of that feature. There has to be substantial improvement from MMOs of inspiration in order to really hit home the idea that "This game is better than the others!" Minor improvements don't have as strong of an impact, making it's quick to point out "Oh they copied this from that." There definitely needs to be something more in new MMOs if they want to encounter any success. Something not only fresh and exciting, but sustainable for longterm play in an MMO.
In terms of TESO, I'm glad to hear of a consistent huge PvP zone with points that can be captured in efforts to reach a huge server wide goal. This size of a PvP zone hasn't been done in an AAA MMO in quite some time and I feel it will be a strong compelling reason to come to TESO. I just hope they have more along with it!
Conclusion
There's a few more pitfalls that I may add later, and I'm not saying in any way that TESO will have these. These are just some common problems I notice in the MMO industry. Feel free to add your own or give your thoughts.
Short Version: Bad things in MMOs are bad things.
Edit: Added a number 5.
