Expectations
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Managing expectations and the evolution of discussion
In the run-up to Warlords of Draenor, we're seeing news of a lot of class and systems changes - discussion of what's being changed or removed has been one of the things we're very concerned with over here, for obvious reasons. It's also a subject of major interest on the forums. In fact, some people are accusing Blizzard of only posting the bad news in an attempt to create negative feedback, to get people talking. Bashiok addressed this idea recently, and it got me thinking about how we interact with game news in the first place. Bashiok - Simplifying currency? That's the grand plan? Well, actually, good news doesn't really create much interest, if you want to dissect it. But that's beside the point. We're obviously not intentionally releasing bad or angering information to try to get people riled up. That'd be silly. We do want to try to manage expectations. Letting people know far in advance that currencies are being streamlined gets that into people's brain meats early, and gives it time to sink in so that when they start seeing or playing that change it ideally isn't jarring and upsetting at that moment. My point was that people discussing a change they have partial information about, debating the specifics, and questioning what it means, are not necessarily negatives. In cases where those are becoming destructive we'll generally try to provide some guidance to at least direct it back to a constructive conversation. source It's this idea of managing expectations that interests me, because over the years, I've come to see quite a few examples of people not doing it. To this day I'm convinced that much of the negative reaction to Cataclysm wasn't to the expansion's flaws (and yet, I admit it had quite a few) and more to the expectations people had for the expansion - expectations it didn't meet, because it wasn't trying to meet them.
Stick and Rudder: Star Citizen and The Phantom Menace
It's May 1999 and nearing midnight. My best friend and I are standing in a swollen, sweat-soaked line of humanity that snakes through a movie theater lobby, out into the overstuffed parking lot, and around back of the palatial building. Imperial stormtroopers mill through the crowd. Kids armed with plastic lightsabers duel their friends, their parents, and armies of imaginary opponents. Nerds share pizza deliveries with strangers, and the whole enterprise is steeped in an air of electric expectation more akin to a championship football game than an evening at the cinema. And then my buddy turns to me and says, "What if it sucks?"
The Daily Grind: What do you expect from an MMO expansion?
When World of Warcraft's Warlords of Draenor expansion was revealed last month, I was stoked to see what will be included but disappointed to see what will not -- namely, a new class or race. Admittedly, not every WoW expansion has seen these two additions, but each one has seen one or the other. It's not a rule, spoken or otherwise; it's just become something that folks expect. Thinking it over, I also found that I expect several additions in any expansion for any games: some sort of new landmass to explore, new gear to wear, and usually some new mechanic or skill for character development. In WoW, I'd certainly expect a level cap bump too, though I'd grumble about powercreep in most others (don't go getting any ideas, Guild Wars 2)! Let's put aside quibbles over the line between expansions and patches today and just focus on expansions. What, specifically, do you expect out of a content release that a studio labels an "expansion"? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Stick and Rudder: What if Star Citizen fails?
As Star Citizen's crowdfunding totals spiral ever higher, so too do the cries of the naysayers, negative nancies, and the ne'er-do-wells who seemingly exist to rain on the space sim sandbox's parade. Some of this hand-wringing is probably justified since with each new stretch goal, fan expectations for SC increase exponentially. Regardless, what the game has already accomplished is worth celebrating, and two of the most common reasons I've seen cited for remaining skeptical simply don't make sense.
The Nexus Telegraph: Sci-fi commonalities to expect in WildStar
There are certain bits that sort of obscure this fact, but when you get down to it, WildStar is a science fiction game -- a science fiction game taking lots of cues from more fantastical offerings and Westerns, but still science fiction at its heart. And that means that it has certain expectations from potential players, just like fantasy games are expected to have elves and superhero games are expected to have someone who is only distinguishable from Superman by the lack of a logo. Here's the thing, though: Science fiction covers a pretty wide range of setting, so some of those expectations may or may not come to pass with the game. Today I want to talk about some of those reasonable guesses, the sort of thing that you just think has to be in a science fiction game. Is WildStar going to feature these elements? I'm not sure, but I can make some guesses (which might be proved wrong before the week is out, but guessing is fun like that).
