Just a recent thought of mine, do you what do you think MMO Expansions do to the game? Do they actually expand the diversity ingame? or just simply extend it?

The way I see it, not many MMO expansions can actually be classified as expansion, they simply roll out new zone with new quest and a new level cap, or maybe a new class/race, but the game remains the same, nothing has change.

They should be called extensions, not expansions.

Not many expansions actually change the game on a fundamental level.

Starcraft : Brood war is still Starcraft with additional units/story etc.

Warcraft3: TFT is still Warcraft3 with more stuff.

If the game mechanics changed drastically, it is normally a sequel.

depends on who makes the game:)   if it's SoE, expansions are simply a new set of bugs to distract from the old set of bugs they never intended to fix:D

Completely depends on the developer. FFXI expansions all have a different theme to them, and usually change the metagame drastically.

They also do not make old content obsolete, and if they do, adjustments are made to old content to keep them relevant.

To me it's not an expansion if it makes previous content obsolete. It should have the inverse effect where "old" content is still viable but that there are now more options because the game has been expanded on.

Originally posted by jpnz

Not many expansions actually change the game on a fundamental level.

Starcraft : Brood war is still Starcraft with additional units/story etc.

Warcraft3: TFT is still Warcraft3 with more stuff.

 

If the game mechanics changed drastically, it is normally a sequel.

Neither of those are MMOs...

Originally posted by xKingdomx

Just a recent thought of mine, do you what do you think MMO Expansions do to the game? Do they actually expand the diversity ingame? or just simply extend it?

 

The way I see it, not many MMO expansions can actually be classified as expansion, they simply roll out new zone with new quest and a new level cap, or maybe a new class/race, but the game remains the same, nothing has change.

They should be called extensions, not expansions.

You miss "depend on a expansion/company/game" option. 

Most just provide new content in on big package which is obviously nice.

Some really expand the game , though it is minority.

     Most expansions these days don't add anything new. Sure they raise the cap, introduce new zones, raids, and instances, but they make all the previous content worthless. You grind through the old content as fast as you can to get to the new stuff which isn't innovative in the slightest bit. It's just the same stuff with a different skin. I'm waiting to see developers add new things to do on top of what is already there.

     The best example i can think of is Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to LightSpeed. Two brand new races, a brand new aspect to the game(space), a new profession, new clothing options. Everything that was in the game before is still fun and worthwhile to spend time with and the player now has new options to enjoy on top of it. This is a better option then making everything you've done in the game up to that point completely worthless. This is the main reason why i've loathed every single World of Warcraft expansion.

    Another good example of this would be Puzzle Pirates. They haven't made any offical expansions but they periodically release new puzzles that add to the game. In the begining you fought sword battles against other pirates during boarding parties. Then they released a super busta move type game to represent a more brawlish type battle. Instead of replacing sword fighting the player now has two options of fighting. They've also added sea monster hunting, foraging, crafting puzzles, and my favorite parlor games.

Originally posted by jpnz

Not many expansions actually change the game on a fundamental level.

Starcraft : Brood war is still Starcraft with additional units/story etc.

Warcraft3: TFT is still Warcraft3 with more stuff.

 

If the game mechanics changed drastically, it is normally a sequel.

Well Brood War and TFT actually introduced new heroes and new units, which actually changed the gameplay quite a bit in terms of RTS.

My problem with expansion is that, I'm paying a monthly fee, which is somewhat a promise for major updates every month (which ironically only one game has been close to delievering that, Rift), Then I have to buy another box for expansion which virtually is the same thing, except I still have to pay for my subscription. If it doesn't change the game drastically, which not just make them monthly updates and they can keep their promise for monthly content update? Money grabbing is money grabbing.

Originally posted by xKingdomx

Originally posted by jpnz

Not many expansions actually change the game on a fundamental level.

Starcraft : Brood war is still Starcraft with additional units/story etc.

Warcraft3: TFT is still Warcraft3 with more stuff.

 

If the game mechanics changed drastically, it is normally a sequel.

Well Brood War and TFT actually introduced new heroes and new units, which actually changed the gameplay quite a bit in terms of RTS.

