General Discussion

From reading this article, the Chronicles of Spellborn looks fantastic. Much more diversity than most other MMORPG's and I love how the devs have included the community and player-base to incorporate part of the game. I like the skill based system, the crafting system (gathering resources and letting NPC's make your items as this will make resources much more valuable to obtain), and the shard control with PvP.

This one sounds like it might be a winner.

Graphic looks a bit like WoW to me

When Garrett said...

"It is certainly refreshing to see a game company include players in the fun of its dungeons, as well as listen to the community about development and game play."

My first reaction was...

*cough* BULL$#!t *cough*

Let's be honest here, gaming development companies don't give a flying fark about their customers, beyond keeping them paying their $15 US a month.

Any so called collaboration with the players is just a way for a company to suck up to the player base, give them the illusion that they are important to them and most importantly keep them paying to play.

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Originally posted by RipperjackAU
When Garrett said...
"It is certainly refreshing to see a game company include players in the fun of its dungeons, as well as listen to the community about development and game play."
My first reaction was...
*cough* BULL$#!t *cough*
Let's be honest here, gaming development companies don't give a flying fark about their customers, beyond keeping them paying their $15 US a month.
Any so called collaboration with the players is just a way for a company to suck up to the player base, give them the illusion that they are important to them and most importantly keep them paying to play.
When it comes down to the essence of MMO development, it can be captured in two words,

Mo' Money

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At its most basic level, obviously it is about making money. This is an industry, not a charity.

However, also at the most basic level it is about making something fun for people to enjoy... a game.

Any game company that completely does not care or consider its playerbase is going to fail. Even those companies some love to hate had to have taken their "market" into consideration or it wouldn't have made a game that anyone played in the first place.

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Originally posted by Lepidus

At its most basic level, obviously it is about making money. This is an industry, not a charity.

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Originally posted by Lepidus

However, also at the most basic level it is about making something fun for people to enjoy... a game.

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Originally posted by Lepidus

Any game company that completely does not care or consider its playerbase is going to fail. Even those companies some love to hate had to have taken their "market" into consideration or it wouldn't have made a game that anyone played in the first place.

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Obviously, games are the vision of their designers. Why else would you hire the designer?

Having filled that role before, I know how much thought I put into "what players wanted". Yes, I considered what I thought would be fun - that was my job and all - but the idea of what people wanted was firmly on my mind.

It is a delicate balance, but that is why you hire designers. Good ones know what is fun and create games people like.

Let's take CoV/CoH. One - from a design perspective it bears almost no resemblence to EQ. Two - yes, it is Emmert's vision of what a superhero game should be. Three - It is one of the biggest hits in the genre, someone clearly thinks its fun even if you do not.

A lot of times companies do not impliment "revolutionary features to keep their customers", because despite what a vocal minority says, a silent majority gets freaked out when you completely redefine a genre. Does that mean no one should try? No, but sometimes a game can be too different and fail for exactly that reason. In my experience for every one person demanding you rethink every aspect of a game and do something new, you get fifty people upset when you change some convention they've grown used to. Hell - look at the reaction to us taking the word "Discussion" out of "Discussion Forums".

It looks rad. Can't wait to give it a try.

Remember way back when games would just come out? No waiting 4 years for development and forum buzz? I miss that.

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Originally posted by Lepidus

Obviously, games are the vision of their designers. Why else would you hire the designer?

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Originally posted by Lepidus

It is a delicate balance, but that is why you hire designers. Good ones