MMO Survey from Social Deviation

Fellow Gamers,

Social Deviation, a gaming company founded by gamers for gamers, is launching the first of several rounds of Surveys at the MMO space.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZZNJVF7

I value your opinions and comments.

Thank you!

 

I think many MMO players who take themselves seriously because of their insecurities are not going to like you company name.

 

Black,

Ah...

Its origins and intent in the meaning are a bit more intellectual than that...

Think Engle, and google social Deviation, and then think about whats occuring around the world... with social media. And then take another look at the name Social Deviation.

Nevertheless, I take your point.

Regards!

 

beware the ghosts of interplay... you cannot hide from herve once he's on your trail

 

Im not going to bother with a survey, ill just jot down my thoughts here.

1. Accountability for your actions. I dont care if its Permadeath, EXP Death Penalty, Forced group content, or people being able to add a label over your head with a giant SHITHEAD sign, accountability. Run your mouth, loot, act like a dick in a group, dont expect to get in on the group again, word of mouth spreads, very soon you have NO groups to advance your toon. The anonymity, throwaway party, and singleplayer kowtowing of WoW needs to die. Make the game hard, make people rely on those around them, and a community of somewhat responsible people will flourish. Make a game easy, and with no accountability, and you get the cesspit of shitbags that is WoW (I am aware that Guilds can be good places, however you are insulating yourself from the rest of the server, and if nobody in your guild is on, tough titties getting a run)

2. Punishing levelling curve. Im talking oldschool, grind for months to reach endgame, make it a real achievement (and you can fuck off thinking of putting them in) to get to a high level. Make it an effort, sure, the ultra casual shiteating mouthbreathers will cry, but they will fuck off within a week of not reaching endgame, good riddance to lazy gamers.

3. More than two factions. Or fuck off factions completely. If its to have PvP, throw in more than 2 factions, if not, then it doesnt matter much at all. Just dont make it two fucking factions, its stale, trite, boring, and really fucking lazy.

4. Death Penalties. Make them worth a damn. You fuck up and die, you pay the price, loss of EXP (some may be recovered with coin). Make deaths unwanted, and people will begin to pay attention and give a damn about those around them. One caveat is that there is a possibility for griefing here.

5. Micro transactions. FUCK OFF. NO!

Those are a few things that I would like to see happen along in an MMO, and might entice me back to playing one. There are more than likely more 'suggestions' I have, but cannot think right now, its 2:30am and im still not tired.

 

One of the most popular reasons of people stopping to play MMOs are updates they didn't like. A couple of glaring examples are Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies.

 

Fine point!

Thanks.

 

I love the way you think, Pika-Cthulhu.
You 'sound' like the hardcore gamer that I've played with before, and that attracted me to some of the games I played. And I hear ya about micro transactions.

The thing is this. It sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? Walk me through your thought process that lead you to this point.

How would you tie in the appropriate sense of acheivement to make all that work 'worth' it.

And I think that comes to the point, WHAT are you trying to acheive when you play an MMO that you can take back and say "That was worth it!"

What is that thing?

btw, have you ever read Steven Erikson?

 

How? Not sure, I like the punishing levelling curve because you get a sense of achievement when you finally gain that level that you have been striving for and being beaten down (in exp) by a death penalty. Makes it an achievement in an of itself. Which ties in with accountability, if you have the potential to lose EXP through death, and the game has a good deal of group content, acting like an arse will see you either No healed/trained, or merely refused groups, if you garner a poor enough reputation.

Such a game would be abhorred by the new breed of (MMO) gamers, where things need to be easy, in small bite sized chunks, and measured achievements, where you can log in for 15 minutes, and at the end of that quarter hour, you have something to show for it, a Level, a shiny bauble, a title. Yes, im venturing into neckbeard MMO basement territory by advocating for games that take months to reach the maximum level and then you can begin the 'endgame' which can get thrown out the window too.

I dont know how to make it work, I cant even begin to think of a possible way to make such a game work, you would need a batshit crazy cashed up publisher, an audience willing to pay exorbitant wads of money to play (being a smaller wedge of the MMO pie) and a develop who wants to make a game he wants (and want him to have this kind of game) rather than listening to the suits and their marketing reports, surveys and reams of analysis.

I know its a pipedream, but its what id like to see, because I sure as hell am not seeing much of it now, not that im looking much at all really. The sense of community seems to have been completely gutted from games these days, its as if the 4chan anonymity bug got spread from Barrens chat, to every other facet of gaming culture, and now is beset by memes, trolling, griefing, and an truckload of dickbaggery.

Perhaps that, build a world that is punishing and cruel, so that the players, by necessity, have to work with each other, forge bonds of friendship and rivalry. Overcoming the challenges helps to reinforce those bonds, and you form a community of people that are happy to play with each other, and come back to face new challenges. *cough* expansions *cough*

No, cant say that I have read Steven Erikson, though ill put that name on the list of authors and books ive been meaning to look into.

 

From Lennin's Theory of Social Deviation

"Social forces, wrote Engels, are like natural forces, and they act blindly, forcibly and destructively so long as we do not understand and reckon with them. But when once we understand them, when once we grasp their action, their direction and their effects it is up to us to subject them more and more to our own will and by means of them to reach our own ends."

Frau Bishop,

I read this when I was looking for a name for the company about the time Egypt was overthrowing its Govt, using Social Media as a tool to harness its natural forces. I thought that was a great juxtaposition of eras of thought and ya know, how cool would it be if Engel could see the dawn of an age where social power can empower itself.

I look at it as a positive.

Put your perspective outside your normal box for a moment, and think about it.

 

Why not call it Social Empowerment, then?

 

Because Social Deviation is edgier for a Game Development Company.

Are you really that turned off by the name?

Subculture is the product of Social Deviation and MMORPG's are a subculture of Global/Western Society.

Sorry if it sticks you in the eye... I'm not here to please everyone and I'm calling it like I see it.

 

It's easier to drop the pseudo-intellectual act and call it how it is.