I do have high expectations, but I never go into hype mode.

From a MMORPG I expect a great deal of player freedom, non combat and combat being equelly important, back ground lore because for story's I already enjoy my singleplayer RPG games or read books :P. The gameworld needs to feel like a actuall world either with a sci-fi or fantasy theme. But that world should spark my imagination as in how it would be to actually be there.

Today's gen. of MMO''s just feel slightly different compared to single/multiplayer games. Endgame consist out of the same type of gameplay we already can find in normal multiplayer games only difference you can play with more VS then your regular multiplayer FPS, yet with slightly outdated graphics compared to the single/multiplayer games.

But I never let my expectations cloud my judgement about info about games as my high expectations are merly mine, just the hopes of what this genre could be.

For instance, I am enjoying SWtOR, but been playing only since about 3 months. I read allot, saw allot of clips...etc..so I never thought on buying it at release. Cause everything I read or saw showed me not the type of MMORPG I wanted. And while I am enjoying "the game" SWtOR I am merly enjoying it as a game. It still fails to my expectations of it being a MMORPG.

When community doesn't mean a thing due to game feature's then for me such a game stops being a MMORPG and becomes merly a online game to me.

Those that have played SWG for a long period of time might be able to relate to what I am saying, others might be not be quite understanding on what I have said.

So YES I keep having high expectations of this genre, but I keep my expectations realistic when game info is shared. But that doesn't stop me into hoping for more virtual sci-fi/fantasy WORLDS!!

Originally posted by NBlitz

Which other industries can get away with releasing a buggy, half-assed product and have customers eating it all up no matter how many times history repeats itself?

 

I was at a Q&A session with John Carpenter, (the man who directed the original Halloween, Escape from NY among others), and he basically said the movie industry has come down to bunch of suits are responsible for green lighting your film based on a bunch of figures calculated by some number crunchers before you have even shot a single frame of film.

Unfortunately I think the MMO market in alot of way especially with the big corps like EA is operating the exact same way.  Everything has to follow a certain formula otherwise the game will never be made.  I am hoping the some smaller indepedent games like the Repopulation or Archage to do well and maybe we can escape this cycle.

The last couple of games I got pumped up for were STO, TOR and TSW.  Sadly by the time I had played several hours in beta/head start I realized while I love the IPs/Theme, the execution of the mechanics were severely lacking whether it be the complete linearness of TOR or the disappointing combat in TSW.

Lastly, if you have some constructive criticism for Pokket by all means share your advice, but if all you are going to spit out is she's a doody head and I don't like her please don't bother posting.  You'd be better off by just not reading her articles.

Stevenra: I like to think I've been very unbiased in A LOT of reviews, first impressions, etc of games that I cover. I was rather pessimistic about SWTOR, Tera, and GW2 before they launched and, while I won't say they are the game of my dreams, they are certainly something to fill my time with. I tend to give both the goods and bads of every game I've tried out. I don't give you what devs want to hear, but I do try to put the negatives nicely. There is a major difference.

kaiser3282: That is completely false, sir. The Mythic version of WAR was RvR/PvP focused and had to put in PvE. You may be thinking of another version of Warhammer put on by a different company that was PvE focused and got cancelled.

Freezzo: The suits call the shots on A LOT of things, and in SWTOR's case, Lucas Arts also puts their hand in the jar. Like Matt Higby said at the Future of MMO panel at PAX, there's a lot devs want to do, functionality they want to put into the game, but there is only so much they can do due to budget, time restrictions, shots called, etc. To think devs don't know what's missing from their game as they play, is really to think foolishly. Ofc they are going to say they like the game they spent hours, days, months, years working on. I'm sure they are still proud.

Personally..... I like to read about the hype and the negative of any game. I like to believe I have more than cobwebs between my ears and can reason out my own ideas of what I will like. There has been a butt load of crap in gaming for a LONG time now to sift through... nothing new. Sometimes in the low end of gaming just like in low budget films you find something great. 

