Mass Hysteria

[Whyndam]

Jessica's article hit the nail on the head when it comes to the problems most on-line games, Skotos and it's Castle Marrach game included (just see the looong thread in the Castle Marrach forum), not enough customer support, whether tech support, or in Marrach's case, customer/story support. Now I actually do work in the customer service field. I do tech support for Compaq Computer Corp. in their commercial desktop line of PCs, so I understand what Jessica is talking about when she says people expect to be hand-held most of the way. It's something we are expected to do if the customer needs or wants it. It is vital to Compaq that we do this. Customer service is vital to any computer or tech company, gaming or not.

Jeff wasn't as long winded as I am about it, but I agree with him, Skotos needs more CE interaction, and that is just for Castle Marrach, that doesn't count any of the other games. CE is Skotos' customer service. It is their job to interract with the players of Skotos' games, both as characters in the games and as represtatives of Skotos' for OOC issues. They were great for several months when the game first started. Then they stepped away from the game to work on things for when Skotos' went pay-for-play. PFP is about to enter its second month and I don't know if I've seen CE come back to the games. I understand that there are things that CE is working on and that a business can't hire more people if it's not making money, but I think the key to making more money is better customer service. Keep the players happy and engaged and they'll keep coming back and they'll bring their friends. Right now, CE is not doing that. Whether there needs to be more people hired for CE or the people already there need to focus more on IC aspects of the games, I don't know. I don't know what's happening in the CE department, but if I had been surveyed about how CE was doing customer service wise several months ago, I would have given high marks. Right now, those marks would be pretty low.

Basically, more customer service = happy customers. More CE interaction = happy players. Happy players/customers = more money.
---
Sean Everette

[Ravelyn]

Good article. I can attest to interracting with players who even textually assault other players because they can't adequately explain some of the problems faced. But there are enough of us (players and tech included) who are willing to help each other, compromise, and work together to provide a great source of diversion for the *dreaded* Mass-Market.

As far as CE on Marrach is concerned, I know there have been a lot more StoryHosted characters on lately. Fleur and Blancheflour and some of the more prominent powers of the Inner Bailey. They are helping to include other players in plots by letting slip little tidbits of information, especially on the more nefarious goings on within the Castle. Personally, I think the staff interraction is fine. My only suggestion would be more CE support for player-run plots. But there are so many. There has been a lot of unrest concerning whether or not the Skotos Tech should put forth more time and effort into helping the players out and interracting with them, but I think it's going well. And players have been helping players. Newly Awakened as well as the older players who simply haven't been involved in any really strong plots. And it's the player's responsibility to take charge of what they do with their char as much as it is the responsibility of the staff to try and run a fun and relatively smooth game.
My bubbly bits added,
- Carmen http://www.skotos.net/ubb/cool.gif

[Atama]

Most of those "StoryHosted" characters aren't run by StoryHosts... http://www.skotos.net/ubb/wink.gif

[Bloodlust]

If anyone has played any of the online games where you control a plot of land, say a "Dominion", a "province", etc. you would see that it indeed is working.

Ofcourse, it is not near so "realtime" as Castle Marrach is in a sense, since a little lag there isn't as big a disaster as it is in CM.
And, ofcourse, since I have a great amount of experience in the way CM works (both server-wise and client-wise - both as programmer and as player) AND how those other games work (I've been there as well, both as player and developer) I know that the difference is bigger than at first glance.
But the issue here isn't "Castle Marrach", nor is it "Skotos Tech". It's Online Games with Massive amounts of players.
And I consider 3,000 players as massive (Kamikazegames, http://www.kamikazegames.com.)
And I also consider 40,000+ players as massive (Utopia, http://games.swirve.com/utopia/.)
(On the other hand, imho, Utopia does not work - the lag there is terrible and frankly, I left the game because of it - among other things (cheating, and player attitude).)

The reason (as I see it) that these games work is one major thing. To play the game, you don't have to pay. If a player complains, the other players kindly remind him that the game is free. He is free to leave, or stay, as he pleases. It won't matter, because if the gaming experience weighs up the bad issues, two new players will take his place - and he will probably not leave anyway.
Those games are funded by advertisements, not by selling accounts to customers.

But, having purchased accounts has it's benefits.
Firstly, cheating can be entirely controlled. Noone would want to pay double one month (well, almost noone anyway) just to be able to control multiple accounts. Ofcourse, in for instance Castle Marrach, you have the ability to create multiple characters on one account - but "cheating" by using two characters from the same account can easily be tracked.
Secondly, your account is worth something. Losing an account in Dominion or Utopia meant squat (except the fact that you lose a lot of hours of hard work on growing your lands, if you indeed DID work, and not just used a script engine to do the job for you). Losing one in Castle Marrach would mean losing the money you paid to get that account in the first place.
Having purchased accounts makes it possible to "do so much more". One can actually make a living on the game, which means one can spend so much more time on improving it, and on supporting the players.

