Overly Positive

Ah, the wonderful world of community interaction for MMOs.

I managed to dig this up on SWTORBlog.net, but it seems that there were a few disappointed TOR fans on the forums regarding Bioware Community Rep Sean Dahlberg’s expectation-setting quote. It it, he said updates would be scarce, but that the community should make an effort to keep watching for more TOR info during and after the major gaming conventions that are upcoming.

Of particular note is this line he uttered near the end of one of his responses to fan concern:

“One thing I’d like to point out is our updates aren’t just geared towards the core community here but also for the wider community that follows The Old Republic. That is why we point out the updates in multiple places. I already know that all of you who are on the forums are going to see things even before I post them. But some of our fans wait till they see the update in the newsletter, on one of the social networks, or exists on the front page of the website. So we try to craft thing with all segments of our community in mind.”

We’ve seen some of this line of thought before from other developers, that updates are not just for the hardcore followers of a game’s release, and that many other people, who aren’t constantly hitting F5 on the developer postings on the forum, benefit from the announcements given. While it might seem easy for obsessive folks – and I fully include myself in that regard – to get upset over a comment such as this, when you look at the big picture it honestly makes sense.

People like us, who write about Bioware and Star Wars: The Old Republic at least a full year prior to its release are the people Bioware already has in their back pocket. We’re the ones giving them free publicity and buzz, we’re the ones posting on the forums right now, and we’re the ones that have plans and aspirations for a game we haven’t even been in beta for. Bioware doesn’t need to sell us; we’re already sold. But it’s no secret that there are skeptics out there – people who doubt that no matter who the developer is that they will have trouble meeting expectations – and those are the people Bioware has to convince with all the video, interviews, and info reveals.

If Bioware can convince people outside of the core community of TOR to become involved in it, that only benefits the core folks even more. MMOs these days rely on – well, being Massive and Multiplayer in order to create a shared ideal gaming experience. Without population, MMOs have a harder time of actually selling themselves to an increasingly discerning player public, so if Bioware’s marketing blitz targets the whole of potential signups and not just the hardest of the hardcore, then so be it. More players isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and a community can balance itself out from the inevitable fun of having a larger group of players that post and participate in the game’s discussion.

So rejoice, core community of SW:TOR – you ultimately benefit from Bioware’s strategy here, just not in a direct or immediately gratifying way. I, for one, can’t wait to get more people excited about The Old Republic, and plan on using this blog’s TOR posts to help do just that.