Building a better MMO... by learning from EVE

Very cool article at Gamasutra regarding building better MMOs.

The Icelandic Model of MMO Development by Alexander Gianturco

"Sandbox-Based Endgame. The endgame is the difference between a game which crashes and burns shortly after launch, and a game which attracts a loyal following. Since linear content isn't an option for a studio without a mega-budget, you'll need to base your title's endgame around a sandbox."

As I've said before, linearity's one of WoW's greatest flaws. After experiencing hundreds of quests, reaching 80, and completing most dungeons, what else is there? Farming for loot so your character can farm for more loot, and look just like every other character? Engaging in PvP that often emphasizes loot quality over player skill? Not cool. I want more, and I don't want to wait for months for Blizzard to release new content with an eventual end.

"...players want to see that there is hope for a better game in the future. Communication is key here; not only must you develop new features, but engage with your core subscribers to demonstrate that their money is going towards improvements in the game, rather than corporate profits."

True for almost any series, MMO or not.

"Features Over Linear Content. "Content" in the traditional MMO sense means a linear activity for players which expires once the content is completed -- the most obvious examples being raids, dungeons, and quests. There's some replay value, but it diminishes rapidly, and players demand more content.

While some traditional content is inevitable in almost every game, in a sandbox it is important to focus new development on features of the game which expand the range of player agency within the sandbox, in the form of tools or new types of gameplay for players to engage in."

Yep.

This is what Nikki and I look like...in World of Warcraft

Make sure you click the play button.

I wish everyone could hear me in WoW

I'd fill your ears with this stuff.

Five Delicate and Mood-Melting Videogames. Maybe Relaxing, Too.

 

To anyone not residing within the videogame industry bubble, the interactivity comprising this medium might appear violent, immature, and singly playful. In truth, most of it is. The industry’s own roots lie buried deep under miles of competitive high score soil, and Hollywood schlock like Call of Duty and the perennially limp Guitar Hero, two of the biggest profit-leading franchises in the industry, annually resist change. They deliver basic, but polished, rudimentary genre entries.

Elsewhere, designers of all kinds strive to explore the medium’s infinite possibilities – melding, molding, and folding a multitude of genres and ideas in and on top of each other. Now we can play dancing-themed MMOs, fight for loot in World of Warcraft using the Plinko-esque Peggle, and massage our cerebral cortexes with a steady stream of “brain training” software. If you want it, you can probably get it in some form, as long as you’re willing to look.

But can we find videogames possessing the power to melt away our moods and offer peace? Up until the fall of 2005, I’d say “maybe,” without offering any examples. I had faith in industry developers and the possibility that they could also be yearning for something undiscovered. Little did I know Jenova Chen was ten steps ahead of me. That fall, as a student at the University of Southern California, the revolutionary designer, along with a team of students and faculty, released Cloud. Shortly after, my perception of what a videogame can offer changed forever.

As I played Cloud, the youthful innocence of just being returned to me. Stress? It was gone. Sadness? That too. I didn’t even feel happy; just at ease, and peaceful.

Care to see what I mean? Here are five other titles providing users with similar experiences.

Disclaimer:

Since these are videogames, the intended experience hinges, variably so, on an individual player’s skill and ability to adapt. If you start feeling lost or incapable, it’s important you fight off frustration and seek help and better instructions. Otherwise, don’t bother.

Flower

“Life in balance.”

The latest title from Jenova Chen’s studio, That Game Company, continues the airy aesthetics and sparse audio presented in Cloud, but significantly increases their quality and involvement in the narrative. As a flower petal, players utilize the wind in a journey to gather other petals from flowers. As each is plucked, a predefined note triggers and, sometimes, the aesthetics are variably altered.

In his review, Russ Fischer, of the Onion’s A.V. Club, said “Visually potent and occasionally beautiful, Flower fulfills its premise with enviable grace.” I’m inclined to agree.

Check out the rest of the article at IPR's Multimedia blog.

