Changed Rules

February 7, 2006 on 10:35 am | In MMO (Live), EQ2, PS, SWG

I know SOE draws a lot of ire from the MMORPG community. Some of it is certainly deserved based on their past actions, even if it is misdirected, like blaming someone on the EQ2 team for changes to SWG. But the sheer scope of changes they have been making seem to imply a renewed vigor within their various development groups. Individually and collectively, these changes resulted in me taking a new look at the games I thought I'd never play again.

Basically, I underestimated their willingness and ability to change.

It's easy to guess why such fundamental rethinks have been applied to what were established titles and operational doctrine. Some, of course, immediately point to WoW and GW, two games that both achieved worldwide subscriptions that far exceed the combined total of all subscriptions SOE has reported across all of their games. The immediate implication here is that this was a "wake up call" to SOE. I'm sure this had a big impact on their thinking, but I don't think it was only this.

There's another factor here to consider. SOE was on top of the genre at a time when the genre was fairly niche. EQ1 was the king of all Western MMOGs during a time when people compared it to two, maybe three, other MMORPGs. This began to change with the launch of Dark Age of Camelot, and did so more as new titles went live. But the growth was slow enough for most to assume that the rate of growth for the genre was going to be forever a slow and steady incline with a relative trickling in of new players.

2005 proved everyone wrong. WoW and, later, GW not only appealed to existing genre veterans, but through strong brands, large global reaches, and innovative tweaks to long-standing game play concepts, attracted a very large number of gamers who had been avoiding MMORPGs altogether. Everything about these games is faster: faster game play, faster advancement, faster acquisition, faster more involved combat. And, most importantly, the games were content rich right away.

All of these elements are expected in other genres, but MMORPGs had largely stuck to the more plodding nature of combat-by-the-numbers (with some exceptions of course, particularly City of Heroes which is often overlooked because it wasn't the smash hit it I think it should have been).

Was SOE caught off guard? Yes, but only because a lot of people were caught off guard, from gamers to pundits to folks doing the actual work. With the launch of GW, there seemed to be a clear delineation between developers who were making games for veterans, and those making games for gamers.

For example, EQ2 was billed as a casual gamer's haven, a place for those who didn't like the arduous time requirements of EQ1. Yet, it took WoW to actually show what sort of time requirements the general gamer (not the nightly Raider or Battlegrounder) wanted to put up with.

In the end, I don't really blame them for not being able to make EQ2 the casual game they promised. This wasn't because of a lack of skill or talent. Rather, it was due to a misunderstanding of what "casual" really needed to be. There's two ways to deliver "casual":

• For veterans of the genre: Make a game lighter in requirements than previous games.
• For folks new to the genre: Make a game with requirements analog to other genres.

What SOE delivered was for #1. How the genre grew in 2005 is #2. Without the newer entrants into the genre, I don't imagine it would have grown by so many players in such a short period of time. The genre probably would have continued to grow at a steady, but slow, pace. But the new entrants are here, have redefined the rules, and I think the most direct result is things like the changes to SWG and EQ2.

And I say it's all good. That they have the willingness to learn from their misunderstandings and spend serious time and money to change things is a testament to their continued interest in providing these experiences to players. Other companies have cut and run long since.

I just hope they continue learning from recent events as well.