Blizzard clarifies Bashiok's statements about Diablo III and hints at release announcement
The most recent tempest in a Diablo III-shaped teapot has been community manager Bashiok making a statement to fans urging them to lower their expectations for the game. Director Jay Wilson decided that this was worth a direct reply and stated in a recent open letter to the community that Bashiok's statements were "obviously sarcastic" and that the team does want fan expectations to remain high. The letter stresses that the development staff is quite happy with the game as it continues development and the current internally tested build in a better state than the beta. Wilson goes on to claim that fans can expect a release date announcement in the near future, avoiding the dreaded Blizzard incarnation of "soon." Given his appraisal of the beta state, we suspect that the game will be heading for a retail edition before too long, at which point players will be able to decide for themselves whether or not their expectations were met.
We need to manage our expectations about Mists of Pandaria
Our sister site Massively has covered a recent concern posted by savvy dude Bashiok regarding Diablo III. To make a long story short, Bashiok worried that players' expectations were getting all out of proportion. Bashiok makes one heck of a good point. Diablo III is going to be awesome -- but it's not going to cure world hunger, solve the economic crisis, or cause shiny-happy rainbows to shoot forth from computer monitors. Most of us around here have played the beta and followed the game's news as if we write about a Blizzard game for a living. And we all love it. Really, the game's really cool. But there's no way it can live up to some of the hype it gets. Star Wars: The Old Republic suffered some of the same problem from over-hype. By the time Bioware released the game, everyone expected a next-generation, MMO-redefining experience. That didn't happen. SW:TOR is awesome, but it's not the nirvana of MMOs. It is, essentially, an MMO like any other, but it's based in the universe of Luke and Vader. And that's good enough. I fervently hope we don't end up doing the same with Mists of Pandaria. Everything about the expansion is incredibly exciting. Pandaren look cool (if you're into pandas), the new talents look exciting, and MoP promises a lot of new experiences. But let's not set it up for failure by expecting it to be WoW 2.0. It's still going to be a WoW expansion. It's still going to involve killing mobs, questing, and slaying bosses. Because that's the point of the game. I'm not trying to discourage anyone here. I really, really love WoW. I'm just saying that we shouldn't put our expectations for Mists so incredibly high that there's no way Blizzard can meet them. It'll do an astounding job, as it always does, but let's not make it impossible for Blizzard right out of the gate. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is the next expansion, raising the level cap to 90, introducing a brand new talent system, and bringing forth the long-lost pandaren race to both Horde and Alliance. Check out the trailer and follow us for all the latest MoP news!
Blizzard tells Diablo III fans to lower their expectations
Are you eagerly awaiting Diablo III's eventual release? Well, perhaps you shouldn't be quite that eager. Community manager Bashiok recently made some comments in a thread on the official forums expressing some concern that players are getting too excited about the potential of the game and that players should instead lower their overall expectations of Diablo III. He closes by saying that fans should at the same time still purchase the game but perhaps lower the threshold of awesome it has to clear. It's possible to read this as an attempt to control the game's hype before release, and it's possible to read this as a roundabout statement of overall quality. Either way, it's an odd statement coming from Blizzard's public relations team, since very few developers have historically told their fans to be a little less excited for release. Of course, with that having been said, it's unlikely that the level of excitement will go down at all. (Bashiok's full quote is just past the cut.)
