Mortiphoebe is offline.
She was a character destined from the beginning to only be around for the ten day trial that WoW offers. I do actually have a box of WoW that I can redeem for 30 days, but she was an experiment. I’m not sure that I’m going to revisit her with my CD key. I find that I’m much more of a Druid/Hunter player, even after enjoying the Warrior well enough. I don’t have any significant complaints about the Warrior, it’s just not quite what I’m looking for. So, Mortiphoebe languishes in limbo, last seen in a Mushroom Vendor’s hut deep in Orgrimmar, pondering another Ragefire Chasm run.
In another world, Tish, Tosh and Tesh, Gibberling Psionicists, are also presently offline. I’ve run into a grindy patch of Allods Online, with the PvP-heavy Holy Lands looming on the horizon, so the furballs are thinking of retirement. They made it to level 17 (of 40), skirting the dreaded “midgame” where expectations derived from early play are changing, and the promised “endgame” is far enough away as to be little more than a pipe dream. (KTR has a great article on this curious and unfortunate phenomena thisaway.) The drive to play, rooted in exploration and experimentation for me, has settled into a routine grind. It’s still a pretty game, and pretty fun, but I’ve stopped learning. I’m just going through the motions. True, PvP looms, and that would be more learning (which Ixobelle rightfully notes has potential), but it’s learning I’m not particularly interested in.
While it’s true that my interest in Mortiphoebe’s adventures has also waned a bit as she as in the “early midgame slump” as far as leveling goes, she was also digging into her allies’ territory (she just picked up a quest that took her to the Crossroads in the Barrens) to see new sights, and the Random Dungeon Finder provided for some new experiences as well. Tish, Tosh and Tesh are finishing their third area (counting the small newbie zone). Both have places to explore further and more things to do… but I have to admit that the future looming in front of Mortiphoebe is a bit more interesting, even though I have more fun with the Psionicists in Allods. She can visit more places, and doesn’t have to deal with PvP for a while yet.
Tish, Tosh and Tesh are just over a third of the way through the game, measured by levels. Mortiphoebe is just under a third of the way through the Old WoW (pre-expansion, with the level cap of 60), also measured by levels. I do think that there is a natural slow patch in the midgame that will be little more than a time sink in each game, so levels aren’t a good measure of progress of actual content consumption, but I’m at roughly similar places in the progress curve of each game.
The huge difference between the two is that I can jump back into Allods without paying a cent, while WoW demands a toll. The barrier to progress in Allods is personal, rooted in game design. The barrier in WoW is monetary and time-based. It’s not unlike the difference between a time-limited demo or shareware program, and a content-limited one. As I noted back in my Torchlight article, I really didn’t like the time-limited demo the publishers offered, but the Steam content-limited demo (and great sale) ultimately sold me on the game, since I was able to explore the game mechanics for as long as I wanted, and it left me wanting more content. (Oh, and it’s on sale again this weekend, if you don’t have it yet.) I’m much more likely to buy a game that is content limited, instead of time-limited, even if it means that the “full product” content itself is limited, rather than an endless treadmill. The time-limited demo had me rushing through, trying to see as much as I could before the timer unceremoniously kicked me out of the game, not really giving me enough of either content or mechanical exploration.
I can’t help but wonder if this is part of why players skip quest descriptions and other storytelling in sub games, and a factor in the “game starts at endgame” mindset. Taking time to smell the roses costs money and time, rather than just time in something like Guild Wars or Allods. When you could be progressing and Achieving, Exploring actively costs you. There’s a very real, if subconscious, drive to keep pushing on, doing important stuff, which is, of course, measured by the Ding and the Loot. (Including Achievements, of course.)
Yes, yes, I love exploring in WoW as well, but since exploring is intimately tied to leveling because of gating mechanics and the wide power band (mobs a few levels higher than you can eat you alive), I had to make my character stronger in order to explore more. Well, that, or fire up the Mapviewer.
*sigh*
Lengthy prologue aside, I did go into this Mortiphoebe experiment with the ten day limitation in mind. The limit has a way of focusing your goals, since you know that the clock is always ticking. For this trial, I wanted to do the following (which I’ll write more about later):
1. Try out a Warrior, maybe even tank a little (I’m certainly not taking on Ragnaros on a trial account).
2. Specifically, try an Undead Warrior, since that’s what Ixo suggested, though I’m not much of a Forsaken fan. I wanted to learn more about their lore as delivered in-game.
