A player's post on the EverQuest Gameplay board that has received virtually
nothing but praise from follow-up posters. Seemed worth discussing. Original
thread is at
http://boards.station.sony.com/everquest/Forum4/HTML/043297.html.
start quote--->
AuntieShaynta
Station Member posted 05-19-2000 12:14 AM
TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR THE NEXT MMORPG
PURPOSE: I know you're out there. Who? People planning to make the "next"
big MMORPG. Kindly incline your ear while I make some kindly ... who am I
kidding. Do all 10 or don't expect me to buy it :)
#1: Thou Shalt Not Require Vulnerability to Other Players.
Consider the number of active EQ Subscribers (henceforth customers)
complaining that their server is too crowded. Now take a good look at how
many people are on the Player-Versus-Player (henceforth PvP) servers.
Either they are being hypocrites, or as a whole the customers do not want to
be vulnerable to harm from other players at all times. And yet I find it
curious that practically every upcoming MMORPG Ive looked into has
Mandatory PVP one (Atriarch) even goes so far as to have permanent PvP (if
the character dies, its time to start a new character). Others (UO2, Anarky
Online) skirt this by making some areas Non-PvP and yet it takes something
less than a rocket scientist to realize you wont be able to stay in the
safe areas all the time.
#2: Honor Thy Customers and Consider Their Suggestions, for Thy Game is
**Not** Holy.
Commandment 2 is also known as Business Rule One if you dont take care of
the customer, somebody else will. Both of the headlining MMORPGs (EQ &
UO) have suffered from massive customer-relations problems. In both cases,
those behind the game *refused* to re-examine fundamental game issues
because [problem] is part of the game learn to enjoy it or go play Chips
Challenge, to quote a statement made to me by a representative of Origin.
And Verant has made similar if not *quite* as inflammatory statements
regarding a number of issues (melee binding being the most egregious but
certainly not solitary). Origins faced a gradual but considerable exodus due
to this; I for one will never purchase an Origins product again, and this is
coming from someone who has never eaten at KFC because of poor service his
mother received 28 years ago. Verant finds numerous customers prepared to do
the same (I would still buy from them at this time). Both companies got away
with it for quite some time because there wasnt a worthy someone else
this wont be true for long.
>Another way to say this: dont tell us "Everything is subject to change" if
Everything doesnt mean ***Everything**.
#3: Thou Shalt Use All Means at Thy Disposal to Communicate With Thy
Customers
I find this issue particularly curious. In a genre in which change is the
norm, Verant hardly ever polls their customers for information yet
constantly say they know what how the majority of their players feel. Posts
by various Verant personnel on their Official Board seem to indicate they
have a low opinion of polling. Granted, the majority is not always right,
but heres a hint: the majority isnt always wrong, either. As a
nigh-complete idiot I once had for a boss told me, If one person says its
raining, that only means they say its raining. But if half the people
coming in the door say its raining, you might want to at least look out the
window before you go out without an umbrella.
#4: Thou Shalt Not Lie To Thy Customers And None of that Misrepresenting
the Truth Stuff, Either
Theres no way around this. They can make all the PC we were mistaken, we
had no creative control, this was pre-release information, and we are
not responsible for second-party statements dodges they want both Origins
and Verant committed outright lies to their customers on various issues. And
both companies had misleading statements in Official sources as well. Sure,
soloing is supported for maybe two classes, over maybe 2/3rds their
careers. It is my personal opinion that Verants problem is not deliberate
misinformation, but an utter lack of quality control. On that subject
#5: Thou Shalt Test Thy Product Before Thy Releaseth It or Any Part of It
Should be assumed, and yet everybody but game manufacturers seems to know
better. Heres a clue if its your world, you bloody better well be
willing to sign your name to it. Now granted that the very nature of the
MMORPG genre is such that updates will be constant, and that any changes
that need to be made can be handled quickly. Nonetheless, there is NO EXCUSE
WHATSOEVER for a game to be out for a year before the people responsible for
it discover something along the lines of Wolf-form having the wrong faction.