Hyperspace Beacon: Expecting a living world
The other day I was talking to some friends about Star Wars: The Old Republic, of course. As of late, it seems to be the only thing I'm talking about. My friend isn't a guy who follows the game that closely, but he is an MMO player and has certain expectations for the game. Specifically, we talked about Crew Skills and space combat. He is an EVE player. EVE Online has one of the most in-depth crafting systems in any MMO to date, not to mention the game is completely set in space, right? On the other side of the fence, I was talking to some roleplayers in Star Wars Galaxies, who also don't follow the game as closely as I do. These MMOers are expecting SWTOR to be filled with the best roleplay tools available in the gaming industry. It's BioWare; after all, that team created Never Winter Nights, the most customizable RPG ever. (Of course, this doesn't take into effect that latest games to come from the developer were pretty linear and not very sandboxy.) As arm chair developers, we sometimes believe that implementing ideas in an MMO is a lot easier than reality. On the official forums last week, a player made this statement: "I, and 14 other guildmates, really want to plan on rolling on an rp-pvp server. It's such a trivial game feature to confirm for us, I don't understand why they wouldn't just mention it and be done with it." After saying that he would look into it, Community Manager Stephen Reid made the statement that "A good rule of thumb with MMO development is to never assume something is trivial." What are some other "trivial" expectations players are placing on this game? Which ones can BioWare deliver on? Which ones aren't as trivial as suggested? Why can't Star Wars: The Old Republic give us everything we want? In this week's column, let's talk about setting.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Pre-launch checklist
I'll just come out and say it: The month or so right before the launch of a highly anticipated MMO is simultaneously ecstasy and agony, full of love and loathing. The waiting sucks, but the anticipation is delicious. The enthusiasm from the community is electric, but the heated emotions can be toxic. The discussion is fascinating, but the know-it-alls are annoying. Personally, I kind of wish we could be at launch-plus-one month right now, just so that the frenzy of insane opinions will have died down and we can just, y'know, play the game without feeling as though we were in the middle of a verbal rugby match. Like any MMO, RIFT's going to have its positives and negatives, but I feel that this launch is going to be something we haven't seen in a long time: a solid, stable MMO that offers up a complete package. That pleases the Justin. Since I can't whip out my magic remote control and fast-forward to April, I propose we do the next best thing. Let's open up our imaginary quest logs and run down a checklist of seven "To Dos" and a few "To Don'ts" to help us prepare for RIFT's release. Planning can be fun! Shut up, it can be!
Redbox passed 30,000 kiosks in Q4 2010, but still missed financial expectations
Redbox may be a red-logoed stepchild compared to industry darling Netflix, but according to its parent company Coinstar's Q4 earnings call, it still managed to pass the 30,000 kiosk milestone, increase market share to 30 percent and grow DVD revenue by 38 percent to $319.6 million. Combined with blowing by one billion rentals back in September and avoiding a lawsuit with Fox, the news would have culminated in champagne and karaoke for Coinstar shareholders... except for one thing: new releases underperformed during the last quarter along with Blu-ray rentals. Coinstar CEO Paul Davis was quick to bolster investor concerns on the call, however, stating company management had taken "definitive steps to correct the issues" and was ready to "leverage the First-sale doctrine" -- which refers to a Supreme Court ruling limiting the control of copyright holders over the re-selling of its property -- should studios get sassy in future distribution negotiations. More updates on the company's streaming plans didn't materialize, though, so you'll have to chuck those dreams of instant rental gratification for a buck back in the deep freeze at least in the near term. Otherwise, hit up the source links below to ogle data tables to your heart's content.
