Buried at the moment, so just some linkage today (sorry)…
Aaron at Anyway Games had good followup post on the HAM commentary that didn’t register a pingback for some reason, so I wanted to at least to link it…
As Cuppycake first announced yesterday, Raph’s new project unveils today at 4pm. Any pre-reveal bets on how wrong we all were with our original guesses?
Raph has another great post further defining his take on microtransactions, RMT, and the like. There was an interesting thread on the Areae forums at RLMMO on the topic as well, with a bunch of back and forth. I never quite find the time to write the epic post that could explain my own feelings on all those topics… and given the length of some of the posts I have found time to write, that is saying something.
The short version… I’d love to see more microtransactions in certain ways (added character slots, EQ2-like “modules”, game time by the hour; I’m less thrilled about but would be willing to look at certain types of game item purchases and the like; and full-on RMT, where the game company essentially starts to become a money-trading venue ala a commodities house or Western Union, doesn’t thrill me at all.
Brian Green (Psychochild) has a good post on which lessons have really been learned from WoW. (I love the analogy of the investment advice for those with $50 million or more to invest…)
That said, Damion Schubert (at Zen of Design) somewhat demurs with a response that makes sense as well.
I personally think both of them (as well as Moorgard, of course, who actually started all this) have a point. It is easier to get a product out the door “when it’s done” when you’re not wondering where money for the next payroll will come from. Also, having built a brand where you get a truckload of pre-orders on little more than “we say this game will be cool” makes things a bit easier, too. On the other hand, money alone doesn’t get you a solid, enjoyable game… it takes a level of vision and execution that is far from easy to achieve, money or no.
SUWT #9 podcast is up, and I think it is one of the best ones yet, to be honest. No, not just because my name was mentioned (tho that was nice, too 🙂 ). Also, Brent’s newest podcast, Virgin Worlds #86 is up… however, I haven’t finished it yet due to interruptions, I’m afraid.
Got to get moving… more later…
Voyages in Eternity 
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
September 18, 2007 at 12:22 pm
daocrucidor
The only thing I can say about some of what I have read so far is people have very short term memories. WoW was by no means bug free when it was released. I think most have forgotten the random CTD, memory leaks, loot locks…on and on.
Blizzard released a great product that has captured the masses and even brought some out of MMO retirement *holds hand up* But come on guys. Wow was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. There were a ton of bugs a good 6 to 8 months after release. And somethings they even went so far as to blame on the players themselves instead of taking responsibility for failure in the systems.
Im all for giving props, but I also dont forget the reality of the past.
I will mention again the devs at Vanguard who have come out and admitted, guys we released a flawed product and we are sorry. Blizzard rarely if ever admits to anything.
Anyway, thanks for the links to some good articles there.
🙂
September 19, 2007 at 5:07 am
damianov
There was a certain amount of forgiveness that was earned by simply being a good game. “Time heals all wounds”, and all that…
I do think it’s important to recall that kind of thing, however, especially in terms of evaluating new releases. “Not as good a launch as WoW” is going to be used as a bludgeon against some new game at some point, you can bet on it.