These days when it comes to my “MMO career” I like to think of myself as retired. I did the high end raiding thing for years and followed that up with a few years of leading the high end raiding thing. I think back to everything I felt and believed then and still find it relevant but it really doesn’t represent what I want now.
One of the biggest things that I feel World of Warcraft has done for the MMO industry as of late is that is proves that small raids not only work but work well. In an increasingly casual market these two group encounters are finding quite a niche and I’m happy to see it.
You see, despite being retired, I still like to continue playing MMOs with a professional attitude. This has proven to be quite difficult, however, as you frequently need more than four groups of players to do most raids these days. We can find bodies but we (Sodality) are very discerning. We’ve long since decided we’d rather play with skilled people we like and not raid than do so with those we don’t feel are a fit for us. It sounds elitist but most people do this unconsciously. We’ve just made rational choices on the subject.
To elaborate on that and perhaps save myself from some dirty emails about my attitude I simply have to point out one truth: when you’re in a top end competitive raid guild you play with people who you tolerate. Please note the key word tolerate. I’ve been in two high end guilds and lead a third and I maintain that as a truth. I had a standing order in Iniquity: You don’t have to like everyone in the guild but as long as you can work with them I’m happy. That was me three years ago. Today, however, that isn’t the case. The tolerance requirement has been replaced by, “generally like.”
The ideal solution for me and my members is two and three group raids. I can easily pull together twelve to sixteen people I want to play with. When given measurable goals, like completing these encounters, we get quite active and stay there! When we’re sitting in a holding pattern and trying to find another group to go after a four group encounter though we tend to lose interest quickly. The same is true if the end game is only a single group. We like to interact as a guild and not several smaller divisions inside it. We’re not the only ones either.
I’ve seen a growing trend in the market as of late on the various games I play. Micro-guilds are making a comeback. Small organizations that care more about who they play with than winning are quickly becoming a norm. The question is will developers support them and can you truly make difficult two group raid encounters that will challenge and keep them busy?
I think the answer to both questions is yes. I’ve railed against the casualization of the MMO industry several times but I don’t think this quite fits. Not wanting to recruit large numbers doesn’t necessarily suggest a guild is casual. It is more a testament to their character and standards. As such I’m coining a new term: microcore. We’re as tough, professional and hardcore as we were three years ago but now we want to do it on the smaller scale.
With any luck we’ll see some two group encounters in 38 Studio’s project Copernicus. If not, however, I’m sure someone else will utilize this design. After all, studios love to emulate WoW and Blizzard is still seeing great success. I am curious to know what others think however. Is microcore something that is real or is it just a unique experience to Sodality? Can you have both hard and easy small raid content?
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In my opinion, I think that WoW has ushered in quite a number of players who do not, do not want to try to, don’t care about or are incapable of being a team player/ good MMO gamer. I never played EQ or DAOC and my first MMO was WoW but I can only guess (and I think I would be pretty accurate in saying this) that MMO players back then were made up of a certain grain of gamer. They were very dedicated to the game they played and the guild they were in. It was important to them. They were more patient, swallowed their pride more often for the betterment of the group as a whole and cemented lasting relationships as a result.
Unfortunately, they are a fairly small group that has recently been overlooked for the larger pool of casual players that have emerged during the 2nd and 3rd expansions of WoW. (I’m not about seperating “casuals” from “elite” but the nature of the beast has made it unavoidable)
With the success of WoW, other companies have tried their hand at MMOs who would not have taken the risk prior to and this has caused an even larger spread of these “elite” or “old school” players watering down the ranks even more.
To these “old school” players I would say this: Adapt or quit. Because I’m pretty damn sure no company from here on out will ever attempt to create an MMO to cater towards the “elite”. There is no money in it. And that’s what these games are all about… making money. It’s sad, really. -NK (great article, by the way)
I do have to agree with you Nosmo King when it comes to the “elite doesn’t make money.” I have always recognized that that market is a small minority. We always have been. A small percent consuming a large amount of resources as the fastest rate possible.
Previously, however, the service that market performed was the carrot. Players saw us as the goal to reach and it kept them going. I don’t believe that is the case any longer.
We now have a multitude of reasons to play MMOs! That said, I still think you can have difficult content along side easy content. More importantly I think that content should be offered to smaller guilds!
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