Why do WE have to be patient?

Golarum

Hello all,

I have not been following mmorpgs for a couple of weeks now. I recieved an email this morning inviting me to try out the Alganon open beta, so I decided to go give it a try, but before that I wanted to read a little about the game on the forums.

Now this topic is not only about Alganon, but all mmorpgs.

I read many posts stating that the game is not ready to be released on Dec 1st, which is the official release date. I also read a lot of comments from players saying that we need to encourage the game and that we need to be patient. I've been hearing these comments from players and devs alike for ages now about mmorpgs.

When you go buy a car, do you buy a half finished car to encourage the car company? No, the same goes for all products that you need or wish to buy. I like to pay for a finished product.

I know that mmorpgs are a bit different, because they have an ongoing world, and there are always changes and patches, I do not expect the game to be perfect, but I expect the game to be ready, to me a game should not be released if the devs do not think that the game is at least at 85% from perfection.

Why should I pay 70$ for a game + 15$/month, that's 235$ if we include the free month that we pay the first year for a game, that's a small car's annual insurance. It's a lot of money just for a game. I know it is because I'm always subbed to 4-5 games at the time and I am always the first to encourage a gaming company if I like the game and think it is worth paying for.

But I am also the first to say that this game is not ready and I will not be paying for it while they are fixing it.

This is not charity, it is a business, the game company does not care about the players, all they want is their money, this is what business is all about. If you don't bring money in, you are out of the picture, no more game for you, no more service for you. So why should I, as a customer, help out this company with an unfinished product? Examples of unfinished products that hit the market, WoW, Vanguard, WAR, AoC. The worst thing is that I did encourage Vanguard, WAR and AoC by purchasing the collector editions at release and I stayed with these games for a while. But then I realized that I was being duped.

The devs post these kind words on their websites saying how they care about the players, how they are listening to the players feedback, how they want to give the best service and product possible to these players, who are paying customers. Then the players fall for these words and start saying that we need to encourage these companies by giving them our money for their half finished products.

So what I want to know is why do these players continue encouraging and defending these companies?

I have gamer friends who would go out of their way to spend every penny they have on a half finished game because they want to help out the poor company that is making the game, but they would not bother in giving a homeless 80 year old crippled man, who can barely walk or talk a dollar saying that he should be working for his money.

Let me tell you something, when in general a company takes 2-3 years to make a good game, and you have a new company that takes 1 year to put out a game, and then asks players to start paying for an unfinished product, then that company does not deserve to get my money. Most companies want to push their unfinished products because they know that players will bite into their dishonest marketing strategies and finance the production of the game.

I personally, from now on, will not be paying for a game before knowing 100% that this game is ready for release, and to repeat myself, by ready, I do not mean perfect. I just mean that it should be playable and enjoyable to a certain common sense degree. If in my opinion the game is ready, then it will be my pleasure to pay for the game and services.

One more thing, this has nothing to do with my subject,  just did not want to start a new post, back then, we used to pay an intial price of the game because it was a physical boxed game we bought from a store shelf, now companies are pushing digital downloads at the same price as the boxed games and that is just pure greed.

 

Fyendiar

It's annoying, I agree, but a simple result of the fact that we the consumers let them get away with it. We are as much at fault as the companies doing it, we know that, but are not really willing to do anything about it. I know that even though it bugs me that they release unfinished games, I am still too impatient to not buy at release. Is it stupid of me? Definately! Will I stop doing it? I wish, but I know I will keep buying games the moment they get released out of sheer curiosity and impatience.

Axehilt

Abnormal demands for quality result in abnormal need for patience.  Pretty simple.

DiSpLiFF

 honestly how can you put WoW in these categories?

I played WoW at release, and really the only problem i remember was server queues/crashes. I don't think anything could of prepared them for how much of a demand they had for the game. I think there were like 15 servers at the start now they have who knows how many. 

I'm no WoW fanboi, but putting it in a league with WAR, AoC, Vanguard is just an insult. 

Irish

Unfortunately, the difference between cars and MMOs is that a car can be completed and shipped out. A game of the scope and magnitude of an MMO is never truly completed, as there are nigh-infinite possibilities for bugs, etc.

Cars also have a lot less working formulas and parts involved in their creation. Also, they are a necessity in this day and age.

As for an MMO, every day it doesn't have revenue from subscriptions and box copies coming in, it's non-gaming savvy investors lose faith in their investment and push harder for release. At this same time, the competition is reeling in more subscribers and gathering more loyalty.

Alas, I could go on.

I look at games as more a work of art than something to do. I am patient prior to a games release, so that the artist can finish his brush strokes. I am patient post-release so the artist can bring his image to fruition. My subscription will only aid him in his endeavor to make the game he wants his name under, and I want to play.

I feel for you, however, OP.

 

edit: I also say eff digital downloads of games. Being that I look at games as art, I want those bitches in my art collection. I need the tangible object.

 

Malcanis

Because life just aint fair and that's the way it is buddy.

Golarum

Originally posted by Irish


Unfortunately, the difference between cars and MMOs is that a car can be completed and shipped out. A game of the scope and magnitude of an MMO is never truly completed, as there are nigh-infinite possibilities for bugs, etc.
Cars also have a lot less working formulas and parts involved in their creation. Also, they are a necessity in this day and age.
As for an MMO, every day it doesn't have revenue from subscriptions and box copies coming in, it's non-gaming savvy investors lose faith in their investment and push harder for release. At this same time, the competition is reeling in more subscribers and gathering more loyalty.
Alas, I could go on.
I look at games as more a work of art than something to do. I am patient prior to a games release, so that the artist can finish his brush strokes. I am patient post-release so the artist can bring his image to fruition. My subscription will only aid him in his endeavor to make the game he wants his name under, and I want to play.
I feel for you, however, OP.
 
edit: I also say eff digital downloads of games. Being that I look at games as art, I want those bitches in my art collection. I need the tangible object.
 

 

I understand your point, but in any project in life, it is all about good planning. Investors will be patient if they believe in the product. Some projects can take 20-30 years to achieve without any warranty that the project will be fruitful, and the investors hang on because they feel confident in the project.

There is no excuse in getting a product out before it's ready. And for the people who are saying that an mmorpg is different, well it is not. The only difference is that I do not expect the game to be perfect, because it will never be, but I do expect it to be playable.

A good example I can give you is LOTRO, which had imo one of the best launches ever. I played that game at release and it had better stability and less bugs than many games that have been out for a while. Which proves that getting a finished product out is doable.

@ Fyendiar : You are right, the problem is the consumer, even I fall in that category, we complain and then go ahead and still purchase the game. Companies know that.

I am myself a sucker for collector and limited editions. Most of the time, these editions are only available at release, so if I don't get them, I feel too normal, and I don't like being normal lol, so what I do, is I still purchase the game before knowing if it's a good game or if it's a finished game. But I think now I learned my lesson and will not be purchasing any unfinished products anymore.