LG: Windows Phone 7 launch did not meet expectations, still a fine OS for 'a huge segment'
The only hard news we've seen from Microsoft regarding Windows Phone 7 sales was less than revealing, but it seems that LG is stepping out from the behind the curtain a bit to let us in on how things are going -- from its perspective, anyway. In a sit-down with the folks over at Pocket-lint, LG's marketing strategy and planning team director James Choi noted: "From an industry perspective we had a high expectation, but from a consumer point of view the visibility is less than we expected." Nothing too shocking there, but he followed up by noting that LG feels Windows Phone 7 "is absolutely perfect for a huge segment out there." Perhaps more shocking was this tidbit: "What we feel is that some people believe that some operating systems, mainly Google, are extremely complicated for them; but Windows Phone 7 is very intuitive and easy to use." He followed his not-terribly-subtle Android jab with a WP7 jab, oddly enough, noting that "for tech guys, [WP7] might be a little bit boring after a week or two, but there are certain segments that it really appeals to." What's left unclear is exactly how much support LG is going to give Microsoft after launching the Optimus 7, but we're guessing that next month's outlay at Mobile World Congress will be a huge indication. Naturally, we'll be there with our eyes peeled.
ASUS downgrades Eee PC shipment forecast, blames iPad
Been waiting for evidence that the iPad will dent the netbook market? If you believe ASUS, that's already happened, with the Eee PC vendor reporting fewer sales in the second quarter relative to the first and downgrading expectations for the usual peak season of Q3. Apple's prodigious tablet is specifically named by ASUS CEO Jerry Shen as an invader that is "crowding out" netbook demand, though he remains firmly committed to the small and affordable laptop market. All the same, Shen does also point a finger to the horizon, where a trifecta of Eee Pads marches ever nearer with the intent to do battle with the iPad. So while netbooks aren't going away in a hurry, these latest numbers seem to suggest they're set to at least share the lower-end spotlight with touch-friendly slates, or rather Pads.
Bill Gates expects the web to be the best single source of education within 5 years
Bill Gates just might be the world's most famous college dropout (sorry, Kanye), but lest you think he's changed his mind about the educational establishment, he's got a few words of reassurance for you. As the closing speaker of the Techonomy 2010 conference, Bill dished out his vision of how learning will evolve over the next few years, stating his belief that no single university will be able to match the internet when it comes to providing the learning resources a student needs. Describing traditional studies as "place-based" and inefficient, he forecasts that university education will become five times less important within five years, with online lecture sources picking up the reins of enlightening our youth. In other news, Bill's pen-based tablet PC idea is going great!
Exploring Eberron: Six things to do on your first day in game
So you've given into temptation, downloaded DDO onto your hard drive, and decided to see what all the hubbub was about with Turbine's quirky MMO-that-could. Good for you -- personally, I think you're in for a terrific time. Of course, there's a small but steep learning curve at the start of the game, which I envision claims the lives of many gamers who run all willy-nilly into said wall screaming, "Where is the auto-attack keyyyyy?" You want to avoid that. You want your DDO experience to be face-smashing-wall free. Therefore, I have pulled myself out of a Fun Dip coma (soooo much sugar) to cobble together six vitally important tasks to perform on your first day in game in order to save the princess. Or make your life easier, I don't know. I'm assuming that you've already made your first character and are itching to test drive that bad boy or girl and see how quickly you can die. Man, I bet you really wish Rubi were back already, huh? Wish harder, dude!
The Daily Grind: Expectations vs. surprises
Part of being an MMORPG fan is a fascination with any and all interesting-looking upcoming titles. Even if we're satisfied and comfortable in our current game of choice, it doesn't stop us from checking out the latest models (the '10 Fantasy Coupe has new trim!). And with games coming down the pike, I have to ask you: would you rather have a much-anticipated MMO live up to expectations and hype, or would you rather be bowled over by a game that comes out of nowhere to rock hard? On one hand, to have a game live up to expectations is almost a foolish wish in this genre; we are let down too often to really expect that everything will be as glorious and perfect as the press releases -- and our imaginations -- make it out to be. If an MMO managed to hit most or all of those expectations, and perhaps even exceed them, it would be a glorious day indeed. On the other hand, it's fun being surprised. There are so many MMOs in development that it's fiendishly difficult to track them all, and odds are that a gem will slip past your radar sooner or later, hit release, and make you cry out, "Where have you BEEN all my life?" So which is it: Would you rather have an upcoming MMO live up to expectations, or be completely surprised by a terrific hit that blind sides you?
