Some more “neutral” comments after the whiny post.

It looks like someone else took my role.

See, the truth is that DAoC’s fanboys and fangirls are VERY HARD to please and I would dare to say that we were even spoilt along the years. When Mythic stops trying, we notice. And our original enthusiasm and dedication backfires.

From my point of view the content of this expansion was quite predictable. After all the rants about the classes in the Catacombs expansion and all the efforts that Mythic had to spend to tweak them along the months, the choice to use just one class shared by the three realms became more and more attractive.

The real problem is that the game has already way too many classes. At this point one more is BETTER than three. Zero would be even better than one, but this expansion for Mythic is like a duty. Something that they have promised and now they have to finish even if they don’t really want to. Because now that the Warhammer is the focus of the attention and of the “serious” development, DAoC is just a burden. A dead weight.

They had to fit something in this expansion. And classes and races seem to be obligatory in the recipe even when they are POISON, as in this case.

If you read the negative feedback about this expansion you notice that the general opinion is quite uniform. There aren’t many complaints about the features themselves (well, there are. But I’ll return on this), but more concerns about the direction the game is taking.

Because the point is that this expansion IS NOT what DAoC would need. That’s what people see. That’s what Amber is ranting about in the link above, and even what I read in a comment here. But what’s new? How is this different from ALL previous expansions? None of them really helped the game. Darkness Rising, Catacombs, ToA. In a few cases they damaged or deviated the game from its track. Not helped.

This isn’t a problem of resources available. This is a problem of an overall model of development used. By definition the expansions are the only way possible to develop significantly the game. To do that kind of stuff that the Live team cannot do alone. At the same time the only real part of the game that can be made optional (which is the true problem) and expandable is PvE.

Please notice: optional and expandable. Take these two terms, then think about “revitalizing the game”. How’s that “optional and expandable”?

That’s the point. It was the real problem since the beginning. The core of the game and the potential and scope of an expansion pack part ways. In the same way ToA derailed the game when the players wanted the RvR to improve. And not that kind of PvE that they can find in a better shape in other games.

But the RvR and all the basic structure of the game CANNOT be worked in an expansion. Because those parts aren’t “optional and expandable”. They need the opposite, they are mandatory and need to be consolidated because there’s already way too much space wasted. CCP solved this problem with Eve. They have a sandbox and they adapt to its model. Eve HAS expansions. And those expansion CAN improve radically the CORE of the game. But they aren’t optional.

So the point is: do not expect that kind of development on an expansion. Not only because it isn’t possible, but because it would even damage the game if that significant work would be restricted to an expansion pack and not the totality of the players (and the game).

Mythic had to deal with that. And their plan to minimize the side-effects was to use the expansions to expand and improve the PvE, while bundling the “technology upgrades” with it. While along the year they tried to work on the RvR and all the other parts of the game that couldn’t be made optional. That’s how we got the “New Frontier” and all those WoW-like eases of use that started to trickle in the game. Looking back, that’s how we got the original masterpiece that was Darkness Falls.

If you ask Mythic what’s their plan about “revitalizing the game”, they answer: “we have done that and always continue to do that.” Now the real question is: are they doing it effectively?

My opinion is that they aren’t doing enough, and I always specified that it’s not a matter of resources, but the way they are used. But then I would also say that that “Catacombs” damaged more the game than ToA. It took Mythic two years to admit the flaws of ToA, and it took them even more to admit the flaws of “/level 20”. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day they’ll even admit that Catacombs design was a big mistake.

Yes, I have ideas about how you could revitalize the game so that it could go from a negative to a positive growth. That idea they “stole” from me didn’t have that purpose and cannot be blamed for it. At least I could suggest some serious attempts that could make that a possibility. Many of these ideas are already in all I wrote. One of these is a reorganization of the overall structure behind “Catacombs” that doesn’t directly touch the content, but only the overall scheme and function. Doing something along those lines while also making the whole expansion (content) free for everyone could already do something. Then you could do the other part working on all the Battlegrounds in the game and convert them to the “Permeable Barriers” design strategy (see point 2), while also working on the BGs to make them all unique and special (with specific rewards and perks), instead of moving linearly toward a complexity.

Want another idea that could draw the attention of more players without requiring too much work? PvP classic servers:

– You take the classic server rules, no ToA, no buffbots
– You unify all the underground zones in “Catacombs” so that all the three realms share the same structure, used also as a “subway” connecting the three realms
– Make all the private instances, public
– Instead of the current “free-for-all” mode of the DAoC’s PvP servers, you retain the three hardcoded realms factions

It would require a quite significant effort to work on the technology (but I think it could be possible with Doom-like “visportals”), but it would also be great if all the Catacombs zones could be made “seamless”, with no zoning. Becoming one big seamless PvE/PvP environment.

Of course the negatives are that it’s yet another server that thins even more the population on the other servers. But, still, it risks to be insanely popular if well executed. And then you can work on the idea, adding mini-games and objectives in each dungeon and maybe doing the impossibe: REMOVE the frontiers entirely. And then reintegrate parts of them directly on the classic zones. With the realms becoming the RvR territories and the players taking control of Ludlow, Prydwen Keep, Cornwall, Ardagh, Mag Mell and so on. In a full PvP world.

So much is still possible. DAoC could still have a so huge potential and still have a lot to say. It could still make pale even the newer game and find its own noteworthy place in the market without getting overwhelmed. The game has still that kind of strength. But it’s a strength that you need to recognize and then pull out of it.

You decide if Mythic is doing that or not.

I believe that not only Mythic made many mistakes along the way (which isn’t bad and can lead to improve) but that they are still making them, and even easily predictable ones. The server clusters were a partial mistake, Agramon was a mistake, Catacombs was an announced disaster whose true effects are only visible today. The implementation of boats, PvP missions and rules to ease the realm unbalance way too weak and inappropriate in some cases.

The point is: there is so much that could be discussed, but I cannot believe that you really hoped that this expansion was going to solve the long-standing problems that this game has always had at the core.