So Free Realms launched yesterday.  Okay technically they were supposed to launch on Tuesday, but in a brilliant move to avoid launch day crushes, they simply kept their launch portal firmly closed all day and waited until the wee hours before midnight and then launched.  And yes, I’m being snarky I’m sure that wasn’t their actual attention but in retrospect it actually did roll out rather quietly and successfully a day after their announced launch day, which has me wondering…

 
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As I mentioned back in December, 2009 looks to be a year with a lot of promise in the MMO space.  And here we are in April and we’re already seeing some of that promise fulfilled.  Chronicles of Spellborn finally launched here in the US, Champions Online has issued a launch date (and it’s soon!) and Free Realms has been in open beta and is launching tomorrow.  And with so many MMO’s right on the cusp of launching, most everyone I know in the MMO space has been bouncing around one beta or another.  It’s been difficult to sit on the sidelines during all this, enduring what is esentially a self-imposed exile, but from what I’ve read recently, I’m still glad to have stuck by the decision I made some time ago to stop participating in MMO betas.  Here’s why.

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This thought hit me the other day as I was surfing the LOTRO forums.  I thought about it awhile, and then like many thoughts of mine, it just went away.   Later though, something else prompted the thought again, and I put the question out to twitter.  I think it would be kind of irresponsible of me to pose a question and not offer at least a few of my own thoughts, so here goes.

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You too can be a Content Designer!  You too can create compelling stories, lace them intricate and subtle subtext, fill them with engaging characters.. and have no one read them!

Okay, so the above is me waxing a bit cynical, but the truth is my hat goes off to NCSoft West (now Paragon Studios) for even attempting such a bold endeavor in the space of an MMO.  For some time now, there has been a growing movement in game design and that movement says that user-generated content is king!  At Ensemble when we were working on Titan we had long and drawn out debates over the subject of user generated content.  Because while almost everyone agrees it’s something you want.. the extent to which you want it and what exactly you allow your users to do with it are matters of heated debate.    Ultimately, we found that it really boiled down to two questions:  One — Can we do it?  and then two:  Should we do it?  After spending a half dozen hours or so (okay perhaps more) in CoH’s new system, and spending a fair amount of time sampling some of the wares out of that system, I think I can safely say Paragon Studios has answered at least one of those questions.

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So I never thought it’d be considered out of fashion to actually agree with the lead designer for the most popular MMO in the world.  And in Jeff Kaplan’s recent talk, he had quite a bit to say with respect to quest design.  But I guess if you follow the comments over at the more popular blogs, he’s clearly out of touch or is responsible for “ruining WoW”.   Well it’s my humble opinion that Jeff Kaplan is just about spot on in every one of his comments.  Which of course, means we’re totally screwed.  Why are we screwed?  Because he’s leading the design for their next MMO!  All of us small guys were totally planning on filling in those gaps that Blizzard left lying around in their quest design, and what the hell?  They know about them and they’re fixing them?  We’re doomed!! 

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