I started using my nickname "Baro" in Star Wars Galaxies in 2003.
This game was unique, it was a sandbox. Very grindy, very social and time-consuming. It was a "slow" game where I would have to wait for a shuttle for up to 15 minutes and driving across a planet on a speederbike would take as long.
We got to enjoy this for about 2 years before devs decided it wasn't linear enough, it didn't attract the masses the way WoW did. You had to think to much and make your own story. They reworked the whole game in a change called NGE (New Game Experience), including the skills system to make it into a more FPS style combat game.
What the changes did wasn't attract new customers, only to lose it's existing ones. This is one of the few MMOs in the history that simply wasn't continued, it shut down!
What I expected the industry should learn from this? Listen to your playerbase.
Read the story here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Galaxies
Eve Online also started about the same time.
I had to choose and stuck with SWG sadly, but I got into EVE 9 years later and actually have my name on the obelisk in Reykjavik city from their 10 years anniversary. EVE Online is still going strong and have made huge changes over the years, but it has all been done with a council of advisors made up from active players who are flown to Reykjavik once (or twice) pr year (no, I'm not kidding!). The way the devs interact with their paying customers is to my knowledge quite unique and I have always wondered why more companies don't do this. If you want to learn about a very unique game look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Online
Changes should be improvements made to make the customer happy. It's not very hard, but requires the absence of arrogance.
Last example I want to discuss is Age of Conan, released in 2008.
AoC boasted to be a very "mature" game where you could lay siege to other clans fortresses. On release it was smooth and interesting until you left the starter zone, then it became a buggy mess. Lvl 1-20 good, lvl 21-80 borderline unplayable. It was clear to the player-base that creators Funcom was forced to release an unfinished game by it's stockholders/ board because they ran out of money to develop. Funcom was one of the first to do this mistake although it seems to have become a standard by now. Releases like Battlefield 5 have completely flopped and in the end it results in a loss for the owners.
What should we have learned? Never let the economics department decide when a game is done!
When it comes to the patch everyone is talking about I'm one that originally wasn't to worried. There is no game in my history I have spent so much money on like I do in WoT and what does 8 USD extra pr month do. New players already face a horde of seal clubbers with their 5 skill crew Leffe with bond equipment and 5k games in this tank alone, that's not going to change. If pay-to-win premiums was so dominant none of us would be playing the tech trees.
The feedback we see now seems to me like the last drop that made the cup… and the community is nerdraging like I haven't seen for years! I'm starting to worry this might be the downfall for a game many like me love to hate. I actually wish they screw up so bad I can uninstall and move on for the last time (yes, I have tried before). I was only going to play some games while waiting for Starfield, but it has been delayed until September and will most likely be an unplayable mess…
One post asked which game would you play if you quit WoT and I wish I could rejoin Eve Online. It is by far the game that has given me my most insane game experiences, but it's more than a game, it's a lifestyle. This trailer is still the best one I know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2X1MIR1KMs
Anyways, gotta go grind that Maus. If anyone can explain why WoT is so addictive I would really like to know.
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