3. See what a RP server is like, and maybe even write up some stories, with screenshots to fuel the journey.
4. See if I could run into a SAN member, even though I wouldn’t actually get in the guild as a trial player… even if contrary old me could hack it in the Collective in the first place.
5. Study the newbie experience in WoW, and see how it compared to Allods in the early levels, and how it compares to WoW circa 2005, when I first played the game in a 14-day trial a friend gave me (the only way to play a trial in those days).
6. Have fun without drawing wife aggro (another significant problem when you’re trying to get the most out of your waking hours as the timer keeps ticking) or burning out by trying to take it all in.
As I played, I picked up a new goal:
7. Experiment with the Random Dungeon Finder tool.
I didn’t know that this was available to trial accounts, or lower level players. When I hit level 16, the tutorial tooltips prompted me to check it out, so I figured it was a prime opportunity to not only see the new tool at work, but experiment a bit in groups. Those are hard to find as a trial player, since you can’t actively group up.
All in all, that was a fair number of goals I had in mind, especially for what turned out to be about 10 hours of play. (That was a lot in itself for me, as it happens. I spent more time in-game than I would have during typical “gaming” hours, since I wanted to get as much as I could out of it.)
I can’t help but extend the logic and wonder what my goals would be for a 30-day playthrough when I activate that key. (OK, 40 with a trial in front.)
Also, what about tracing that logic down another tangent? What would you do in a given game if you only had a limited amount of time to play? Note that there’s even a difference between an amount of calendar time (the clock is always running) as opposed to amount of time in-game (time-limited demos) or even “days played” like Puzzle Pirates’ badge system. (Badges are microtransaction permission devices that only decay if you logged in that day, and they decay in one day increments; all logins on a single day count only against that day.)
If you only had ten days to live in a game, what would you do?
Tangentially, you can also play WoW as if it were Groundhog Day, and just play a series of ten day trials. You’ll never breach the hard level 20 cap or have privileges that full accounts enjoy, but hey, if you don’t mind trying the same thing again and again and again, it’s pretty much free WoW. What could you get out of such a playstyle? Might it be best to try out all of the classes this way before paying to go further, rather than paying as you experiment?
I don’t think I could play a game in only 10 day trials. I need to know there’s a certain sort of permanency to it in order to justify my efforts and time. I guess I like knowing that if I connect with my character, I can keep them going, otherwise I don’t want to bond with the game.
I’m always impressed, how you manage to wrap that many thoughts around one point, without getting lost.
Your observation seems typical for a certain attitude towards gaming time and therefore I would sign it.
But, I would add one thought.
There is a reason that most games are designed around Endgame. The core Idea of MMOs is playing together, in the best case with your friends.
Unfortunately the core Idea of RPGs, creates a natural barrier, that prevents you from efficiently playing with your friends: Levels.
Since everyone has his own Schedule you rarely encounter the situation, that you and your friends are in the same level bracket or share the same Quest-Progress.
Of course you can still play together, with a wide level difference, but it will not be the same challenge and experience, as it would be in the at the same level.
So if there were no levels, forcing you into certain areas, the game would probably be centered around the whole world itself. Still you had enough room for character progression, in a way it does not create a major difference in powers.
In this case you even have a chance to find out, what the game is about, in the long term, within your trial.
And as somebody who often misses to play after activating the trial, I strongly favor, played time instead of calendar time.
I’m with Spitfires on this one. This is the same reason I haven’t picked up Gamefly, even though I love NetFlix.
It is much too difficult to justify playtime that won’t be saved, or continued. If the trial account played through till the “end” of a game, but lacked certain features that I wasn’t interested in, I’d be all for it. But like you mentioned, time-based trials leave me feeling like I need to rush to experience as much as possible, never having time to test, explore, or just play experiment.
And I don’t consider wasting time in WoW to be wasting money, unless you live in Asia. Once you’ve paid for a month/quarter/year/whatever, every minute counts the same as the others. Your costs don’t rise with amount of time spent in game. Sure, your benefits decrease due to the bonus XP system, but it doesn’t cost any more real money. And to me, the money would be worth avoiding the communications debacle that is trial accounts.(I know it’s like that to prevent spam, it still annoyed me when I was on my trial.)
