| |
Site Navigation
Main
News
Forums
Games
Games Database
Top 100
Release List
Support Files
Features
Reviews
Previews
Interviews
Editorials
Diaries
Misc
Download
Gallery
Music
Screenshots
Videos
Miscellaneous
Staff Members
Privacy Statement
|
|
Random Dialogue: On the EQ Guild Summit
Dialogue, 2004-06-14
Lately I've been knee deep in several games at once. It's made concentrating on any one game difficult, but somehow I've managed. Besides City of Heroes, I've been playing a good deal of Everquest lately. We're ramping up for something pretty special regarding Sony's venerable property, and my habitation of Norrath has been a big part of those preperations. I've also been keeping abreast of EQ news, and the big news of late has been the Guild Summit. I believe the Everquest Guild Summit has far reaching implications for the Massively Multiplayer Genre as a whole, and marks a new beginning for Sony Online Entertainment.
Customer service has always been the bugbear under the stairs for online gaming companies. The vision and needs of the designers to implement a game in a cost effective and feasible manner is balanced against the interests and gameplay the player base would like. Both the players and the design team want the same end goal: A fun game. The list of roadblocks between point A and point B is a long one. Exploits, nerfs, denerfs, renerfs, griefers, spell imbalances, geometry holes, duping...It's a wonder the players and developers ever speak to each other. Thankfully as the concept of a Massively Multiplayer game has grown, so has the understanding neccessary to run one. The give and take relationship between community relations and the playerbase has evolved into a working relationship. Flames and trolls notwithstanding, across the board players are having more and more input into the way that "their" games are developed.
The recent tete 'e tete between Sony Online and the heads of some of the most influential guilds of Norrath is a watershed in the changing relationship between players and developers. The enormity of the meeting cannot, I believe, be overstated. John Smedley, the president of SOE, opened the discussion with the guild leads with this statement: "We are not here to sell you anything, but to listen to what your concerns are and hear your suggestions. When you create a game and work this hard you don't like to disappoint people or have them quit." In other words, the future of a multi-million dollar game company rests partially in the hands of the people who play the game.
Beyond sending a clear message to the player base, Sony is effectively throwing down a gauntlet for Blizzard, Mythic, Turbine, NCSoft, Funcom, and Square/Enix. "Look what we do to make our players happy!", they're saying. And they've said as much that they plan to do something like this again soon with a focus on solo and lower level play. Face to face feedback from your players is now the high standard for community relations in the MMOG genre. It also proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that despite the perfectly acceptable complaints you can level against Sony Online, they've learned a thing or two from their five years in the hot seat.
I can't wait to see what the Everquest ten year anniversary will be like.
|
|
