For those of you who are my age or older, you may remember that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were an NFL expansion team. In the 70′s, that team had some of the most memorably bad seasons in the history of professional football. One year, on their way to a 1-15 record their coach was asked a question in a post game news conference. The coach, John McKay, had been a successful coach in college at USC and frankly wasn’t used to losing like that. The reporter’s question? “What do you think of your team’s execution?” His answer; “I’m all for it.”
McKay was a smart coach and a competent planner and did what he could do to have his team prepared. The fact was that they were simply incapable of executing to the level it took to win in the NFL on a week-to-week basis.
What does that have to do with gaming? Well I was reading through Steve Danuser’s blog, Moorgard.com, and found a relatively old article that gave me a “well, duh” moment. It’s so obvious, but I never really thought it all the way through. His point? All the folks from Blizzard have been very forthcoming about their design process, and how they build their games and expansions. A lot of other developers are very closed mouth about this process for the fear that others will steal their ideas and thus their game’s thunder.
Blizzard, not so much.
Blizzard is printing money with WoW not because of their revolutionary design methodology, but because they have been out-executing the other companies that make MMO’s.
In Steve’s article, he notes that;
Because none of the secrets or strategies or philosophies mean a damn without the ability to execute on them with the same quality that Blizzard does.
Let me restate for emphasis: It’s all about the execution.
Hell, at BlizzCon, Blizzard pretty much explained in detail how they build an expansion. And why not? They know that even if some other company came along and stole all their secret ideas for future projects, it wouldn’t matter because there are so few companies that would be able to deliver the quality of execution that Blizzard does.
This is what separates theory from implementation. There is certainly no shortage of very smart people in and around the MMO space who have sound insight and theories on what it takes to make compelling products. So, why aren’t their names on World of Warcraft, or on games that have achieved a similar degree of success?
Because theory is different from execution.
Here’s what it boils down to for me. We heard a lot about the things in Vanguard, for instance, that were going to be awesome. Sigil wasn’t able to execute. We heard the same things for Dark and Light, Horizons, and others. Lack of execution. This really resonated with me (going back to the football analogy) when I thought back to high school football days. The coach used to pound the execution into us. That’s what he could control. He could TEACH us how to execute. We still had to go out and do it though. If we did execute, we had a chance to win. If we didn’t, then we had no shot.
So far, no one has been able to match Blizzard’s execution. Others may have fanciful ideas and amazing assets, but until someone executes at least as well as, if not better than, Blizzard then no one is going to knock them off their pedestal. Given the fact that one of the studios that has made some of the most fanciful claims, 38Studios, is also where Steve Danuser works, we can take hope in the fact that inside the walls they at least know they have to execute. How do I feel about that? I’m all for it.
I am not sure it is fair to compare to WoW. WoW came along at a very opportune time. EQ1 was on the decline. DAoC was a thing of the past. SWG had just tried (and failed) to implement space travel. There was a lull that hit right about then. I remember being in the beta for EQ2, Linneage 2, and WoW all at the same time. And, being an EQ1 fan, thinking that WoW looked very “cartoonish”.
From the start, Blizzard didn’t take themselves too seriously. I mean the undead female emotes “Of course they’re real…they’re not MINE, but they’re real” is a great example. They went at the idea of the MMO from a standpoint that they wanted it to be fun to play. I don’t think anyone, much less Blizzard, ever realized just how big that WoW would become. It was truly a case of the stars aligning. I don’t think that any game will ever hit like WoW did. Unfortunately, every MMO that comes after will be expected to achieve the same kind of numbers/success or it will be deemed a failure or worse…never make it out of development.
The other thing that Blizzard did (I guess this goes to execution) was around class leveling. I know you have another post on here somewhere about class leveling in other games. I think that Blizzard has done a good job with that (okay okay Rogues…feel free to complain). But by and large, I believe they have taken a realistic look at it. And no offense to Grouchy, but part of that was NOT listening to all the rants on the boards. Everybody whines that their class isn’t as easy as that class over there. Anyone who ever saw a wizard quad kiting undead in Plaguelands or a Druid quad kiting wyverns in Cobalt Scar had to have thought “sheesh…they have it sooooo easy!”. I got news for you…it takes skill and practice to do that. Granted…some classes are designed to be crowd control. Believe me…I played an enchanter in EQ and if I had to hear one more time “Our group already has KEI….we don’t need an enchanter” I would have screamed. I played a NON-Solo class. I knew that. My part was support. I have yet to play a game where the class you played couldn’t be extremely important if you went in understanding your role. No matter how many times people say it…MAGES AREN”T TANKS! Learn your class and you won’t have to whine to get your class leveled.
