Mythic started recently to support in-game polls right after you log in. This means that they have a reliable method to survey the opinions of the playerbase since it’s an unique vote per account and visible to everyone. After the debates about the message boards not representing correctly the actual players this becomes a direct, objective way to receive “meaningful” (in the sense that it comes from who’s paying) feedback.

Now I’d start a rant about how pointless and false are the surveys, because what is important is how you “read” them. Because the answers are never easily readable as everyone superficially believes. The surveys are harder to read and figure out than an actual message on a forum and, again, this is nowhere what a game needs. A game needs discussion, debate, open confrontation. It needs subjective and precise points of view. Identity, not omogenization between a set of choices like the philosophy the market is imposing. A poll with a yes/no choice offers feedback that could be completely wrong and is again impersonal, with no consequence, no commitment and responsibility. It mirrors the illusion of a world where things happen without a reason. There’s no “why”. What is important isn’t to offer opinions but just be part of a standard that can be easily recognized and controlled. That’s the superficial level, the fluff. What is important is what’s below, instead. The reasons. The links between what happens. Causes and consequences, not loose episodes without a relationship with what was before and what will come after. The fact is that the surveys are just an illusion of “order” and “control”. A superficial glance on a complex situation in order to reduce that complexity. But without understanding it, just “removing” it. Like if it doesn’t exist.

But instead of going on along an unproductive rant, I’m more interested to write down my opinions. So about what I think matters about that poll. What Mythic asked was to pick one of the options:
– I don’t want to answer
– A new server without ToA, Master Levels and artifacts
– A new server with ranged buffs only (to discourage the buffbot plague)
– A new (casual) server with XP capped for each day
– A new “home invasion” server
– I’m not interested in a new server

My first thought is that DAoC needs everything but a new server. It’s not like the servers are overcrowded at this moment The clustering in February put a bandaid about the problem but the game needs everything but another dispersion. Launching a new server with features that the players are asking from years would make it unplayable due to a sudden (and probably permanent) load. The standard servers will receive another hit on the population and the whole situation could easily slip out of hand. The major point is that those features should be part of the STANDARD game. It’s a big mistake to offer something representing a benefit to everyone just on a new ruleset. Different rulesets, at the origin are always a wrong idea. They are just the easy path in order to avoid to make important choices for the game. These are design problems. They must be *addressed* not seconded or diverted somewhere else.

This brings to the second point. The fact that so many players would like a new server without ToA should mean *something*. No, it doesn’t mean that ToA should be removed from the game, it means that its content should be FIXED. Make it fun. Instance that fucking thing so that it’s not gameplay designed after timesinks and horrible grinds. Remove what the game doesn’t need, remove the horrid design that originated that crap but DO NOT remove the content. ToA is the expansion on which Mythic worked more. It’s not acceptable to see it being removed from the game after a superficial plebiscite. Go back to study! Go look *why* (that “why” that misses from the polls) the players hate ToA, go look if you can do something to make it fun. Removing it is too easy. That part of the game needs work, not to be cut away. The players expressed a dissatisfaction. It is important to *understand* it and address the problems. Not to second the masses. The masses react to what you offer, if your offer changes the raction will change as well.

The third point is about the other two choices. As I commented when the idea of a “casual server” popped up in December, I believe it’s not something useful. The PvE competition in DAoC is, and probably will be, near to zero. It could matter for the first month, maybe, but then it will vanish. Without a server that goes on a closed circle (it starts, goes on and then resets to restart from zero) the idea is simply amputated. It goes nowhere, after the novelty it will become another “Andred”, with the difference that this time there won’t be another server to consolidate with. Even if the ruleset is extended to cap both the experience and the realm points it will simply not add anything useful to the game. Another of those features that the players just ask out of habit.

The “home invasion” server, instead, was one of my old pet peeve. But the point is that it’s too late. You know, there’s WoW. This type of server is the one with the most potential, but you cannot take a normal server and simply open the frontiers. That’s the superficial attitude that Mythic always have. And it won’t work. An “home invasion” server could be wonderful if Mythic is ready to work on it extensively, to create parts of the game tied to it. To create apposite gamaplay and rules. And it’s *obvious* that it won’t happen. WoW’s biggest mistake was a few days ago when they started to add “honor points” for killing peoples. That’s DAoC. They introduced a wonderful, unmatched PvP system and then ruined it directly by patching DAoC into it. Now Mythic would really like to patch Warcraft in their game? These two points are DETACHED. If you want a “home invasion” server (like WoW), you SHOULDN’T reward for the free kills. If you want an RvR server with the PvP limited to dedicated zones, you SHOULD reward for the free kills.

FOR GOD’S SAKE, DO NOT MIX THEM!

You cannot take what DAoC did correctly to RUIN it by putting it in another context. DAoC’s reward system is good because it’s instanced. WoW fucked up their own, wonderful non-instanced system by adding the reward. For God’s sake, do not chase their errors! Or you go instanced and with a reward system, or you go with the permanence (interaction with the world, actual PvP goals) and avoid personal reward treadmills. Do not mix the design. Not everything is relative. You *cannot* grab ideas here and there to whisk them together at will. There’s *identity*. These games have a *complexity*, you cannot cut&paste without considering the context of what you are building.

So, are you ready to build up a new server, change the reward system and rework/add new types of gameplay to make it interesting? Are you ready to dedicate a lot of development to it? If the answer is “no”, it’s better to drop the idea. Or you realize it for its potential or it’s just about wasting time and ruining what should be done with a completely different approach. Yes, I’d love the “home invasion” servers but I know that they won’t come out the way they are supposed to be, so it’s better without. This is why adding rulesets is bad. Or these rulesets are developed and worked to maximize and improve their potential or they become arid and sterile. They are useless if they do not lead somewhere. So better without.

It’s not like there’s much left. I share the *complaints* that originated that poll, I share ALL of them. Still, I’m against each one. How you survey this? Those complaints underline problems ON THE CURRENT SERVERS. It makes no sense to bind a problem to a solution “somewhere else”. Fix them HERE. Those are CURRENT problems. They must be looked at, they shouldn’t be ideas to launch new servers. ToA needs work, the buffbots need to be fixed, plus another LONG list of common complaints that *everyone* shares from years. Do not dodge this problem, this is how to improve the game. By addressing all that, instead of seconding everything.

WoW already taught that you do not fix the buffbots with ranged buffs, that would still be broken in PvE and the buffbots are a problem as a basic mechanic in BOTH PvE and PvP. WoW solved this by removing the REAL “bad habit”. The bad habit is that it should NEVER exist a buffing class. Because it makes no sense and because it’s horrible to play. So fix THIS. Go radical. Make the healers FUN TO PLAY. Do not make them pointless, boring healing/buffing machines. DESIGN YOUR GAME. These are the fundamental points, push onward the ideas. It’s HERE that there’s the potential, it’s here that the game is successful. WoW exploited the mistakes in the other games. While the developers of the other games decided to *ignore* those issues. WoW recognized and addressed those problems and now is banqueting.

Learn this lesson. Do not let the game kill itself. Go right at the problems, there’s plenty to do and develop. Do not continue to offer the occasion for other games to use all this for their own revenue.

Anyway, I tried to answer the poll the best I can. And, still, I lied.