But, as mentioned in the article, the players become customers, and customers demand that the game is flawfree, lagfree, bugfree, and that their "hands are held 100%".

A customer of CM once mentioned - regarding the "horrible lag" - that an IRC session with several hundred of
players worked without lag, but when less than a hundred players were online in Castle Marrach, the game lagged out of control. (I was there, and from pressing enter and actually 'doing' what you wanted to do took 20-30 seconds)

Ofcourse, firstly, as a programmer with experience in the area, I can say that there is a big difference between an IRC chat session and a RPG session á Castle Marrach (DGD) technology. Firstly, there is a large amount of interpretation done between typing "eat my sandwich" and to the client receiving the actual server response. The irc server would receive a string (sentence) from the irc client, and immediately toss it away to every client in the same chat-room. The DGD server (f.i. Castle Marrach) would receive the sentence, interpret it ("What is he doing? - eating, what is he eating? - his sandwich. Does he have a sandwich? Yes, he does... etc"), and generate a number of responses and send the different responses to the characters in the room.
Secondly, being in an IRC room with a number of people does not necessary mean that everyone in that room are logged onto the same server. Preferrably, they are all logged on to an IRC client located nearby. I would probably select a server in Sweden, or atleast Europe. An american would probably select one in the states or atleast somewhere in America, etc. The IRC servers on for instance DALnet or IRCnet are connected to each other as if they were one, and the clients (users) can talk to each other even though they're not on the same server.
Castle Marrach is (unless I'm mistaken) one single server, taking care of every player logging into the game. This means that even if you're playing from China, from Sweden, Australia, Mexico, or Los Angeles, you are connected to the very same server.

The games "Dominion", "Utopia", etc. are working. But they're in no way working flawlessly.
They're funded by advertisements, but often the owner and developer of the game has an agreement with some
external advertisement company that takes care of "everything".
External pop-ups with the latest toothbrush, gazillions of fantastic announcements of mp3 player resales, and whatever the ad co. finds that might suit the interest of the players invade the browser and makes him want to just blow a hole through his monitor with one of those neat plasma guns found in Q3A.

If the player would brave those ad's and play the game anyway, he would soon (very soon) encounter the dirty players. "Dirty" as in cheating or as in someone who just want to "fuck someone up for fun" (believe me, there are lots of those kinda players in those games), or (worst of all) the "alliances".
Suddenly, twenty different Dominions attack you, at the same day, at the same hour, within a period of two minutes.
Either this is some multi (one person playing several accounts - which is expressedly illegal in every one of those games), or an alliance that decided to "prove their point" that they're the mightiest one's around.
You have probably made the "mistake" of attacking one of their members.

(Utopia came before Dominion, and has been the example placed by the Dominion players. Filled with multis and plagued by alliances. In fact, most players in Dominion are ex Utopia players that grew tired of the alliances and multis there. In fact, the players of Dominion has fascinatingly enough created an "Anti-alliance" to get rid of all the alliances in Dominion - a noble gesture, and despite the doubtful morale in such an act I fully support it.)

Well, whether the online multiplayer game is Castle Marrach, Dominion, or Quake 3 Arena, the fact remains.
Internet, as it is today, is perhaps not capable of handling thousands of players at the same time, but I don't believe an "entirely new Internet" needs to form. The network in itself will improve, maybe it will take seven years to get us there - maybe even ten years, but we will get there - and my personal belief is sooner than expected.
Meantime, one solution (perhaps not applicable in this particular situation) is following the Linuxian path (open source).
Open source is the strength and the core kernel of the operating system Linux. Every part of it is free for every eye to gaze upon. Everyone can use, and improve as and if they see fit.
Creating an open source version of 'Castle Marrach' where anyone can create a server in a common world would be a solution to the lag issues. Adam in England has a Castle on some hill, Eve in Germany has a city in the cold north, while George in Australia has a vast desert to the south.
Some kind of main server acting like some sort of DNS server would link these together and you'd have an almost infinite world.

Just some thoughts from this wacked puppy, I hope you could make some sense out of it, and kudos to those who read it all through. http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif

/Kalle, kalle.alm@home.se

[Karl]

Similar to what Greg Costikyan said in his article in Salon. (http://www.salon.com/21st/feature/1998/10/21feature2.html) And every bit as true. Skotos doesn't have too big a problem with the latency/lag issue, as unless you're involved in a duel, how fast your text gets to the server isn't really a factor.