So many games out there today keep trying to appease the “Content Munchers”. People who literally MUST be the first one to the next level cap or the SERVER first to get the cool “Sword of a Thousand Truths” (cue the Monks for their music). What appeals to me, the casual gamer, is the fact that I can play after work or on the weekend and still have a good time. I may not have the Elite Armor that others have, but I can still hang out and have fun. It was one of the things that I really enjoyed in SWG. I could log on and spend a couple of hours experimenting with different combinations of ingredients to maximize my Master Doc meds or log on to my musician and play in the cantina. If you looked at EQ1. They started the STROMM server with NO character transfers. Everyone was starting fresh. Suddenly, linen bags were worth something again. I have heard rumors that WoW is thinking of creating a pre-BC server. I would join in a heartbeat.
While I am sure that the target demographic for game companies is the 13-17 year old boy; I happen to know they aren’t the ones spending the big bucks on computers and software. It’s the older gamer like myself who happily forks over subscriptions for my account plus at least 1 alternate account for my bank mules. If you look at the computer gaming market as a whole, it isn’t those 13-17 year old boys who are doubling their subscriptions. It was one of the things I was so excited about with Vanguard. If you wanted to be a Diplomat or a Crafter, they promised us our own sphere. You didn’t have to be the epic’d out warrior or part of a raiding guild to play. There was content for everyone. Maybe that is an unrealistic goal. Maybe that is part of why Vanguard bogged down. If they had just been like everyone else and tried to put out a GOOD MMO instead of trying to be great, they would have succeeded.
I guess I am in the minority. Knowing Sony cut all their staff for the crafting and diplomacy team working on Vanguard down to 1 guy who has a red swingline stapler in the basement shows that in their eyes…non adventuring isn’t worth the effort.
Sorry for my rambling. This is the first post from Mrs. Grouchy Gamer and I had several things to say.
“I guess I am in the minority. Knowing Sony cut all their staff for the crafting and diplomacy team working on Vanguard down to 1 guy who has a red swingline stapler in the basement shows that in their eyes…non adventuring isn’t worth the effort.”
You’re not alone; but we seem to be, still and alas, in a minority. I too look back more fondly on SWG than I ever expected to do at the time; sometimes it’s only when something is gone that you realise its true value to you. (SWG isn’t gone, sure… but I’m not going back.
)
Execution is key everywhere, but the lack of it is really markedly evident in the MMO industry these days, at least in the run-up to a launchable product. Some games seem to work out all right in the end, after a lot of tweaking (EQ2), but it would be nice to see something that’s actually properly executed from the start. Not that WoW didn’t have a few problems at launch but yes — compared to some of the tragedies that have launched recently, it was flawless.
So what’s the deal? Does ego get in the way? Do games companies believe their own hype, the way some Hollywood studios do? Or is it just a general inexperience with actually walking the talk on the part of what is still a relatively young industry? (Which latter probably won’t work forever, either. The industry is about out of diapers now and *should* be at least learning to walk, since it certainly knows how to talk.)
@ Tark – Was SWG or EQ2 not at the same point in time? Didn’t their failure to execute actually show in their subscriptions? I think its perfectly fine to use WoW as a benchmark here. I will ever be thankful that WoW came along and gave gamers the reason to expect quality in the games we play.
I would rather have had VG release as it was then never release at all. This is because I think they really did some interesting things with diplomacy and it wasn’t their ideas that faltered, it was the lackluster way it was released. The issues that were in that game at release should never have made it past Beta 3.
I’m with you on the casual gaming/older gamer comment and I do hope that 38 studios will learn from the past here. With the people they have working there its a wicked combination of insane talent and veterans. I for one am thoroughly excited to see what they are working on.
Brackish, true SWG and EQ2 were out at the same point, but SWG had already fundamentally changed the game by introducing the Jedi system. Suddenly everyone was overcamping the few Jedi spawn points to get the crystal things and no one was doing anything else. It was the beginning of the end as far as I was concerned.
Honestly…I would rather VG had not been released at all. I know how hard that would have been, but to release a game that had so much potential in the state it was released, was a horrible let down. It was like being a kid and waking up on Christmas morning and not only finding a broken bike as your present, but also a COD bill for the shipping costs.
Sigil came out from the beginning saying “We want to develop the game that you guys want to play. We want your input. We have a dream and a vision and you are a key part of it”. Then all that went out the window in a rush to get to market. Believe me…I tried to play it. I was there during Beta. I was there on launch day when Fry’s opened buying my special edition. I was happily playing my diplomacy cards and trying to play the game. I just think that Sony expected it to be WoW on Day 1 and sell 100 bajillion copies and subscriptions. I blame the Captain of the ship for losing his compass. Unfortunately, he got out on the first lifeboat and left his crew to go down with the ship.
Forgot to say that I too hope that 38 Studios will learn from these mistakes. I just am a little more jaded now and have lost my innocent ideals, so to speak.
