J1M
Arcane
- Joined
- May 14, 2008
- Messages
- 14,655
Just an observation. Even actual MMOs are moving in this direction, with more solo content and grouping-assistance tools that essentially turn other players into NPC companions.
This might be an obvious point, but I put forth that open-world games with their lazy content design and massive time sinks are actually an evolution of the MMO, not the RPG/shooter/etc. Both reward players with environmental exploration as a substitute for design in other areas.
Far Cry swapped out a monthly server fee for an $80/year price tag for yearly expansions. (Plus a $40 price tag for a DLC season pass, bringing the cost up to $10/month.)
This is a safer style of design. You build an environment and populate it with some kill or fetch quests. Nothing too important that a player will care about missing, but something for the autists to worry about completing. You can sell a 5-hour experience as a 90-hour experience, and if you have time you can toss in some unskippable cut-scenes to make people feel like they got their money's worth.
This might be an obvious point, but I put forth that open-world games with their lazy content design and massive time sinks are actually an evolution of the MMO, not the RPG/shooter/etc. Both reward players with environmental exploration as a substitute for design in other areas.
Far Cry swapped out a monthly server fee for an $80/year price tag for yearly expansions. (Plus a $40 price tag for a DLC season pass, bringing the cost up to $10/month.)
This is a safer style of design. You build an environment and populate it with some kill or fetch quests. Nothing too important that a player will care about missing, but something for the autists to worry about completing. You can sell a 5-hour experience as a 90-hour experience, and if you have time you can toss in some unskippable cut-scenes to make people feel like they got their money's worth.