And it is super cheap. $15 for a month, as opposed to $5-$10 when you walk through to door to a bar, $20-$40 for two hours at a movie, etc.
It sounds to me like you already made the decision that WoW is not worth the monthly payment though…am I off base with that assumption?
Timing has to be a factor here.
I bet for younger players that have plenty of free time after school and summers and saturdays off, they’re probably able to run around and play all kinds of things.
For me, I really have to be “in the market” as it were. Which right now I am not. I have a game I’m already playing, so having just 10 days for a game is probably going to be no different than having it for 1 day. I’ll probably try it once to see what it’s like, and then go back to my other games.
If I were in the market for a new game though, I’d base continuation on the first night. If I liked it, I’d come back the next day. Then I’d see if I could get friends to play it with me. And if I had a friend join in, we’d probably subscribe.
I don’t think I’m nearly as goal-centric as you are, Tesh! If I were really going to try to make the most out of just 10 days, I would just hop in and play around. I probably wouldn’t sit and think of how far I expected to go, I’d just play and let the game lead me wherever it takes me.
I do think it’s funny that you guys would complain about the lack of persistence in a ten day trial when *exactly* the same thing (loss of access to the character) happens if you stop paying in a sub game. Somehow, it’s better *if you’re paying for it*? Also remember, even if you *do* get invested to the tune of a year or more and hundreds of dollars, all it takes is one missed payment to lose access.
This is why I argue time and again for buying content, like Guild Wars, DDO or Wizard 101. Then I can play it at my own pace, in fits and spurts, whenever I’d like, and for however long the servers are alive.
To be sure, as Anton suggests, timing is huge; if I had 40 hours a week to play, $15/month is a great deal. Thing is, I don’t. (There’s also a curious balance between working a job to have the money to play vs. having the free time to play.) I play games at my pace, and I can’t stand that the clock is always ticking, costing me money. It’s *that* that makes me goal oriented, as it were, trying to wring the most out of my money and time.
Of course, with a *free* trial, the money isn’t an issue, but there’s still a timer ticking, so again, it’s about wringing the most value I can out of it. That’s my point; when your gaming time has a definite time limit to it, it changes how you approach the game, for better or worse. The way I play, looking around, exploring and such, it’s a change for the worse.
(Oh, and tech, you’re right; I consider a sub to be very bad value for me. I know it’s OK and even great for some, but for me, both for the way I play and the schedule I keep, it’s awful value.)
Oh, and speaking to Usiel’s addendum, yes, I’ve argued for a level-less game for a long time now. If you could jump into something approximating the “endgame” on day one, and see everything the game has to offer in a free trial, that would also change your approach. The game would have to sell itself on “keeplayability” rather than a grind to get to the good stuff, always teasing some new ding just over the horizon.
A great point about the loss of sub being the same as the end of a trial, although I don’t see it as exactly the same. While subbed you can experience all there is to experience, whereas the trial you are stuck with only what the developer thinks you may like. In a well made MMO(I’m not trying to bring up the argument of whether WoW is well made or not), there are many things to enjoy. For example, I’m not a big fan of grindy leveling, but I thoroughly enjoy raiding(killing big things in a social atmosphere), and gold making(an online stock market with predictable market changes and no real life risk.) Continuing the example with WoW, as a trial, you cannot be social, and you are lucky if you make a few gold or even have time to check out the auction house and such.
And I see the sub with limited time as a benefit. Not the sub itself, who likes paying money for anything. But I have limited time, and for my $15 a month, developers are working on new and exciting things for me. I generally can’t afford a new game, and even when I can, can rarely invest the time I’d like to into it.
I’m just going to stop here, the more I write, the more fallacies I see in my arguments.
I guess I should just admit, WoW hooked me, and I can’t stop chasing the dragon.(Oh super overused pun) Although I haven’t played for two weeks due to joining a guild I shouldn’t have a while back. Too many low-teens and the attitudes/mind-sets that go with the age.
It would seem my biggest problem with getting away from WoW is that I see too many balance/gameplay problems with F2P, plus, RMT could be devastating to my RL bank.
Tech, that points me again to the Guild Wars model where you buy the game and just play it, no recurring fees. I’m totally happy paying the devs, but I’d rather buy content that I can consume at my own pace since that offers me better value. It really is a preference thing, though, rather than a holy war of The One True Path to monetization.