I was looking forward to a deeper read on the topic though. This is definately a topic that has much debating to it. I do not believe it is the suits nor the developers that cause the game to fail or be over hyped all the time. Most companies want to put out a great game. Most suits want a great game to profit from. Sometimes their ideas of what they think will be great and how it feels to the players when it is finished can end up on 2 different planets and light years apart. Ask people in a game which class they think is the best tank or damage dealer and watch the chat fly for hours!  "One man's trash is another man's treasure".

As far as blaming the media and especially this site for siding with developers.... I just have not seen it happen very often on this site. I have used this site for many years and for the most part the contributors keep it balanced (more so than I would with some games). 

I would love to see the day when a game is released and has no bugs or glitching! NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. It isn't because the developers are lazy or the suits pushed it out too soon, as much as there are just soooooooo many variables when the game goes live with MMOs that there is going to be something that goes wrong. Anet has always been known for a company that will wait and polish a game for years before launching it to get it "right", but even with GW2 there has been bugs and issues that popped up in the first month now since launch. Did they push it out too soon? NOT AT ALL. As players and gamers lets also keep in mind that we cause the hype for good or bad to escalate out of control sometimes. Practice some patience and understanding. Not all game developers are out to just milk the public dry. THEY ARE GAMERS TOO! They want the game to succeed and be fun to play.

Originally posted by Stevenra
I'm sorry but sites like this and any of the video game media is , at the very LEAST, partly to blame.  You, the industry media, who does not make clear that you will not give an actual true point of view of games instead of being so scared too offend a game developer that will pay your bills.  Until this trend of scratch my back i'll scratch yours stops we will never know just how bad a game is, going off of "professional" reviews.  Yes we do get, for the most part, beta entry into games ahead of launch but most of us only get those after preordering.  I think every article/advertisement for a game should be prefaced if that company has given your company anything.

 

 

One has to assume that all parties involved have a conflict of interest.  Anyone who doesn't take that into account, at this late date, is part of the problem.  There is an old, OLD saying; "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.". 

Eventually, someone is going to make the connection, that its better to under promise, and over deliver, than the reverse.  But even then, its still up to each gamer to do their own research, and make up their own mind. 

I agree that games are overhyped.

I think some players are looking for a game that doesn't exist and will never exist.  A perfect game that Devs say their game is, but always fails to measure up.

However many of the newer mmos don't just have a few faults. They are mishandled messes, created by people who should have known better but were blinded by their "vision".

Heres the problem....

EVERYONE THINKS THEY KNOW BETTER THEN THE OTHER PERSON

Thats the problem, period.....

Bloody hell Pokket, you surprise me.. These words I learnt after years of following games through beta to release.. Dont expect and you wont be disapointed.. Finally a decent article from mmorpg.com 

I'm trying to keep this from being a massive wall of rant but it's hard with this issue. See I have high expectations and they will remain high because I do expect more from many of these developers. If you have the budget and the talent there simply is no excuse for failing to deliver quality enterainment. These suits spend so much money on Marketing and advertising campaignes and cut corners on development and testing. An over blown Cinematic commercial that gives no truths about a game are as effective in generating interest as putting the games logo on a TV screen with a release date for 30 seconds.

If they want me to play for 6 months while they work on an expac then they need to give me enough content to last me for six months while entertaining me the whole time. If they want me to bounce in a month it's perfectly acceptable to give me only a months worth of content.

If they want me to pay a monthly fee then everything the game has to offer at the time needs to be accessible and obtainable in game and not on some asinine cash shop. Again they also need to insure I have the content to keep me playing otherwise there simply isn't a reason for me to pay that monthly fee. 

If they are going to promote the game as something different it actually needs to be something different not the same old crap with a new skin.

If you want me to judge the game on it's merits and not the hype quit f'ing hyping it. Give me the facts, let the game speak for itself. I don't want to see cinematics that represent the game in no way shape or form. I want to see gameplay. I don't want to hear we have the most revolutionary AI before I buy it then find out it's the same crap with minor tweaks. If you are claiming revolutionary it better damn well be revolutionary.

I'm not unreasonable. I have expectations based on variables. Indy team with a small team and low budget, my expectations aren't any close to what I have for a Large team with a lot of talent working with a large budget and already established IP.

It's not my expectations that need to be lowered, its these developers and publishers dedication to quality, polish and honesty that need to be raised.

