A yawny day today. Not that I'm bored. I'm just being especially prone to the yawn. It's gape-wide-and-exhale day at the office, much to the chagrin of my office-mates.
It appears that a lot of people are waiting for the comments I promised on Saturday, so here they are:
"I have no response to that."
Well, no, that's not entirely true. Love it or hate it, I
always have a response. But I'll keep it vague and short, because anything else will get me in trouble. Suffice it to say, this journal (or site) won't ever be a source for AO-related news or official comments, just so everyone's aware of that. This is strictly personal stuff, and I have to stick to the issues that aren't hush-hush. Anything else is marketing and PR's domain.
In general, I think
the thread is intelligent and thought-provoking, but although I agree with a lot of it, I also
disagree with a lot of it. Not because it's not true, but because one person's dream is another person's nightmare.
It boils down to subjectivity, especially in terms of what players expect from an online game. Some love the story and the role-playing bits; others don't. Some prefer to spend their time killing monsters and gaining experience-points; others don't. There's no right or wrong, and the ideal game would support both groups equally. Heck, lots of players enjoy both the role-playing as well as the more "standard" MMOG gameplay. And some enjoy neither, but like the social aspects of an online world. What's AO's focus? That's up to the team management, based on the feedback they get. They're always aiming to please the maximum amount of players, logically enough, while still maintaining the tone and "vision" (a loaded term, to be sure) as outlined by the game director. Again, though, this vision is very much affected by player feedback.
Someone said that they feel as though the story is dictated by content development...and that's true. But it also works vice-versa. The content that's added to the game is added because of the story, like the
Shadowlands. This is a natural progression of the story-as-planned, going back to the novel and to the pre-history of the universe that we came up with a looong time ago. But the most important thing
is the content, the game. What people do, each and every day, inside the game world. The "mechanics", if you will -- although I don't want it to be that cold. Still, this is what the majority of players seem to be discussing; the mechanics, the balancing, the professions, the PvP. They're not discussing the story. Yeah, I know that this is mainly because there isn't all that much to write about on a regular basis, but if people don't
talk about the story, the people in charge of AO won't make it a priority.
Thus,
this thread is an important one, because, if nothing else, it's balanced, insightful, and interesting. Empty words, perhaps, but that's all I can offer in this journal, speaking as a "civilian". Will things change? Content-wise, AO has definitely picked up, as I'm sure you'll all agree. Lots of new stuff to do, lots of new stuff to make the game accessible to starting players (something that benefits everyone), and lots of new stuff in the pipeline, with the forthcoming
Notum Wars and
Shadowlands. Does this have anything to do with the story? Yeah, it actually does. It's all tied together. But it's not the be-all-and-end-all of stories. It won't sate your appetite for that great dream of the Story with a capital 'S'. I would have liked to see that happening, but that's not the focus. The focus is the game, the content, and the daily goings-on in the world. And that focus is probably the right one for AO, and for the majority of players.
Again, keep in mind that this is my personal view. My role on AO is basically as a sometimes-advisor to the story. I don't write it. I offer my "expertise" (as it were; some may disagree on that point), and the story-team uses my feedback and ideas as they please. They're sticking with a number of the threads I begun weaving long ago, and they're coming up with a bunch of their own to complete the (ta-daaa) great tapestry of Rubi-Ka. I think they're doing a great job, an excellent job, given the time they have and the pressure they're under. As far as I'm concerned, it would've been fun continuing doing what we were doing a year ago -- remember the show? -- but that wasn't to be, for lots of reasons. And back then, most players weren't very happy with what we were doing either. Lots of reasons for that, not all of them tied to the story itself (frankly, it took a while for the game to settle down and be
good), but there you are. The criticism was taken into consideration, and changes were made. As a game, AO is lightyears away from what it was a year ago, and the story...well, it's happening. It's developing. It's the basis for content additions and gameplay changes, and that was always the most important thing. To have a foundation and a reason for what's going on.
Right. My two cents. Don't make a story of this, 'cause it ain't. That'll make it look as if it's "Funcom talking", and it's not. These are just my personal thoughts, and they're no more valuable than yours. I could be completely, awfully wrong. I often am. Point is, what you, as fans, are doing is important, more important than what I think. You need to keep discussing the game, bring up issues, make your arguments, and present them in a forum that's accessible to everyone; both fellow players and developers. People read what you write, and they listen to your thoughts and ideas, and in the end that's the basis for everything that happens to AO. Really. Strange, but true. So go, talk more, have opinions, care about the game, and never, ever stop asking for more! Go team!
Phew. Tired now.