I think savvy devs try to get several business models running at the same time. DDO, Puzzle Pirates and Wizard 101 all have sub options *and* microtransaction/”buy content” options.
You’re totally right that the trial experience is hobbled by comparison, though. I was annoyed more than once by not being able to play with the Auction House, send mail, join a guild or even just initiate a group. The Dungeon Finder was the only way I could easily “group”, which isn’t really representative of the potential of overworld grouping. It’s a cool tool, to be sure, and I’m actually surprised they let trial players use it… but it’s only one tool in the toolbox.
Oh, and while we’re at it, this notion of permanence and characters has to be intimately tied to the Achiever mindset. If you’re just exploring the game, soaking in the sights and mechanics, enjoying the journey rather than the destination, the permanence of a character doesn’t matter all that much, except as a vehicle for exploration and experimentation.
To me, that suggests that being concerned about permanence isn’t so much about playing the game, it’s about *having played* the game. It’s a subtle difference in wording, but a huge shift in *why* one plays. On another notes, I love having games available to play, reveling almost more in the potential than the play or the achievement at times. I wrote about that before:
http://tishtoshtesh.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/schroedingers-game/
These different styles aren’t bad, to be sure, I’m just noting that we’re talking about very different philosophies, all wrapped up in the same MMO game.
Tesh, I absolutely like the pay for content idea.
But who copied the Guild Wars model by now? It is an extremely successful game, ranking high both in user ratings, critical acclaim and in played times tracked by Xfire/Raptr etc.
I fear for Guild Wars 2. They want to retain the free to play approach, but add more to the store. They are already experimenting in Guild Wars 2 with the “costumes” they sold some time ago on top of the char slots and bank inventory slots.
Who draws the line? Jeff Strain is gone from ArenaNet and NCsoft, I fear he was the guy who held micro-transactions in check. He was also who said the business model will inevitably influence the game design.
I hope they do not fall for the trap. The contemporary trends seems to be to have:
1. Pay for client download/box sale
2. Subscription
3. Pay for Expansions
4. Pay for Micro-Expansions (LOTRO, Siege of Mirkwood)
5. Pay for new features (LOTRO, common storage etc)
6. Pay for skins / cosmetic extras (Cryptic)
7. Pay for respecs (Cryptic)
8. Items sold via “digital magazine” (Aion)
9. “DLC” content for offline games: buggy, rarely fixed, little content for little money. Usually low quality. I dare to say, often recycled stuff that was not ready at release. (As you can see, I was not too convinced of my Fallout 3 and Dragon Age DLCs…^^)
OK, some of the mentioned things are optional – there is no need to buy them.
I just seed a bad trend: Trying to milk the cow too hard. Players don’t like that. See Allods. gPotato must have been nuts, they probably hurt themselves more with their item shop implementation than they made money.
I hope they stay true to the Guild Wars 1 philosophy in GW2. I even dare to say Star Trek Online would do much better with a GW inspired “chapters” model.
I personally wonder if the rumored White Mantle Knight armor costume for GW’s 5th birthday might become an indicator for the future, GW2: If it becomes a bday present to the players, I am relieved. I just fear the bday feature might get sold in the shop, as it was the case with the only costume sets so far, Dwayna and Grenth. There are no costumes that can be attained ingame at all.
I hope someone has the guts to copy the Guild Wars “chapters” model. But maybe Blizzard must go ahead and do this, so that the jackals can follow to eat what the lion left for them. :>
There’s alot of topics in both this post and comments, it’s hard to know what to start on!
Anyway, I’ve done the groundhog day with WOW…actually was good to work off an itch it had left. It’s also really interesting to have level 20 as endgame…it actually made all the equipment options and stuff feel more like the parts of a game, instead of stuff with not much relation to each other, since there is no end.
Oh and one thing to remember is:
No one in the world has played a full game of world of warcraft.
Ever.
Exactly Tesh.
Level progression plays with our instinct to improve and or hunger for might.
A level-free environment the idea of the game itself must be fun to play. Although leaving room for personal improvement is still a valid concept.
You know what I’d like in terms of leveling, is if once per day, you get something like 50 times the usual XP for killing just one, single, lone monster.
So, like, killing a monster, as in just the one, would be some kind of big deal again.
But it’s just once a day. After that it’s the normal XP.