Originally posted by tman5

Originally posted by NBlitz

Which other industries can get away with releasing a buggy, half-assed product and have customers eating it all up no matter how many times history repeats itself?

Microsoft?  Oh, wait, they've dropped to Number Three in the software world now, maybe not a good example.

Thanks Pokket....  I always enjoy your articles and casts, and find your opinions about games useful, even if I don't necessarily like precisely the same kind of gameplay.

I like to think that I am all grown up now and realize that advertisements, marketing campaigns, and promotions (whether for products or politicians) are not cheap lies, but rather tend to be rather expensive lies.   But at the same time I can't avoid getting a little hopeful that something good may be in the offing...so I just can't become totally cynical.  

My other observation is that the best games I have played in the last 30 years were nearly all complete surprizes where I had no particular expectations at all.   Strange, the less I expect, often,  the better the games are.    I don't know why that is!

Sounds like you finally realize (I won't mention the games name but it ends with no content)  was really a sucky game.

I don't over hype any WoW clone.

I was at a game conference at MIT recently, and talked with a few game industry folks who are terrified of the fans, because of the current trend of ignoring a game if it *isn't* hyped to 7th heaven -- then tearing it to shreds upon release.

Unlike movies, the community of fans has a more integral role in gaming.  So what this means is that tens of millions of dollars of production and all goes into a rat hole when the fans decide the game doesn't meet expectations.

If that happens to every launch on a regular basis, the AAA part of the game industry will fail.  Do the math, think like an investor.  

it's not just the suits, or just the fans, or just the devs.  It's a really really dysfunctional relationship, and somehow the feedback loop has to get broken and fixed or the whole industry is going into the crapper.

Originally posted by shava

I was at a game conference at MIT recently, and talked with a few game industry folks who are terrified of the fans, because of the current trend of ignoring a game if it *isn't* hyped to 7th heaven -- then tearing it to shreds upon release.

 

Unlike movies, the community of fans has a more integral role in gaming.  So what this means is that tens of millions of dollars of production and all goes into a rat hole when the fans decide the game doesn't meet expectations.

 

If that happens to every launch on a regular basis, the AAA part of the game industry will fail.  Do the math, think like an investor.  

 

it's not just the suits, or just the fans, or just the devs.  It's a really really dysfunctional relationship, and somehow the feedback loop has to get broken and fixed or the whole industry is going into the crapper.

 

If I was going to release a game I'd concentrate on getting a solid and stable release with the small group of folks that know about the game because they visit sites like this, then I'd start advertising it to the masses to bring them in to try it without the drawback of their pre-conceived notions of what I had promised I would give them.

Get the game design right, get it polished and launch it quietly before trying to ramp up the population.  Might be a solid alternative strategy.

Originally posted by Torluk

Originally posted by shava

I was at a game conference at MIT recently, and talked with a few game industry folks who are terrified of the fans, because of the current trend of ignoring a game if it *isn't* hyped to 7th heaven -- then tearing it to shreds upon release.

 

Unlike movies, the community of fans has a more integral role in gaming.  So what this means is that tens of millions of dollars of production and all goes into a rat hole when the fans decide the game doesn't meet expectations.

 

If that happens to every launch on a regular basis, the AAA part of the game industry will fail.  Do the math, think like an investor.  

 

it's not just the suits, or just the fans, or just the devs.  It's a really really dysfunctional relationship, and somehow the feedback loop has to get broken and fixed or the whole industry is going into the crapper.

 

If I was going to release a game I'd concentrate on getting a solid and stable release with the small group of folks that know about the game because they visit sites like this, then I'd start advertising it to the masses to bring them in to try it without the drawback of their pre-conceived notions of what I had promised I would give them.

Get the game design right, get it polished and launch it quietly before trying to ramp up the population.  Might be a solid alternative strategy.

Sure it would. If you have rock solid finances, so that the investors/publisher doesn't panic and demand that you cut corners, and push it out early to make their quarterly report look sweet.   ALL suits care about is the quarterly report.  That tends to take its toll.  These AAA projects are insanely expensive, and because of that you have suits, rather than Dev's calling the major shots, with the results we've seen way too much of over the last few years.