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GDC Online: MMO Devs Need To Remind Customers What They're Paying For
by Kris Graft [PC, Console/PC, GDC Online]
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October 8, 2010
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At GDC Online on Friday, MMO veterans from major developers shared key tips on player retention, engagement and keeping a game going strong after launch.
"Really from launch, even from a year afterward, it's still part of the development process," said Sony Online Entertainment Executive Director of Development Lorin Jameson. "…You kind of transition from looking for the audience you want to understanding the players that you have."
But keeping players engaged is the tricky part. "Understanding and getting to that core audience that really identifies with your brand … is very important," said Jameson.
Nathan Richardsson, executive producer at EVE Online developer CCP, said that focusing on a game's core audience has been one key to EVE's longevity. "About 20 percent of the people who played at launch are still playing EVE, so there is a very strong core audience." He added, "The EVE development team has never been bigger than it is today."
Jeff Hickman, executive producer with EA Mythic, stressed that developers need to stay focused on their audience, and also on what makes their game appealing in the first place. That can be difficult when competing with so many other MMOs, he said.
"One of the biggest things that you struggle with is chasing everybody else," said Hickman, and this struggle sometimes leads MMO developers to make drastic changes in an effort to appeal to another game's audience. "Don't fuck with the core of your game," Hickman advised.
BioWare Co-studio Director Rich Vogel agreed, "Changing the fundamental core of your game is really risky to do."
But in order to have players to keep engaged, developers need to be able to attract the initial base. While the panel speakers all work on games with varying business models, they agreed that accessibility –- from the first click registering for the game –- is crucial.
Hickman, who works on titles like Ultima Online, said the game has its very hardcore audience that has been playing for years, but attracting new players included the introduction of a new front-end client, which exists alongside a "classic" client.
"Did it widen our reach? Absolutely," said Hickman. "…You have got to make sure that it's very easy for players to get into your game."
Jeff Steefel, executive producer at Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online developer Turbine said the subscriber base for the studio's games has gone up "significantly" since it started offering free-to-play and microtransactions as an option. He said the studio was surprised at the results, but Turbine realized the new model made the games more accessible with less commitment.
"It all comes down to giving flexibility to the consumer -- then all of a sudden they're much more engaged," both in terms of playing the game and spending money, Steefel said. "…Engagement is what drives how they spend money."
But player engagement is tricky, particularly in such a competitive space. EVE Online's Richardsson explained that his MMO's regular free expansions have been key to retaining players. With the release of the free expansions, "churn goes down to nonexistent," he said. Richardsson argued that CCP is not just "throwing money away" with free expansions, but it shows players value, and that keeps them playing the subscription-based game.
Min Kim, VP at MapleStory developer Nexon America said, "The console player always cares what new and hot-looking etc." But with MMOs, it's more about "the content [the game] gives to them" over a longer period of time.
And showing players the value that the content offers is important. Richardsson said, "Remind the customer why he is giving you money. Always. … A frequent schedule of releases is the best way to do it."
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I don't think this was an interview, so the inclusion of staff from less successful MMOs wasn't the author's choice.
But the few comments quoted from less successful developers were insightful, eg. Turbine tells us offering players more choice in payment model has improved their profits NOT "Our games have been raging successes, come partake of our game development wisdom"
Of course everything they said is nothing more than common sense, but it's nice to see that as a whole, game developers are finally catching up :P
Further, these games not having been as successful as they could have been only further adds value to what their developers have to say. You learn far more from mistakes than you do from successes, after all.
MMOs..you just get access to the same content you already paid $50 for...
At Realm of Empires, where we also have a strong core of fans, we've dealt with this by creating a sister game to the original product thus being able to satisfy both camps.
If you keep the same code base, you can greatly reduce the overhead and can keep both games updated with new features easily. We've written about this on our blog http://realmofempires.blogspot.com/2010/10/roe-mmo-user-experience.html
I'm not convinced about the approach of tailoring to your core crowd on any game, since the obvious risk is long term attenuation, and the eventual death of your franchise.
You need have a balanced environment to let them live together.
You cant change the core of your environment, because it's your identity. Otherwise all living things will die.
Wolf can bully sheep but cant kill sheep, because wolf will die if there is no sheep.
You can also have micro transition model to convert sheep armed as wolf :)
- Update Player Goals so that new goals are available and motivation to get these goals exist.
- Improve PvP elements in PvP direct competitions (Arena etc.) or PvP Awards in a PvE realm (Guilds vs Guilds).
- Improve methods for players to interact with other players to motivate social interaction. This includes the fluffy stuff that is not necessary for game mechanics. This includes better Guild tools, Emotes, Pretty Armor and Weapons. Stuff that is nice and facilitates social interaction but isn't necessary to play the game mechanically.
- Lastly is Player Immersion through either good graphics or nice sound or screen cinematic etc. Basically something to help the player feel a bit more invested in a game emotionally rather than simply competitively.
In my opinion, when you boil down an MMORPG to it's basic key sets, those four are it. Master those four things and people will continue to come back over and over again. But if you continue down the path of Grind/Raid/Repeat then eventually everyone will get tired of that. There is a reason I've stopped playing MMORPGs and it's because no one has figured out a way to really move past that model or at least make the four points as stated above better.