Mod creation and distribution further simplified – the best of Blizzcon 09

“Cataclysm hits World of Warcraft!” “Diablo III Monk class gets old juices going!” “Battlestar’s Tricia Helfer to play Kerrigan!” Blizzcon dominated videogame and tech news sites and discussions boards last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday without breaking a sweat.

Held last weekend at the Anaheim Convention Center, Blizzcon is “a celebration of the Warcraft,StarCraft, and Diablo franchises and the communities that surround them,” or so says developer/publisher, and organizer of the con, Blizzard. The company owns additional properties, but they’re not as critically lauded, recognizable, and/or financially successful. Focusing on the big three’s a smart move for the company. You list your absolute best qualities and work experiences on your resume, right?

After each announcement, cheering, unending adoration, and maybe a few tears followed. Every warm body in attendance, and maybe a few thousand streaming the event online, succumbed to the will of Blizz. It’s not a cult (the integral “religion” component’s missing for that term). But spiked Kool-Aid is probably served somewhere in gaudy steins.

Other news emerged from the event, but were buried by the frenzy caused by the “major” three announcements. Who cares if Tricia Helfer lends her voice to the vindictive Kerrigan? Thousands, possibly millions, apparently. No offense to the beautiful and talented Helfer. She’s neat.

Read more at IPR's Multimedia blog.

Forget Facebook and the iPhone, the future of apps lies in…World of Warcraft?

 

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell once told his new bosses at Warner Communications that the company’s newest console, the VCS, is “over” immediately following its release. Understanding nothing of the videogame industry, the suits yelled “What?!” and demanded an answer. “You have to think of it that way,” he insisted. Bushnell, in a way, created the industry, so he knew better than any of technology’s accelerated evolution (see also: Moore’s Law), and possibly even more of the consumer’s desire for new hardware. Shortly after his well-intentioned explanation, Bushnell was fired from the company he founded and built with an investment of $500.

Founder of Atari and avid pipe smoker.

Taking a note from the book of Bushnell, I’d like to go on record saying that Facebook and the iPhone’s application heydays might soon be over. Activision Blizzard, through MMOs like World of Warcraft and the other unnanounced one, will one day wear the DIY app crown while CEO Bobby Kotick bathes in a shower of $100 bills in a diamond-plated bathtub made of gold bullion. Dude’s got a keener sense for money than a pig for truffles (maybe it’s the physical resemblance). Drop $20 in a landfill and Bobbo would find it. Just don’t expect to get the money back.

This weekend thousands will flock to Blizzcon – the big convention celebrating everything Blizzard. Lavish, but tacky, costumes will be worn, Ozzy will perform, and hopeful job-seekers will hand out hundreds, if not thousands, of business cards.That’s all given. And as terrifying as it all may seem, combined they are not nearly as scary, and potentially good, as the prospect of an MMO app store.

I play WoW roughly every other day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. My character, a level 80 Dranei Shaman, might not be decked out in the latest and greatest tier nine gear, but he can hold his own in most player versus player and player versus enemies battles, especially after the class received a buff in patch 3.2. As I’ve expressed many times before, my time spent in Azeroth, the game’s landmass equivalent of Earth, can largely be attributed to the social element. Many of my family and friends are members in the small guild I lead. In some cases, chatting and/or questing in WoW remains the only time when particular members communicate.

Read more at IPR's Multimedia blog.

Analyzing an Evolving Personal Perception of MMO Culture Through a Multiboxing JPEG

Six (or seven) computers, seven monitors, two sets of speakers, three keyboards, two mice, and twoLa – Z – Boys– a personal garden of Eden for two (lucky?) gamers. Monetary value of each setup? Thousands.

(insert witty jab at those dirty and unsociable MMO gamers here)

Six or seven years ago, back when my gaming budget was my only “bill” and graduation represented the first step in a flawless plan to “conquer the world,” this image might have served as inspiration for a similar, but more cobbled-together, setup. I would’ve substituted out the PCs and World of Warcraft with Xboxes and Halo, capitalizing more on my console eccentricities. At the time I mostly remained an MMO virgin (there was this time with Everquest and I didn’t really know what I was doing and…it doesn’t count).

Read more at IPR's Multimedia Blog.