Post by Morreion on Feb 11, 2016 9:37:02 GMT -5
Perfect Ten: Ten MMO tropes we don’t need in 2016 (but clearly aren’t going anywhere) (MOP)
The odds of this year marking an improvement in the listed fields are basically nil. Nonetheless, I’m writing this list just the same, so that you all can hopefully nod in agreement, and perhaps next year we can be rid of all this nonsense. In all likelihood little to nothing is actually going to change in 2017, too, but at least if something does change, I can be happy I stood vaguely near something sort of shifting...
4. Arguments over themeparks vs. sandboxes
This is really like arguing over whether the patty or the bun is more important to a hamburger. The answer is that both are important and contribute to having a good burger. Nothing useful is gained by splitting MMOs into two camps and deciding that all features on this side need to go into one sort of game. It results in weaker games overall and fewer options for players who want them.
Thankfully, developers seem to be slowly coming around to this fact; we’ve got housing all over the place these days, and there are far more games embracing the idea that this doesn’t have to be a feud. Players are still feuding over it, though, and every time I see a game advertised as a “return to the glory of old-school sandboxes” or something similar, I cringe. Let’s focus more on features and less on camps, yes?
5. Beta and Founder Packs shenanigans
I do not inherently mind Founder’s Packs as a construct; I think it’s nice that you can buy a free-to-play game, essentially. It works out all right on balance. I also don’t mind letting players into beta early. What I do mind is when access to the game in its test state is sold to people as one of the benefits of people who want to buy the game, thus creating an odd disconnect where a game’s most enthusiastic fans have a chance to get bored with the game before it’s actually out.
I’m also not very fond of Early Access in general, but again, that’s a bigger issue beyond the scope of this column. We can at least stop selling a slightly skeevier version of Early Access with free-to-play games.
6. General abuse of test terminology
This one might just be because I run our weekly Betawatch feature, but… really, at this point I’ve opined that words like “alpha” and “beta” no longer mean much of anything in regards to testing phases. That seems kind of backwards. Rather than the term describing the test, the test is run and the studio behind the game declares what the term means. I would love if this was cleaned up, or even if “beta” just stopped being synonymous with “stress test that might move the deck chairs around.”
4. Arguments over themeparks vs. sandboxes
This is really like arguing over whether the patty or the bun is more important to a hamburger. The answer is that both are important and contribute to having a good burger. Nothing useful is gained by splitting MMOs into two camps and deciding that all features on this side need to go into one sort of game. It results in weaker games overall and fewer options for players who want them.
Thankfully, developers seem to be slowly coming around to this fact; we’ve got housing all over the place these days, and there are far more games embracing the idea that this doesn’t have to be a feud. Players are still feuding over it, though, and every time I see a game advertised as a “return to the glory of old-school sandboxes” or something similar, I cringe. Let’s focus more on features and less on camps, yes?
5. Beta and Founder Packs shenanigans
I do not inherently mind Founder’s Packs as a construct; I think it’s nice that you can buy a free-to-play game, essentially. It works out all right on balance. I also don’t mind letting players into beta early. What I do mind is when access to the game in its test state is sold to people as one of the benefits of people who want to buy the game, thus creating an odd disconnect where a game’s most enthusiastic fans have a chance to get bored with the game before it’s actually out.
I’m also not very fond of Early Access in general, but again, that’s a bigger issue beyond the scope of this column. We can at least stop selling a slightly skeevier version of Early Access with free-to-play games.
6. General abuse of test terminology
This one might just be because I run our weekly Betawatch feature, but… really, at this point I’ve opined that words like “alpha” and “beta” no longer mean much of anything in regards to testing phases. That seems kind of backwards. Rather than the term describing the test, the test is run and the studio behind the game declares what the term means. I would love if this was cleaned up, or even if “beta” just stopped being synonymous with “stress test that might move the deck chairs around.”
