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EQ Chronicles: An Ill Wind

There’s an ill wind beginning to blow across the land of Norrath, and it has nothing to do with dragons.

The problem for my Bard - now a buffed level 54 - has its origins in a realm he has no idea exists. He’s faced dragons (and died admittedly). He’s faced rampaging giants, crystal spiders, nightmarish hate-filled spirit entities, and even demi-gods. He’s getting used to the death/resurrection cycle and, pain aside, is actually starting to enjoy it. He’s also sporting lashes of nifty new gear from his conquests - including a nice little Lute that turns him into a Werewolf at whim (a surprisingly useful illusion), a set of very impressive Resonant Greaves and Boots (to add to his musically imbued Singing Steel armor), and the seventh ring in a ten-part quest which comprises possibly the most epic single adventure in the land (more on that in the future).

But what he can’t fathom or fight are problems in a much darker, insidiously dangerous place - the real world. You see, Verant/Sony are getting greedy. Like a pall of rolling, billowing darkness, this greed is casting a long shadow across Norrath, and brings with it the tinge of death. My Bard doesn’t know it, but I’m almost certain the shadow is the finger of his inevitable doom. My Bard’s days are numbered.

It’s an old and sadly constantly repeated story. When EverQuest was first dreamed and designed, it was a labour of love. The people making it hoped (and no doubt prayed) it would make money, but they made it because it was the sort of game they wanted to play. As a result they filled it with immense amounts of loving, useless detail and depth that made it the great game it is. That detail is still there and obvious to anyone who has played RPGs for any length of time. People only do that when they understand and care about what they are making. Decisions made and agonized over during EQs inception were made to make the game better - the only criteria worth having.

But EQ was wildly successful, and the problem with success is it attracts those who are attracted to it for its own sake, not for what produced it. EQ became a cash cow, a virtual gravy train of guaranteed income flow. This many people paying this much a month plus this much for the game and expansion packs, minus this much for costs equals this much profit - each and every single month. Those who made it are now extremely wealthy, partly because they sold their company (Verant) to a corporate giant (Sony). None of which is bad in itself. The game deserved to do well, and all power to them for providing such a wonderful virtual experience. The problem is what has happened since.

I can see the line of suits sitting at corporate game tables in the Verant/Sony meeting after the buy-out.

“Listen up people. The MMORPG business plan works because people play for long periods of time. And they do that because the more time and effort (and money) they invest in their online characters, the less likely they are to forsake them. So we already have them over a barrel, and I think we can make more of this. Accounting have crunched some numbers, and an average person will spend this much time accruing this much experience for the average character before leaving the game, as you can see by this play curve Don drew up here. Each minute they play is money in the bank for us, so the longer we can keep them playing - the longer we can extend this process - the more money we get. If players reach their goals too easily or quickly, they are likely to leave the game earlier. What we have to do is slow them down - not so much that they lose interest, but enough so it significantly increases the time they play the game. As you know the more experience they get, the faster they progress, and the closer they are to the end of the play curve. So here it is in a nutshell people: experience is money. Be thrifty.”

It may not have gone exactly like that, and was probably much more complicated - the value of item drops would have been carefully factored in as well (because they imbue power and the ability to gain experience and progress) - but I’ll bet it was pretty close. The important thing to understand is that now Verant/Sony are making game design decisions based upon money. Not fun. Not because any of it improves the game, or surprises and delights in the playing, or improves the experience. Actually, on the contrary, they are now placing continual and subtle obstacles between players and their playing goals in order to squeeze more money out of them. It’s obvious to anyone who plays for very long, and it’s killing a very good game.

It now takes longer to gain experience and is harder to gain items and equipment because mobs drop them less often. Talk to anyone who has played since the game started. Things have changed, and are changing still. Player vernacular terms such changes “nerfs”, meaning a downgrading of some game element. It is a known, understood, accepted, and hated Verant practice. Another dimension of this is Verant’s extreme reluctance to grant GM given resurrections or aid when players have died due to ingame problems associated with bad code. The official line is they can’t give rez’s (and so return the experience lost) for undocumented bugs. The reality is every single bug is documented and reported by players as soon as it becomes apparent, and the product players pay for is faulty. But experience is money, so the less rez’s the better.

There are so many areas of frustration now built into the game - from extended mob spawn times (meaning it takes longer for highly sought monsters who have a chance of dropping valuable items to reappear once killed) on top of lowered drop rates, the infurating, purposeless tedium of trade skills, to the lowered experience rewards generally - that it is becoming a chore to play. At some point it hits you that you are paying Verant every month to be frustrated and held back at almost every turn, and then patronised when you query the process. A recent discussion between EQ designer Alan Vancouvering and players over disatisfaction with the state of Mages (perhaps the most unfairly nerfed class in the game), bears some instructive evidence of this. Even more telling is the vastly increased drop rates and better equipment on the new (and despised) Legends server for which players pay four times as much to play. In other words equipment = money.

But perhaps most telling is the recent abdication from Verant/Sony of two of EQ’s founders and designers. Of course the official PR expressed an amicable parting, but industry rumour before and after hinted at sharp divisions. In an interview given several months after leaving, Brad McQuaid spoke more openly about his reasons:

“It was extremely difficult and painful, and I still get pretty emotional when I think about it. Not only did I help build EverQuest, I helped build Verant Interactive and also did my best to shape and positively influence the growth of Sony Online Entertainment… I think it occurred to me over time, despite the recognition, fame, and financial success that came from climbing the company ladder, that I was happiest producing EverQuest… I also realized that I personally prefer to be part of a smaller company or studio… So I started to realize this about myself, what my preferences are, and what makes me happy and satisfied creatively and professionally. And over time, I’m sure this wasn’t invisible to SOE and in October they gave me the opportunity to be released from my contract. I took it.”

Reading between the lines of interviews like this, Sony PR, and ingame explanations, it is clear there has been a clash of paradigms over EverQuest, and the money spinners have won. That’s not to say there aren’t people still at Verant who care about the game and the players. There almost certainly are, and some of the work they are continuing to do bears witness to that. But unfortunately I think the ultimate word has been provided by Verant CEO Kelly Flock in a now difficult to find interview in which he openly stated “Players don’t know what they want. We just want to know if they have a valid credit card.”

Well I do. And unfortunately I think it is only a matter of time before it is invalid where Verant and Sony are concerned. It’s a real shame, and I’m not sure my Bard will forgive me when it happens.

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  posted by monty · at 2:29 am · filed under EQ Chronicles