Launch Issues – Redux
I wrote a wall of text on this topic the other day, but I’m going to paraphrase and remix myself:
MMO Players are highly tolerant of launch problems. Some will shout and cry, others may declare them features, still others may skip launch altogether or leave and resample the game later.
They will still play.
In the end, the game will be received on its merits and the launch issues a fading memory, having as much relevance as anything else you no longer experience. Nostalgia will even set in for some bugs.
“Remember getting stuck in flower-picking animation?”
Bad launch? So what.
I’m sure that many will disagree with my title for this post, but I stick by it 98%. A poor launch has to be beyond abysmal to truly screw up an MMORPG. As long as the problems are fixed, the game will stand on the merits of its gameplay.
The 2% exception: Anarchy Online still holds the title for worst MMO launch because not only was it messy, it involved registration issues (and related credit card fears) that left some players allergic to MMOs altogether. Yet even though AO’s launch scared off customers in large volumes, it still survived and is running to this day.
Every major MMO has launched with problems, either technically on the launch itself or lacking significant content / features.
The real test is how the developers respond in the months that follow.
The WoW example
Blizzard’s launch for World of Warcraft was an epic mess. Game awards were retroactively revoked and servers commonly had downtimes measured in days. Blizzard’s immense and stubborn fanbase probably helped, but more importantly Blizzard stepped up and did what they had to do to recover from the failures. WoW still has the odd bad patch but they always rebound with the game stronger than before.
WoW launched with less pre-orders than Aion, Warhammer Online or Age of Conan. Astonishing when you think of how much (and how quickly) it grew once it stabilized.
WoW did have over 600,000 subscribers after the first month, but here’s something that’s rarely mentioned: Their subscriber base dipped before climbing again. Blizzard literally stopped selling the game until they could sort out the significant problems. Many players left during long queues, disconnects and all sorts of bugs and downtime, but when Blizzard consistently added fixes and content: New players flocked into the game in droves. It was later, months after launch that WoW hit critical mass into millions of subscribers. An even larger bulk of WoW players arrived in its second year.
Past Examples and the Present
Perseverance after launch pays off. EVE Online didn’t get over the hump until after CCP bought it back from their publishers. Dark Age of Camelot spiked its largest numbers after 2 years with its Trials of Atlantis expansion. City of Heroes has restored most of its population after 5 years. Notably, most of the rebound examples predate WoW.
Recent MMOs have tried to copy WoW’s success in a myriad of other ways, but they’ve unfortunately been slow to get their wheels moving after launch. New content and zones often get mentioned early but then pushed back, sometimes longer than a year, or in worse cases earmarked for an expansion. Big necessary changes don’t get made for fear of upsetting the playerbase. Server infrastructure is often skimped on, planning for population decreases instead of increases. Some notable games have been flat out shut down.
The MMO playerbase is incredibly resilient to changes as long as they’re necessary and well designed. More content is always welcomed. Many players wait until after launch just to see how the game pans out.
On the other hand players only tolerate broken for so long and once the smell of stagnation sets in, they’ll leave in bulk.
The months after release = more important than the launch week.
That’s difficult to master for most game studios. After a few years of development, I’m sure they just want to get the thing out the door and take a deep breath or even a (well deserved) vacation. Burnout at this point is probably the biggest risk at such a critical time.
Not every studio can afford to keep up development either, costs are soaring in the age of HD visuals. Betting on a big launch to restore dried up funds doesn’t usually work out. Running under big publishers has its risks too, they’re accustomed to games making or breaking on initial box sales and they’re not known for being patient if a game doesn’t score big right away. These are company health and business issues regardless of launch issues though.
Bad launches suck, but on their own they don’t break a game into failure.
IMHO, it’s all about ramping up the game after launch.
Take off your tin foil hats
Most of the time I love the MMO blogosphere, but there are moments where I just have to shake my head and /facepalm. Especially when games are about to get released, some folks work themselves up into a lather.
There’s something about gamers, maybe it’s the competitive nature, but many of them pick contrasting sides as if they were betting on a horse. Xbox 360 versus PS3, DS versus PSP, Eidos versus Ubisoft, WoW versus every other MMO. They create animosity between themselves and the other side. Us versus Them.
So when a game is about to hit the shelves, if you say anything positive at all, someone else comes along and fights you over it like a scrap of food among starving rats. Half of the gamers are excited and the other half are predicting doom and gloom. You can smell the desire they have to see something fail, or reach great glorious success. Not for its own sake, but so they can feel proud they predicted it.
Even worse are the conspiracy theorists. Every little activity from the developer, every little marketing choice is seen as an indication of the state of the game. Nevermind that it’s all the same usual marketing we’ve always seen. These theorists will pick out details, waggle their fingers and exclaim that the devs are up to something, the devs are keeping big secrets. They’re sending encoded messages through their marketing dept!
Let me tell you something about marketing departments: They’re the most removed guys from the game. Testers know what’s up more than these guys. The marketing dept spends its time trying to get the game a big splash on opening day. They don’t compensate or even capitalize on the state of the game, they just sell. That’s all there is to it folks. No smoke and mirrors.
If you think something is a sign of confidence, a sign of weakness, or a sign of doom and gloom, seriously, stop trying to read tea leaves. You’ll know soon enough once the game has been out for 6 months or so. I’m all for info on upcoming games, but some people are trying too hard to discover the big scoop out of little or no source info.
Oh hell yeah, I’ve fallen for this stuff too, I’m a victim of hype as much as anyone else.
Just a few days ago I posted about NDAs and how I feel the core crowd of this Blogosphere should be shown more respect. This is the polar opposite. Making a metagame out of picking winners and trashing losers isn’t the way to earn respect. It just makes you look like an excitable consumer, ripe for the next bit of marketing bait.
Take off the tin foil hats.
Get off the FUD wagon.
… I see you trying to sneak onto that other wagon, the fanbois one… Don’t do it… Self-restraint… Yeah, that’s it. Okay now go play a game you enjoy. You’ll feel better about everything tomorrow I bet. =P