However the Customer Service issue could be a factor. Fortunately for Skotos, most of the people who get involved in online text gaming are relatively hard-core in their own right. As was said, we the hard-core gamer understand the occasional internet slowdown/glitch.

One thing that Greg said that wasn't mentioned here is that the longer people are online, the more money it costs the provider. You combine this with an "unlimited" play pricing scheme and you could be in trouble. Again though, the Skotos method handles this in that not a lot of information needs to run through the wires.

So it could be that when it comes right down to it, almost the only mass-market venture that could be successful would be a text oriented deal, at least until we all dial in through fibre and gaming companies start realizing that MMP is no longer a game, it's an entertainment service.

[fiendlet]

Great column, Jessica! Now I have to go follow that link and read all the previous ones http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif

[Ravelyn]

Hey, Atama,
What should I call those characters in the castle if my 'Story Host' term in inappropriate? We usually identify them by particularly distinguished clothes or a rare item. Or a vast knowledge of the innerworkings of the Castle.
- Carmen

[Ra'Dorcha]

Originally posted by Bloodlust:
The reason (as I see it) that these games work is one major thing. To play the game, you don't have to pay. If a player complains, the other players kindly remind him that the game is free. He is free to leave, or stay, as he pleases.


Are you sure you play Dominion? I have yet to see the messages boards be anything resembling kind. Since a) the game is free and b) there is no rule about people under 18 playing, the atmosphere is very ... juvinile. I feel blessed to have found such a great group in you all. Granted, even the most mature person (i.e. the example in this artical of the grandpa) can act imature, I feel the group that is developing here has a level of maturity which will be a big asset.

Granted, if done right Mass Market will get you lots of money. But a smaller, mature audiance will be more hard-core ... even if they were not a hard-core gammer before coming here. Wonderful points here, by everyone.

[Atama]

Carmen, they are called Veteran Player Characters, or VPCs. Not to be confused with Non-Player Characters, or NPCs (which are characters like the seamstresses, the servants, or the cats).


Veteran Player Characters are characters who have special rights and priveleges that are similar to the ones that StoryHosted characters like Sir Launfal have. They also exist to further plots and help the regular characters just like StoryHosted characters do. They aren't like regular characters, which exist only to amuse the player, they have definite roles they do just like SHs, SPs, and SGs.

They are also played by regular players, not CE, who are volunteers like StoryGuides and StoryPlotters.

[Ravelyn]

Thanks, Atama.
Currently filing that information away in my mental hardrive.
- Carmen http://www.skotos.net/ubb/cool.gif

[Bloodlust]

Originally posted by Ra'Dorcha:
Are you sure you play Dominion? I have yet to see the messages boards be anything resembling kind.

Hmm, I guess you're right in that the messageboards aren't especially "soft"....
http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif

[JessicaM]

Just letting everyone know I'm here.

I'm impressed by the quality of comments about the column, thanks. I'll no doubt comment myself occassionally; things are pretty hectic here right now though, so don't expect instant responses, http://www.skotos.net/ubb/biggrin.gif.

-Jess

[Bloodlust]

Just another thing I'd like to add.

I don't know if it's prejudgmental or not of me to presume that the majority of the players of Castle Marrach aren't playing Q3A, Unreal Tournament, etc.
I am. Playing both CM and the "senseless-violence"-kinda games.
And I daresay that the author of the article (Jessica?) perhaps hasn't played the game as thoroughly as she should have, because IMO those kind of games work. Satisfactorily.
The player naturally selects a server nearby (and there are thousands and thousands of servers) and the ping (lag) is non-existant.

If I play on a server in South Africa, the game will naturally not be playable.
If I select one in Sweden (that's where I live), Norway, Finland, or any of the European countries, I would get relatively low ping, and the game would be playable.
The game developers themselves have found new methods of dealing with the issue as well, and those methods have improved over the years.
Playing Duke Nukem 3D with laggy players is a pain in the ass (old 3D game), but the technology has changed.
Since the players all have the game in question (let's take Q3A), their clients will "predict" what the opponents will do, until they get the correct info.
In that way, the game mostly plays as if there were no lag at all.

/Kalle

[JessicaM]

Originally posted by Bloodlust:
Just another thing I'd like to add.

I don't know if it's prejudgmental or not of me to presume that the majority of the players of Castle Marrach aren't playing Q3A, Unreal Tournament, etc.
I am. Playing both CM and the "senseless-violence"-kinda games.
And I daresay that the author of the article (Jessica?) perhaps hasn't played the game as thoroughly as she should have, because IMO those kind of games work. Satisfactorily.
The player naturally selects a server nearby (and there are thousands and thousands of servers) and the ping (lag) is non-existant.

