The relationship between devs and players…

This is a topic that I feel very strongly about. It seems a few big screw-ups have happened in both of the MMOs I frequent lately. Of course 2 big expansions as well, which brings us back to how the players relate to the developers.

On one hand you have a group of dedicated game designers. They work long hours at a really complicated job. On the other you have the players, they spend long hours using the software the developers worked long and hard on. Both sides have a vested interest in what they do, and both sides are real people.

There is always a time when things go wrong, when bad decisions are made or just plain old mistakes happen on both sides. Recently someone over at CCP made a mistake in the code for their patcher for their new expansion. Well, honestly…shit happens…I mean yeah, it affected a HUGE number of people, but really, sometimes mistakes are made and CCP did what they could to rectify the situation. I realize that we all pay to play EVE, and well, it should work and not mess up our computers, but sometimes mistakes are made. Screaming about suing, public hangings etc. are not going to help anyone. If they hadn’t made the effort of trying to help those affected, then something pretty serious would be wrong with that. There was also a scandal that erupted last year with a certain corporation having a developer as a member in which they gave that corporation an unfair advantage. CCP did what they did to rectify the situation, and the players themselves finished the job, that corporation got beat down for a good long time by the rest of the players that felt slighted by what happened.

SOE also made their own mistake recently with the transfer of an entire guild off their test server to a live server. Their policy has always been that that would never happen. Someone made a mistake and in an effort to show their appreciation towards a group of players on the test server, honored their wish to play with the same toons that they use on test, on a live server.

I’ve played on test sorta…it’s a pretty barren server for the most part. I can understand why a bunch of people would like to move from there to an actual populated server. Unfortunately, the good intentions of whoever decided to do the move got lost in the chaos it caused afterwards. Upon the revelation of what happened, SOE staff got together, and attempted to put things right again for the rest of the player base that felt slighted by the transfer. Admittedly, transferring an entire guild that has done quite a bit of raiding, and gotten quite a bit of uber lewts was probably a really bad idea, since many of the raiding guilds on live servers strive to be the first, best and baddest uber players in EQ2. I seriously doubt that anyone even thought that it would be an issue when they did it, and I’m sure that there were no ill intentions in the decision to make the move. The repercussions I’m sure will be discussed on many forums for months. You have to realize though, the people at SOE did attempt to put things back the way they were and have apologized for the mistake a number of times publicly.

The new Senior Producer of EverQuest II, Bruce Ferguson had this to say:

“What we did was take a group of characters from the test server, scrub them by hand of all test gear, and any ‘privileged’ equipment, titles, etc, and grant their wish to continue to play as a group of friends, on a live server.   

Had we been aware that being a little extra kind to these folks would cause such an uproar, there is no doubt we would not have taken this step. However, due to the current situation, I find myself apologizing to you for allowing this situation to occur.”

SOE in general is usually very good to their customers, and in general shows their appreciation to people that go out of their way to help them make EverQuest II the success it is today. I don’t think they ever intended to harm any of their players, they value all of their players as much as the ones that volunteer their time to improving the game and the community. I can understand why people were upset by this mistake, but, you also have to remember that they DID, and ARE trying to put things to rights. Considering the fact that a lot of changes in staff over there have occurred since launch, I’m sure a lot of the reasoning of having the original policy on test transfers was overlooked. They don’t have a giant tome of knowledge that they consult every time they’re going to do something. People are people, and sometimes the outcome of what you do isn’t necessarily apparent when you do it. Really, it sucks that a bad choice was made, but the intentions of doing something nice for someone were there. I mean, don’t you go out and do something nice for people that put in a lot of effort helping you? I think the overall reaction of the player base to this decision was somewhat overlooked because they were genuinely trying to do something nice for a bunch of other people. At least they made the effort to correct the situation instead of just ignoring people. I don’t think that “money” was the motivating factor in their decision to reverse their actions. They did it because it made a large number of people unhappy, and for good reason. At least they can get together and ADMIT PUBLICLY their mistakes and try to set things to rights.

Something a lot of the players of these games seem to forget, the developers of MMOs are a special breed of programmer. They have the opportunity to do something REALLY kewl, and REALLY fun. They don’t do this job because they want to make uber cash, honestly, I know that many of them don’t get paid crap. Most of them end up getting paid less than I do for my job, and I’m under paid for what I do. You don’t get into the gaming industry to make a buck, you do it because you love what you do. How kewl is that to be able to make a game that thousands of people love playing, where lasting friendships are formed and people actually LIVE in your creation? I mean each one of the developers over at SOE and CCP do this because they LOVE it, not because it’s just another job. Being able to create something that people ENJOY for YEARS, is a REALLY kewl thing.

