Jul 12
Complicated WAR
Briefly, I have some more complex thoughts on the Warhammer thing:
- I think this is a “good thing”. It’s tough, it’s hard, it’s … I’d even actually use the word violent. It certainly felt like the community as a whole took a sock to the gut with this news. Everyone was bopping along, going “yay WAR”, and then fell on their faces. Overall though, I think this is going to be good for the community in the long run.
- At the very least, this resets expectations. Spent some time with my family this evening, and there was a lot of talk about expectations vs. reality; when expectations are ‘greater’ than reality can provide, the result is unhappiness. By manually setting expectations for fans at a lower level, it guarantees that players will be (probably) less unhappy.
- It nails into the ground anyone who could have said they were trying to rush this out the door poorly made. They were so unhappy with some of their content that they cut it out with a knife rather than let it muddy the experience for players.
- This may be a new “high point” for in-development games, a developer publicly sacrificing the few so that the many might live. While this is very much flying in the face of the “we’ll work on it until its done”, it is just about the firmest commitment you could possibly see to “we won’t release it until it’s good.”
The only thing I’m still a little offput by is Jacobs’ statement that EA had nothing to do with this decision. I’m … umm … going to go out on a limb and call shenanigans on that. I’m willing to bet that *somewhere* behind this announcment is an EA exec looking at his watch and tapping his foot in cartoon-like impatience.
Tip of the hat to the folks at Mythic Entertainment. I really hope this works out the way you guys want it, and I hope that the fan community continues to show the patience it has in the last 48 hours or so. It really does seem like the dedicated fans are rallying to the game … we just need to hear more about the particulars.
Thanks.
8 comments8 Comments so far
[...] view, as does Syp@Waaagh with some reservations. Michael at MMOGnation is disappointed and wonders if EA were connected. Snafzg@The Greenskin is angry but Cicadymn also posts an alternate point of view, s/he’s [...]
[...] MMOG Nation put it, this weekend helps to “reset expectations” that were perhaps far too high in the first [...]
I hope the lesson winds up being “if you don’t set expectations you can’t meet, then you won’t need to reset them.”
Given the options available I’d far rather have a game where all the components work well (with “fun” being one metric of “work well”), so in that regard I agree, this is the best approach. Next time you’re not sure something will function as desired, though, shaddap about it until you know it will — and even then play a bit cagey about it. “Underpromise, overdeliver” and whatnot.
It nails into the ground anyone who could have said they were trying to rush this out the door poorly made. They were so unhappy with some of their content that they cut it out with a knife rather than let it muddy the experience for players.
This is a fallacy. Even if one accepts the basic premise (that removing incomplete content yields a game that is not “rushed” or “poorly made” – quite an assumption!), you’re also assuming that this removal encompasses all (or even a majority of) incomplete content, which you cannot know.
It may well be that the game is swell and otherwise complete – but this action does not logically imply that. The only people who know either way at this point are bound by NDA.
[...] the statement put forth that EA had nothing to do with this… well, I have to go with Michael Zenke and his “EA exec looking at his watch and tapping his foot in cartoon-like impatience.” [...]
[...] 2, Massively pt 2, Cicadymn, Vid, Bloghammer, MMORPG blog, Tholal, Heartless Gamer pt 2, Keen pt 3, MMOG Nation, Warhammer Gamers, MMOverdose pt 2, Boathammer pt 2, Player vs. Developer, Book of Grudges pt 4, [...]
[...] what is good, and what worries us, prompted by all sorts of posts including those from Karen, Michael Zenke, Heartless, n3rfed, JoBildo, and [...]
[...] my mind, this kind of vindicates something Michael Zenke said a while ago when he mentioned: The only thing I’m still a little offput by is Jacobs’ statement [...]