Pre-Release Communities

Ferox on Pre-Release Communities

So Ferox posted a new article on whether or not pre-beta communities matter. Currently he runs a fan site for the upcoming game DarkFall and is a fairly active poster. His points being the developers have been silent for quite some time which doesn't seem to bode well for the future of the game and that the developers really don't appreciate all the hard work people like him do for their site. Personally I feel that the fans who do frequent the DF site take comfort in seeing posts from the likes of people like Ferox and other regulars. That is the familiar voices and signatures of the die hard fans.

When they drop in, (infrequently, usally), some just look to see regular's posts. Sometimes they ask what seems to be a stupid question and the answers to that question are freely available, but not to the them. They don't know where to look and even if they do then they are unlikely to make the effort, esp when its far easier to post a stupid question and immediately get a response. It adds a certain comfort level and hardcore fans provide somewhat of a service to these companies.

From the developers point of view he may be right. No matter how infequently they post updates many people will never leave until they hear release or cancelled. Even when games are cancelled, the die hard fans stick around for quite some time. Unless the developers close the forums, then the fans (or ex-fans) in this case, goto mmorpg.com or even other games with a similar concept and post there. Its quite common.

Regarding ideas and concepts... it's really tough for people to add ideas or specific concepts to the minds of developers in a meaningful way. I mean every fan in virtually any game that hasn't been released has a different perspective of what the game will be and really what it is at any given time.

What would it really be like making a living as an elven thief in the elven village of Neardoaen? No one really knows save the developers (And even they are occasionally guessing at massive multiplayer character dynamics/interaction of their own game).

Thus while its great to say I want this feature or that feature, integrating any feature into a game many only have a cursorary high level view of is normally a recipe for disaster.

As a good a example take my stance on Permadeath. I still believe that what I want in a MMORPG is a virtual world with real world physics and a hard limit on respawning to simulate real world death. A hard limit should be large enough to not take the fun out of the game and make death feared yet low enough to provide challenge and a simulated reality for gamers. Limiting the number of respawns also rewards those who prefer not to take risks and hang out in town crafting and socializing while also rewarding those dangerous enough to go out exploring and take risks. (The rewards are different in both cases, Longevity and Glory respectively... Yet even the latter offers a chance for longevity).

This is my firm view. It has changed and evolved over the years and even some of my view points have changed. Yet it is what I think I would find the most fun and what I would prefer to spend my money on.

Is this is a fit for some of the upcoming games like Darkfall? Probably not... Could a server in Darkfall be adapted with an alternate ruleset? Perhaps... Unlikely though. Darkfall is not trying to simulate a real world environment. They have unrealistic features such as tell and alignment tracking. (A faerie that knows my every action?) Clan chat, Telepathic toons (You know everyone's name) a fake... or what I like to call a mini-game, 'Siege System' because making a siege system that has any resemblance to reality would just take the fun out of the game and make the game boring for players. How about some creativity... Lets make a siege system that as closely as possible recreates the physics and excitement of a real siege while not taking the fun out of it... Starving a town for month is realistic but not fun, so is their a way we can implement starving a town that is both fun and interesting? People do not want to see their towns destroyed in an hour if it took them months to build? So can we simulate this and make it fun? The answer is yes... In fact the answer should always be yes until its no. And the no better be a compelling reason as the fans for these games have been waiting an awful long time.

In short Darkfall in its current Faqdition (Condition based on the faq) is not a good fit for almost any feature based on reality. They are creating a game, a game I have played before and enjoyed but have no desire to play again. I havent played Starcraft since Age of Kings released. The innovations in the gameplay and the evolution is too much a stepping stone to drop back to even though I LOVED starcraft. I haven't played Age of Kings since Age of Mythology released. I haven't played Everquest since DAoC released nor DAoC since Shadowbane. And since I left Shadowbane I don't plan on playing another game until the genre takes that next step. That step will likely be taken by Shadowpool with Trials of Ascension. Time will tell.