 

My problem with expansion is that, I'm paying a monthly fee, which is somewhat a promise for major updates every month (which ironically only one game has been close to delievering that, Rift), Then I have to buy another box for expansion which virtually is the same thing, except I still have to pay for my subscription. If it doesn't change the game drastically, which not just make them monthly updates and they can keep their promise for monthly content update? Money grabbing is money grabbing.

The meta-game shifted for both but at a fundamental mechanics level, not really.

Some games do offer free expansions. EVE-Online comes to mind.

Every company will try to get away with the least amount of content for the maximum price. This isn't something new.

The word 'expansion' actually fits nicely for MMOs if we look at what we associated the word with in terms of single player gmae.

Really liking where this is going.:)

Guildwars both have an expansion and 2 campaigns released for it.

The expansion do expand the endgame with dungeon play and some other stuff while the campaigns are new setting that start from lvl 1 and can be played stand alone.

MMO expansions are often just 5 or 10 level and a few new zones but frankly are it the same with most computer games. Since "expansion" is the word for all of them it is logical that a MMO expansion should be considered the same as an expansion for Diablo, Fallout 3 or The sims.

ANET might have a point and expansion is a term we could split up into a few new ones to make it easier for people to know what kind of an expansion it is but in that case it should be done with all games and not just MMOs.

Expansions = Content Patch

In very few cases do they change much about the game, and frankly I think this is a good thing.

I don't want to logoff on Thursday, log back in on Friday and have the gameplay mechanics messed up.  After all, I'm playing the game because * I LIKE IT *.  If they change a game that I already like, that's going to do nothing but piss me off.

How many ex-pacs have come out in the last 10 years that totally screwed up a game?  An obvious is one is SWG.

Originally posted by nblitz

To me it's not an expansion if it makes previous content obsolete. It should have the inverse effect where "old" content is still viable but that there are now more options because the game has been expanded on.

That's a great way of putting it. I think a great example of an expansion is SWG's "Jump To Light Speed". Now regardless of what you think about the game, the xpac release, or anything like that, the expansion still add gameplay that was new and did not overlap, or obsolete, existing game play. EvE's Incarna, while in my opinion still needing some work, is another example of an expansion that introduced mechanics that did not overlap existing gameplay and truly expanded players options. Before, we could never stare at a door (but we did lose ship spinning for the time being /sadface). Realistically, I'm sure people can cite a number of EvE expansions for this sort of thing, but I focused on Incarna as it is the most dramatic/visible difference (ship versus person as avatar).

A little harder to clasify are the WoW expansion. While they do render older content obsolete for the most part (phasing, vehicle combat in pvp and raids, new crafting skills, etc). I think those would be somewhere in the middle as you generally get a content update with the standard quest driven progression, but you also tend to get new features that either enchance the questing experience or just add something else to do that doesn't always overlap what is already there.

Naturally, a number of other games might fall in that same scenario that I list WoW, but figure it is the easiest for people to relate to and tried to keep it to games I had a reasonable amount of experience with :). But anyhow, just my thoughts on the matter. Again, I like the way you put it. 

Originally posted by ActionMMORPG

Expansions = Content Patch

In very few cases do they change much about the game, and frankly I think this is a good thing.

I don't want to logoff on Thursday, log back in on Friday and have the gameplay mechanics messed up.  After all, I'm playing the game because * I LIKE IT *.  If they change a game that I already like, that's going to do nothing but piss me off.

How many ex-pacs have come out in the last 10 years that totally screwed up a game?  An obvious is one is SWG.

Changes can be both good and bad. Sometimes they actually take a game and make it better. The problem is just that for all good changes we still remembers the bad ones better.

Some games are actually a lot better now than when they released (like Eve) while others got NGEd. 

MMOs will eventually get boring so change can revitalize the game if you do it good, or completely destroy it if you mess up. But don't blame the change in itself.

Personally i welcome expansions if they dont make the previous content obsolete. I remember Anarchy Online, my personal best when it comes to expansions, as most of them were directed into alternate advancement lines. Players could access those new "XP" lines during the normal lvling process and not as somethng which comes after "you hit cap level". That's the way to do it imo. I remember myself thinking during wow's wotlk: "well, if Dalaran would have an auction house, there would be no point to step into Orgrimmar again"