This is all your fault, Genda and Tarkheena!!11oneone — I went and got myself a 14-day trial of SWG, just to see what’s happened to the old game after the SNAFU that was the NGE. Oddly enough, it’s far less different than I expected. The level/expertise system is just a different skin for the old profs/boxes system, though not quite as flexible since you can’t change stuff around at will (which was one of SWG’s great strengths, imo, holocron grinding notwithstanding). My biggest gripe, as a crafting addict, is that the “trader” profession combos are preset — you can be EITHER an architect OR a tailor, but not both anymore because they’re in different professions. That’s a shame.
Most of the servers I’ve had a look about on are pretty deserted, too. But still… it’s not as enormous a difference as I was expecting, mechanics-wise. It’s been fun going back to the old haunts and doing some of the old stuff I used to do, even though nobody I know seems to play anymore.
Whether my enthusiasm will outlast the 2 free weeks is debatable, but it’s been a more enjoyable wander down memory lane than I thought it would be.
It’s not my fault…
/em points at Tarkheena
But seriously, glad to hear that you are getting a kick out of it. The one comment that you make that worries me is the “deserted” one. One of the coolest things about SWG was the opportunity to do stuff with others. Dancers in the bars, a whole city of role players, impromptu events run by players. I really hope that Bioware is working on a Star Wars MMO and that they have some of the fun social aspects in their game. I’m not holding out much hope though.
Oh, and one other quick note… SWG was around well before EQ2 and WoW shipped. I know I played for at least a year before and maybe more. I’ll check the timelines and see what I can see.
I can confirm, SWG came out in…. summer 2003? At least a year before EQ2 which, iirc, came out just before WoW did in late 2004. One of my accounts has a 2003 activation date, that’s for sure.
Not all the servers are ghost towns, but there are probably twice as many servers as they need. Of course, with all the placeables like houses and harvs, not to mention player cities, I don’t know if they could munge servers together as they did in EQ2 and VG — I suspect if it was remotely doable, they’d have done it by now.
I landed on Bria today and it appears relatively leet-kiddy free and relatively friendly. That said, I’ve not even been out of Mos Eisley yet.
And 3 mill won’t even buy you a cup of joe these days, which is a little worrying (though not if I decide not to resub). Vanguard spoiled me with its myriad starting areas — SWG has only one, Mos Eisley, and you get seriously sick of doing the same content over and over again if, like me, you’re trying stuff out. Then again most people aren’t (trying stuff out I mean), so I guess it’s less of an issue.
You’re 100% right, though: the success of a game like SWG — and arguably all “real” MMOs — lies in its ability to foster community. Every game offers some combination of killing things and making things, but SWG had, in its day, a truly kicking community. I’ve not had as much fun just kicking back and shooting the breeze with folks in any other game before or since. Haven’t recaptured that in the free trial but it’s been 49 hours and I’ve server-hopped, so it’s not a huge shock. There’s certainly hope for a few servers, from what I can see. Part of the SWG player base is truly more loyal and dedicated than SOE ever deserved.
I believe that is correct Ysharros. I remember being done with SWG about the time that WoW and EQ2 came out in November of 2004. Tarkheena and I played both betas (WoW and EQ2) and it was an easy choice to go with WoW at shipping date. It was so much more fun than EQ2 at that time. The gap has closed, but I still think WoW is more fun. And it RUNS BETTER ON MY COMPUTER. I don’t know when the game designers are going to realize how important that is. I remember being shocked at how smoothly WoW ran.
It’s hard to know where to begin, without turning this into a rant about the poor execution that “was” vanguard. The main point I would like to make is, in SOE’s attempt to make the game more accessable and lure more players to it, they are at the same time driving away their niche “hard core” market. Each announcement (and lets face it those are few and far between) that SOE makes is making the game more like WoW. And even “like” seems too strong of a word to use. Like-ish? In the end they are pleasing no-one.
The server merge’s showed us that. Combine 12 servers into 6 and ask everyone to “approve it.” Then the week before they cut that number down to 4 servers, citing that “at this point thats the only option.” Initially it was great, tons of new people to talk and group with. Months later? The servers are becoming ghost towns once again. From personal experience I would guess its back to the numbers of active players when I play, to pre-merge. The game is bleeding subscribers.
I have to agree with Tarkheena on this. I would rather have seen the game hidden away for another year then released as it is. Almost a year later and they are releasing their first “raid” dungeon. And for that year it has always been said as “coming soon” but never did. If they get in that, it will be the first new content the game has seen since release. And if were lucky we will see the flying mounts and Galleon ships in game by that year mark. But we would have to be real lucky. It would only be then that they delivered on some, not all or even most, of the promises of the “box art”