There is an equivalent amount of excuse for quests that appear to have been
in the game from the beginning to still appear broken (which reminds me, I
havent checked Kinool Goldslinger since the last quest patch). A
recommendation? Absolutely NOTHING in the game should go Live until the
person most responsible PERSONALLY confirms it is working on a Test Server,
and this confirmation should be made the same way the player would be doing
it. The recent incident in which Abashi actually went into the game and made
sure the spells were dropping before he said this to customers (after weeks
of insisting they were dropping without doing so, unfortunately) is a start.
#6: Thou Shalt Remember That This is a Game, and is Supposed to be Fun
Or, to quote the Ogre, Fun good! I myself am baffled by Verants view of
doing anything except fighting in EverQuest. They create a high-level
Magician spell that summons beer for fun, but disallow the Shrink spell
outside of dungeons because it would serve no useful purpose and all but
mock enchanters for wanting spells that serve no purpose but to look cool.
An interesting thread about the Fishing skill gets ignored for three weeks
while a post describing the prospect of X-Rated visuals in the game received
an almost instant answer. Heres a clue players play games to have Fun. It
is the role of those running the game to give them as many different ways to
have Fun as possible. Is that really so hard to figure out? Heres another
clue: anything that represents a lengthy do nothing time (the boats in EQ
being a hideous example) is bad for Fun and therefore bad for the Player
and what is bad for the Player is bad for the Game. By the same token, what
is Fun for the Player is good for the Game.
#7: What Thou Expecteth Players to Have, Players Should Expect to Obtain
Go ahead and call this the Casual Commandment if want. Or, to quote the
Ogre, Camping Bad! If Crafted isnt 50th level gear, 50th level players
should be able to obtain 50th level gear **REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY CAN
PLAY 1 HOUR A WEEK OR 50**. In a Non PvP environment, there is NO reason for
a player not to have the gear they are expected to have at a certain
level. This is not to say that the player who can play 50 hours a week
shouldnt have better gear quite the contrary, the 50-hour player
**deserves** better equipment. The problem is that the 1-hour a week
character shouldnt still be carrying a basic Long Sword at 25th level (don
t laugh, Ive seen it). There are several methods around this (viable trade
skills come to mind, as does the piecework quest suggestion), and I
strongly advise game makers to look into them.
#8: Problems, Not Puzzles
This is an old roleplaying GM rule Ive followed for years when I run
campaigns. The fact I heard a lead designer for the upcoming Deux Ex game
say this in an interview is one of the reasons I *will* be buying that game.
What it means is this: do not create situations that can only be solved one
way. Create *problems*, and then create multiple ways to solve this problem.
Reward players for using less-obvious methods. If the only way to get a
treasure out of a room is to kill the monsters guarding it, what you have is
a war game, not role-playing.
#9: If Thou Must Have Classes, Balance Them in *Quantifiable* Ways
Or, to quote the Ogre, Me kant eben spel cum-bel-ink, let alone play it.
Another nice little sound bite: the Compelling Reason to play every class
should be known, and should outweigh the Compelling Reason *not* to play the
class
.
#10: If Thou Must Have [Whatever], Have [Whatever].
Or, to quote that near-complete idiot I once had as a boss, Swimming is not
putting your feet in the water. Is there Tinkering in EQ? Technically. Can
enchanters make magic items in the game? Technically. Can rogues use poison?
Technically. Are there religions in EQ? Technically. Are there quests in EQ?
Technically. See where Im going with this? First person to answer
Technically is gonna be the next victim of my Kerran Fishingpole.
Thank you for your time.
Were in Your World Now. Convince Us to Keep Paying Your Rent.
Auntie Shaynta IdolSlayer
20th (darn that last pixel to 21st!) level High Elf Enchanter, Eci Server
<---end quote
-Raph