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[Game Theory] Can you shape an MMO community?
chrono_traveller
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I was thinking of this as of late, and comment in the Fallout Online thread gave me the idea to post this thread to see if we can get a good discussion going with this.
The comment was
So the basic question I have is how can a game company shape the community that plays it's game? One way is to target a small audience with some IP, then gear there game very narrowly to that audience. It maybe a great community for that game, but since the community is small it probably won't make much money, and won't be that successful. On the other hand, if you want to be successful, you need lots of people which of coarse if you aim too broadly brings out the dregs of the internets, and then you get Barrens chat. :P
Are these two goals of popularity and great community mutually exclusive? What can be done to a game that can affect what kind of community it draws? Or is it that games attract the same kinds of players, but its the mechanics of the game that affect what the community becomes? How much is just flat out customer service responsible for how good a community is?
I have had decent exposure to WoW, some with Guild Wars and very little with DDO. And to jump start this discussion, I'll label one huge influence I see:
The IP certainly has a lot to do with who the game attracts. Not so much with Guild Wars since its a new IP, but I feel that WoW, because of the RTS warcraft games, brought along with it a lot of the stereotypical rude, trash-talking, I'm more leet than you are Battle.net players. And I feel that the community seems to really suffer from it, people who feel that the game is imbalanced because they can't go 1 vs. 1 and win a battle against certain classes just like they could beat anyone 1 vs. 1 on Battle.net. DDO seemed to attract a more laid back gamer that was more a team style player and also was more willing to overlook particular flaws in the game, as long as they were having fun. Well, at least until they realized that a Warforged still had to breathe underwater.
So, are games with certain IPs cursed/blessed with the community the IP brings along with it? Do game mechanics, such as the ability to group/solo, how one finds a group, existence of PvP able to change how a community behaves?
Obviously there are exceptions, both good and bad, in a community. For example, the official forums in WoW are 99.99% trash, while I've found the boards over at Elitist Jerks a godsend. But on the whole, I'd say that the WoW community is, how shall I say it, somewhat lacking in gamesmanship. (Note: I'm just using WoW as the example here because I have the most experience with it.)
The comment was
EQDuffy wrote:The first thing I thought when I read the OP was "do I really want to play an MMO with fans like NMA?"
So the basic question I have is how can a game company shape the community that plays it's game? One way is to target a small audience with some IP, then gear there game very narrowly to that audience. It maybe a great community for that game, but since the community is small it probably won't make much money, and won't be that successful. On the other hand, if you want to be successful, you need lots of people which of coarse if you aim too broadly brings out the dregs of the internets, and then you get Barrens chat. :P
Are these two goals of popularity and great community mutually exclusive? What can be done to a game that can affect what kind of community it draws? Or is it that games attract the same kinds of players, but its the mechanics of the game that affect what the community becomes? How much is just flat out customer service responsible for how good a community is?
I have had decent exposure to WoW, some with Guild Wars and very little with DDO. And to jump start this discussion, I'll label one huge influence I see:
The IP certainly has a lot to do with who the game attracts. Not so much with Guild Wars since its a new IP, but I feel that WoW, because of the RTS warcraft games, brought along with it a lot of the stereotypical rude, trash-talking, I'm more leet than you are Battle.net players. And I feel that the community seems to really suffer from it, people who feel that the game is imbalanced because they can't go 1 vs. 1 and win a battle against certain classes just like they could beat anyone 1 vs. 1 on Battle.net. DDO seemed to attract a more laid back gamer that was more a team style player and also was more willing to overlook particular flaws in the game, as long as they were having fun. Well, at least until they realized that a Warforged still had to breathe underwater.
So, are games with certain IPs cursed/blessed with the community the IP brings along with it? Do game mechanics, such as the ability to group/solo, how one finds a group, existence of PvP able to change how a community behaves?
Obviously there are exceptions, both good and bad, in a community. For example, the official forums in WoW are 99.99% trash, while I've found the boards over at Elitist Jerks a godsend. But on the whole, I'd say that the WoW community is, how shall I say it, somewhat lacking in gamesmanship. (Note: I'm just using WoW as the example here because I have the most experience with it.)
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. ~ Terry Pratchett
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