/Kalle

Bloodlust,

In re: crossover between retail hybrids and MMPs: It has been my experience that there is some crossover, but not a lot, maybe 10%. Note that publishers operate on the view that there are between 4 and 6 million 'hard core' computer gamers, but we see only about 700-800k MMP subscribers.

Think of it as a pyramid, with the bulk of the gamers at the base (mass market) and the hard core at the top. There is little upward movement in the pyramid; mass gamers rarely tend to move up to the more complicated and expensive games. On the other hand, the hard core gamers at the pinnacle tend to be omnivores; they 'play down' the pyramid. If you accept this picture, then game types really need to be viewed as different markets with different business models and different technologies.

In re: whether Q3A, et al, work: Sure they do; there is certainly a market segment that likes these games and that was never at question. Like everything, how well they work is a question relative to the player. As you noted, it all depends on your personal connection and the Internet weather conditions in your portion of the cloud at the time.

Personally, I've some great experiences with the hybrids, with my favorite being Delta Force. I've also had some terribly frustrating experiences. As the carnie barker says, you pays yer money and you takes yer chances.

-Jess

[Umichan]

Originally posted by Kyle:
(Jasmine, uh... Umichan calls Auamakua 'shark god' so she has apperently had some experience with him.)


Actually, I never interacted with Aumakua when he was in his StoryHost body (except maybe for the pointless page I sometime send to tease/pester/encourage our beloved Skotos people), but only when he was in a npc body (like the cat that gave Umi, Addy, and Tamm a music box. http://www.skotos.net/ubb/smile.gif *hugs*).

Anywayyyy, back to my pointless post. Kyle, Aumakua is called Shark God because players who met him in his StoryHost body in the game (Angron and Kristine are a few of them) said he was at the beach and had his pet shark with him. Personally, I never saw the shark (the only SH I actually met online was Malik and that was the time I got 'trapped' outside because of the secret door and he 'rescued' me after I had 'worshipped' him for a good 2 minutes... and I'm sure he was laughing of me, thinking how stupid I can be), but I have yet to challenge the great Shark God to a surfing contest. (BG inside joke, don't ask!) http://www.skotos.net/ubb/biggrin.gif

This proves again that our Skotos gods have a good sense of humour.

**************** Pointless post ends here ****************

Gaby

[Kyle]

Let it be known that I havent read the responses to this article. Im just puting my thoughts in as I read the article.

About the internet: The internet may be in its stone age, but thats a great upgrade over what it was when I first rolled my eyes at it.

About Costomer Service (CE): Ive noticed a lack of it... maybe they are just too buisy, but I have never seen a CE person provide anything other than an IC roll. (Thank you for great IC rolls, btw! We couldnt live without great Characters) Well, ive seen other people have great CE experences (Jasmine, uh... Umichan calls Auamakua 'shark god' so she has apperently had some experience with him.)
But most of what the artical was talking about was CS in the way of
Costomer: My mouse doesnt work!
CS: have you tried doing this?
Customer: How do I access the game?
CS: Uh... click on the button.
Customer: Why does it freeze so often?
CS: Its called lag.
We the players tend to do a prety good job of CSing the new people outselves leaving the important people to do more important things.

Mass market... I completly agree, and your right this is the scary part.

[Taboo]

What a wonderful insightful exposition of why MMP's are crippled in today's environment! Heaven help us if one suddenly takes off like Myst. Operating in real-time is always going to be challenging in this arena.

Being a dedicated fan of the Civilization series, Railroad Tycoon, and X-Com, I can only wonder why the online multiplayer market is devoid of something turn-based? The most popular games on the web are things like hearts, pinochle, and bridge. Why haven't the game designers put any effort into building a massive turn-based strategy environment? That would open up the world of modems and crappy ISP's to that savvy company's customer base.

There! The gauntlet is down! Stand and Deliver game designers!

[Kyle]

because while turn based stuff like Ciilization and Xcom (as well as haveing a great combat engin) and master of Orion 2 may work well for single players... ever played them in multiplayer? Its not even funny... turns take upwards of 3 hours near the end. That is if your obsesssed with keeping everything at max production capacity. by makeing sure that everything is produceing exactly what you want, buying things when they get cheap... ext.

[jdyer]

Alpha Centauri games can take a week to play. You can do one in reasonable time if you pick one of the scenarios (there's one that's more or less capture the flag) but you still can't expect a quick game.

So yes, the turn based games do exist, you just have to take a while to play them. :) I'd actually recommend play-by-email for those sort of games, so you can take your several hours a move and not feel like you are holding anybody up. Especially good with that style of game: Space Empires IV.

I should mention Worms is turn-based and you can do a game in reasonable time. If you've ever played Scorched Earth -- it's a modern version of that (although I actually like Scorched Earth better).