iPhone sales expectations lowered due to supply shortage
We've already heard that Apple is taking a risk by being low on supplies for iPhone 4, and now at least one analyst says it's too far: Shawn Wu of Kaufman Bros. is lowering his expectations for iPhone 4 sales this year. Of course, that means he's cutting expected sales from 9 million to 7.5 million (which means Apple would still make truckloads of money), but nevertheless, Wu says that "an inventory drawdown and screen supply constraints could impact near-term shipments over the next two quarters." Ouch -- that's pretty harsh by analyst standards. I think Apple was in the same boat with me on this one -- after such a successful iPad launch (and a not-bad 3GS launch last year), I didn't think that the iPhone 4 launch would provide too many issues. But from all of the anecdotal and sales data we've heard so far, it was huge -- much bigger than any of the previous iOS device launches so far. Apple's probably not worried -- 7 million phones is still plenty of phones for them. But it certainly seems, especially since a lot of stores still don't have phones ready and in stock, that they were caught off guard by demand.
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR hype in hyperspace
The Hyperspace Beacon is a weekly guide and discussion by Larry Everett about the yet-to-be-released game Star Wars: The Old Republic. In a world where MMOs are now commonplace, it seems as though he who has the hippest hype wins. E3 was all about convincing the media that your game or toy was the latest and greatest thing to hit the electronics industry since Pac-man. The media, being the attention-fiends they are, ate it all up. Even Massively wasn't exempt from basking in the spoils of temporary celebrity. I mean, really, did we do a featured news story on Gaia? Yes -- one. But we did no less than ten articles featuring SWTOR coming out of E3. According to some, we're now "Massively: Your daily news about SWTOR and some of these other games over here." So with all this hippity-hype everywhere, pouring from all the latest sites popping up and just longing to be the your best source of SWTOR news, how do you determine which is the best? What do you read? What do you ignore? Which is rumor? Which is truth? Who is that masked man? And did you find the Sith Inquisitor in the midriff top as cute as I did? I know, right?! The answers to these questions aren't easy. Sometimes you need a guide to help you through the hype, a hype(rspace) beacon, if you will. This Beacon is here help you calculate the jump. So strap yourself in, kid. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
Acer expects to overtake HP as world's biggest laptop vendor by year's end (updated)
Ah, the inexorable rise of a once-small Taiwanese company. Acer chairman JT Wang has told investors in a conference call this week that his company is on track to overtake HP in worldwide laptop shipments before the year is through. That assertion is backed up by Gartner's data, cited in the Wall Street Journal, which indicates that Acer shipped 9.49 million mobile computers in the first quarter of 2010, just ahead of HP's 9.47 million. Positive vibes are also being felt on the desktop front, where Acer aims to shift 10 million units this year, while a decent $15 million is being invested into "developing a smartphone platform based on Google Inc.'s Android." We'll be curious to see whether this thrifty strategy pays off against HP's ebullient $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm, but one thing's for sure: PC vendors are hungry for some of that sweet smartphone pie. Update: Gartner has corrected Acer's worldwide shipments number down to 9.12 million, placing it a close second behind HP for Q1.
Study: middle-aged people unimpressed with modern technology
The Olds -- they're never happy, are they? Just look at this study conducted by the feared and respected Zogby International. According to a poll, those aged 35-54 are most disappointed by how far technology has come by 2010, having grown up with the concept of that Jetsons robot that automatically brushes your teeth and the promise of Sleeper's Orgasmatron. Still, 21 percent of Emperor Zogby's subjects said tech was more advanced than they would have imagined, while another 37 percent claimed we were right on track with our technological achievements. But what about the super old people, you ask? Well go figure, a third of those queried 70 years of age and over said our current tech was basically blowing their collective minds (or, was more advanced than they expected). Said one respondent, "I never know where the next robot attack is coming from."
