True to form, my self-proclaimed nemesis strikes again. At Hardcore Casual, Syncaine’s taking what seems to be an almost unhealthy and sadistic delight in the folks that have found recent MMO title Aion not to be their cup of tea and quitting. If you’re not quite sure that’s the right description, here’s the Eminem song line that my fellow blogger refers to when he’s reacting to the end of the Aion love affair:
“BLEED! BITCH BLEED! BLEED!”
Syn, my villainous counterpart, I’m thinking you need a little bit more caffeine in the morning so you don’t get so very grumpy and frumpy in your writings! I hear a morning cup of Joe does wonders for the disposition.
The place I will agree with Syncaine about with regards to folks not seeing Aion (or any other game for that matter) as the game they thought it would be, is that I’m glad for it. Not in the Sith-like Force Chokery way Syncaine does, mind you, but more of a “lessons learned” satisfaction that can only really come from mistakes made. While it’s never fun to go through the practice of MMO heartbreak, where the ideal title you’re with is nothing more than a cyclical love affair, what it does do is make you more mindful of your expectations, what you like, and what you don’t like.
Managing your expectations and keeping yourself realistic about a game’s trials and tribulations is a skill that, especially with MMOs, is difficult to do due to the hype train of marketing, pre-release. The idea of understanding this, and also getting an idea of what you prefer to play, can only be borne in part of going through the painful process of seeing that a particular title doesn’t tickle your fancy like it did in the gameplay trailers and early beta. To keep the relationship analogy going, you basically understand through breakups and multiple dating experiences what to do, what not to do, and what you should expect in the future. Such as it is with MMOs and the folks who somehow end up quitting one or two months out. It’s just not for them, and realizing that early is a good thing, not a bad thing.
Besides I’m not one to speak for what you all, or anyone else who doesn’t read this 100% sunshiny day of a blog, likes with MMOs. I find it a bit silly and wasteful to deride people for their chosen preferences – it’d be like someone who prefers to date blondes making fun of a person like me who has a weakness for redheads, when my latest relationship doesn’t work out. Ultimately, the choices people make are their own, as well as how they deal with them. It’d be nice if we were all overly cautious and completely pragmatic and made good choices when it comes to MMOs, but that’d really just be uneducational, bland, and boring. Give me overly positive with my MMOs any day.
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How many WoW-clones have to fail before devs get the hint. If people want more WoW then they will play MORE WoW. Why rejoice in another dev learning the same lesson that has already been learned several times over? Better they were just mocked (as Syn is doing) for not already learning that lesson.
Ah, my friend, but the devs aren’t really the targets of Syn’s supposed jabbery, the players are. While bloggery folks have come a long way, we are far from a voice of terribly significant influence on developer decisions and outlook. Even the most influential and comment-generating blogs, such as Tobold, Syncaine, and others, are single voices, hardly the clarion call of an entire MMO playerbase which clearly, Aion has part of a market for. Given that, such mockery is hardly going to make developers stand up and take notice, especially if it comes from one person.
The lessons learned by players from a game that hasn’t met expectations are harsh ones, but overall they are necessary and generally positive experiences to glean from, not a target of “haha you suck”. That’s generally the gist of my optimism today.
I disagree. The player exodus is the event — but the target is Aion. Anyone who made claims that the game was anything more than another blip on the MMO radar is just collateral damage.
And to your point, of what benefit is it to have more disillusioned players who have yet another MMO that failed to meet expectations. If anything, this just drives players away from trying new MMOs and/or reinforces the idea that Blizzard is the only worthwhile game in town.
You’re assuming disillusionment is the ultimate result. Getting over any MMO heartbreak involves some of this on some level, but my point was that like any actual relationship, the lessons can and should make you a better person for it.
People let themselves get so jaded about the gaming scene these days because of bad experiences. My thought is that at the heart of the matter, you’re learning something about your own preferences. It’d be nice if we didn’t have this happen, I agree. But wanting players not to feel let down by games at times is, well, even more positive than me, and that takes talent! Given that MMO heartbreak is inevitable, it should at least be seen as productive, when it does happen.
I couldn’t agree more Frank.
Darkfall isn’t my cup of tea, but my lack of interest is just that. I have no real interest in seeing it fail, and as a matter of fact I’d rather see it succeed simply because a lot of people put hard work into making it and they deserve to see it succeed. It would better for the industry as a whole to see niche titles find an audience and flourish.
That said, I don’t see the bloodletting that Syn is claiming is happening. Certainly I expected people to leave after the initial 30 days, but I don’t see the mass exodus of AOC or WAR proportions.
Well, to be fair, that exodus took months, not a single month, to happen for both those games.
One thing you do have to hand to Aion is that they’re taking advantage of the extended time it takes right now to level. Those unable to put up with the grind are leaving, but those who hold out hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel keep playing. This guarantees months of subscription, at least.
I can’t say I necessarily fault the business strategy of that thinking.
It’s worth remembering that Aion isn’t a new game, it’s only new for a western audience. So the stability issues/performance issues that afflicted Warhammer so badly at the start and helped drive other people away, aren’t the same issues that are affecting Aion. Aion is purely being evaluated in game play terms. So if people are leaving, it’s because the game doesn’t suite their temperment.
If for instance we were comparing titles, it should be Warhammer now versus Aion now.
Unfortunately you only get one launch and if you blow it (Warhammer), you need to work really hard to have any chance of recovery. At worst Aion at QueueGate.
Syn is just upset that Dark Fall is a WAR clone that’s got more in common with Shadowbane, another really bad game.
I get the feeling that those who are most adamant that Aion is a WoW-clone are those whose first MMO was WoW.
Jaye, I don’t mean to be blunt or overly hostile, but do you have any idea of the base design choices that DarkFall and WAR have made that differentiates them to be completely different? Are you aware of the fundamental difference between a sandbox and a themepark game?
[...] flame bait with my post about Aion, and while it was mostly posted to cure Friday boredom (and not because I was upset, my sickeningly happy friend:) ), there is a very real aspect behind the whole “your MMO is your [...]
Mmmm…redheads.
http://liveforfilms.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/hendricks.jpg
i like your site; i think its better to be positive than ‘overly’ negative; maybe constructive criticisms for negative stuff
Its hard to read negative stuff each day.. but i like how Syn is nostalgic with UO (I <3 UO too)