I sit and design database applications all day for handling major corporations’ money. There’s no human element to it, it’s just a bunch of people trying to figure out ways to make more money, and I’m the tool for their goals. There is no love in it for me, I actually hate it. I hate the pressure of knowing that some 2 billion odd dollars passes through the software I write on a yearly basis, and it doesn’t do a damn thing for anyone but make other people rich. What I wouldn’t give to be able to do what the developers of these MMOs do. They can sit there and put every bit of their being into something that’s going to make many, many people happy. What do I get to do? I get to spend almost every waking moment dealing with a bunch of mutli-million dollar corporations’ money and knowing if I mess up, it could be SERIOUS trouble for the company I work for. I’m not talking a few hundred dollars, I’m talking about a million-dollar check getting sent out, or a couple million dollars getting lost or whatnot. That’s not the type of stress anyone wants, and if they do, they’re some sick, twisted individuals. I lose plenty of sleep throughout the year from dealing with my job. The developers of these games can go to bed knowing that they are responsible for someone else’s FUN. They have the comfort of knowing that you, and I, and the rest of the players are playing these games because we think they’re KEWL. I mean, seriously, how kewl is it to have a few thousand people, or a few hundred thousand people willing to devote hours upon, weeks, upon YEARS, using the software, that you and your friends designed, and LOVE doing it?

A lot of the player base has some weird issue with perceiving their interactions with the developers as an “us against THE MAN”. I still have yet to understand this phenomenon. Seriously, they’re not sitting around in some dark corporate boardroom, coming up with various schemes to take the money out of your pockets every chance they get. They’re trying to make something that you’ll all enjoy. At the end of the day each one of the developers at each of the MMOs on the market goes home to their REAL families, their REAL friends and their REAL lives. Each one of them has feelings, they’re not some corporate machine. They get to do what a lot of us only dream of doing. That has to be the kewlest thing ever, to do something that you love, and are appreciated for it. So the attitude of “us against THE MAN” can really hurt, when all you’re trying to do is please other people. They don’t make these games because they are just going to any old job, like going to work at Wal-Mart, or McDonalds. They don’t do this job like going to go cut someone’s grass, or work at the checkout in a grocery store. They aren’t the disgruntled masses of underpaid, blue collar and some white-collar workers that make up the majority of the workforce in the world. They do this job because they love it, and when they hear comments from people like, “I can’t believe you did that!?!? Why are you trying to make me miserable?!?! it hurts. I’ve seen some pretty bad shit said over the years of being involved with EQ2. I’ve seen players get on the forums and belittle the developers so bad that I would have just smacked them right there. I’ve seen comments like, “so-and-so should be taken out back and shot.”, “I’m going to hunt them down and make them miserable for the rest of their lives.” I mean WTF??!?! What the hell is wrong with someone that they go and say that crap over a stupid video game? Really, if you hate it that much then QUIT! These folks at each of these companies do this to make people happy and be able to create something they’ve dreamed about. What would you do if someone came up to you at your job and said “You’re a worthless piece of crap. How could you be so stupid?” People need to think about what they’re saying before they open their mouths. The last thing any of the developers want is to make the players unhappy. Telling them they suck, as happens so many times, really hurts, and it pisses me off. No one should treat these guys they way that some of the player base of these games do. This teenage angst crap makes me mad because I know that each one of the developers of these games is putting their heart and soul into making something that everyone can enjoy for years to come.

People need to remember that when you want to give your feedback on these games that what you propose may or may not work out in the long run for the longevity of the game. What some people think as the way things should be may or may not break the over all goal these developers have set for where they’re taking the game. Everyone has their opinions on how things should be, it doesn’t mean it’s right with the intent of the game. A lot of people bitch and moan about getting “easy-mode”. Seriously, how long would you play, or for that matter, how long would the rest of us play if there were no challenge? Not very long. Just because a change or comment on something isn’t followed up on doesn’t give the player the right to throw a fit. There are reasons things are the way they are, and if they’re not working out then they will change. When you want to actually get someone to consider your position, the last thing you do is tell them they suck. It’s true in real life situations, and it’s true when dealing with MMOs. If you articulate yourself as a normal human being instead of some raving lunatic, you’re more likely to make your point.

I know a lot of the people that will probably come across this will start screaming “fanboi!”. Well yeah, I’m a fan of these games, that’s why I play them. So are the rest of you. Take a few minutes next time you’re going to go railing on one of the developers and remember they’re people just like you. They have the same real life problems, the same emotions, the same likes and dislikes. Treat them how you would expect to be treated in their position. Don’t be a total nard and make an idiot of yourself by screaming like a 2yr old on the internet at someone. If you treat these guys with some respect, you’ll get some in return. You act like a child and you’re going to get ignored.

~ by g0thicicecream on December 18, 2007.