In 2003 after some rocky points IRL, I was looking for a new MMORPG. Space sims caught my eye, they seemed a natural multiplayer extension of the old Elite series I loved so much. I passed on EVE Online because I was leery of an MMO just recently launched. Earth & Beyond had been around longer and had avatars, it seemed the better choice.

Here's my timeline since then:

• August 2003 - Joined Earth & Beyond. Had a lot of fun, brought a score of friends along too, mostly our old group of Quake LAN buddies.
• February 2004 - Met Michelle. We um, dated. Well, not really, we met and had a lot of kinky sex.
• May 2004 - EA announced plans to shut down Earth & Beyond. Most players quit shortly afterwards, including myself.
• May 2004 - Convinced Michelle to join me playing City of Heroes. My pitch: With us living an hour apart, we could spend quality time chatting and killing baddies-- rather than just chatting on MSN. My ploy worked. She was cautious about the Superhero / Sci-Fi cheesy theme, but the character creation system won her over. We continued to have a lot of great sex whenever physically together.
• May 2004 - Michelle visited me while I was stuck in the Hospital with gall stones during an HEU worker's strike, it brought us closer.
• July 2004 - Narrowly escaped a harrowing house fire, which left my home inhabitable for months, during which I couch surfed at the generosity of friends. I played a lot of City of Heroes at this time, joining Michelle, Nelg, Lurch and Nezgar often online.
• December 2004 - Our group of avid gamers migrated again, this time to World of Warcraft. Michelle was very busy in school so the majority of our free time was spent together in-game while we were physically in different places.
• December 2007 - After a long run in WoW, our gaming group decided to take a break from MMORPGs until Age of Conan comes out, temporarily returning to our FPS roots.
• April 2008 - Michelle moved in with me, now we're a happy couple that shares a gaming obsession.
• May 2008 - Age of Conan arrived, our guild migrated again.
• July 2008 - Age of Conan has me frustrated, I broke my rule about playing launch games and it's lacking significant features and content. I'm trying EVE Online on the side, which is ironic since I passed on it 5 years ago to give it time to grow after its launch.

The key point here was in the collapse of Earth & Beyond. If I'd chosen EVE Online instead, I suspect its deep economic and unique PvP experiences could have grabbed me by the balls and never let go. It's likely I would have skipped past City of Heroes, possibly World of Warcraft and Age of Conan as well.

Michelle wouldn't have joined a space sim in 2004, we didn't know each other well and she's not a Sci-Fi fan (you should have seen the faces she made at Auto Assault). Flying around in a bunch of ships probably wouldn't have appealed (or floating in ships, she hated Pirates of the Burning Sea). With MMORPGs in general she was cautious, but City of Heroes' character creation was the hook. Now she enjoys these games as much as I do.

Michelle and I were initially lovers, but we've come together as a couple through these games. That may sound nerdy or cheesy, but I'm a geek through and through.

If I'd become a hardcore EVE player, Michelle and I would have spent a lot less time together sharing gameplay online. I probably wouldn't be living together with her now and who knows if we'd have even stayed together. Damn EVE Online.

4.5 years as a gaming geek couple. Woot! =D

I was in Office Depot checking out some wireless gear yesterday and I couldn't help but peruse the PC games. Lo and behold, I see 3 copies of Motor City Online on the shelf.

I tried to be helpful and explain to the salesman that EA is shutting down the Motor City Online servers on August 29th. He didn't quite understand when I explained that the game was useless without online servers to match. His assumption was that of course if people buy a game they'll be able to play it.

You can't even get online as a new customer for the remaining two weeks, they stopped registration for the game on July 16th. So even if they drop the price at Office Depot, if anyone buys it they're going to end up with angry customers.

So here we have the first example that the fear of MMORPG/online-only game players holds true: if the game isn't a resounding success, they drop the servers. Don'tcha just love EA? (I should be one to talk, Gameslate isn't exactly supreme at the moment).

I have one major curiosity, will someone make a third-party fan-made server for Motor City like people have done for Ultima Online?

I've been known to rant that EA should join forces with Valve and get their PC games onto Steam. The Spore debacle(s) made the need even more obvious.

The thing is-- The wisdom of jumping on the Steam bandwagon was so clear and smart, it seemed beyond EA's capabilities to recognize. Riccitiello in particular has demonstrated a persistence in boldly doing inherently stupid things, especially regarding the health and good standing of the corporation he heads.

But the suits at EA have done something right for a change. EA has added some recent titles to Steam's library. It's shockingly true, there's a press release proving it.

Next I'd like to see LucasArts on Steam and *gasp* here's hoping that Microsoft clues in and stops trying to weave their own baskets for their eggs (Windows Live sucks for games).

Kudos to Valve once again. They got the digital distribution and DRM-as-a-benefit (as compared to punishment) right in the first place. I was slow to catch on myself, but I'm one hell of a happy customer now. The more publishers on board, the more games I get to buy conveniently.

How to screw over your own customers in one simple step:

1. Be EA.

The Spore DRM debacle is a mess EA has created for itself.

Do not fuck over your paying customers. Especially do not fuck over your customers under the excuse that you're trying to stop piracy. You're not punishing the pirates, you're just giving piracy a wider margin by reducing your legit players.

As if we needed any more reasons to dislike EA. Sheesh. Do they not realize this actually affects player spending habits? There are several people in my guild where WAR was the first EA product they've begrudgingly bought in years. And they did so only after Mythic took the EA out of EA-Mythic.

There are piles of game boxes on my shelf and notably the majority are not EA games.

If there was any question over whether they might abuse their DRM-schemes, it's now been answered. You don't ban players from your game over their legit questions and complaints on your forums. You just don't. Especially when their complaints are specifically that you're holding too much power over a product they've purchased. /facepalm.

This kind of heavy-handed nonsense towards their customers has serious impact on their sales and brandname identity, don't they get that?

Dumbasses.

Spore had the potential to go huge and instead it's just gone big. It's no slouch, but with its pedigree, EA could be raking in a lot more dough. Shareholders, take note, because ultimately CEO John Riccitiello is responsible, hold him to it. Errors like this significantly reduce potential, plus the fodder he's handed the pirates: It's achieved the exact opposite of what EA was going for.

If anyone is wondering why the games industry isn't as bulletproof in the economy as it should be, it's nonsense like this. Consumers don't need another excuse NOT to buy a product right now.

Oh yeah, this post adds to my negative-parental filters I'm sure. =)

I've had an "EA is the Devil" category on this blog for years, it's somewhat tongue-in-cheek but there's a real reason it's there too.

Keen just opened up a bucket of worms by making the issue of 'incomplete' MMORPG launches an ethical issue of inflated customer expectations. The problem is, he's pumping EA-Mythic as his example of a company he trusts to deliver on what he'd hold others accountable for.

I probably would have discussed more of the premise, but as it was, I choked on my drink and sprayed my desk in the process.

Needless to say, I don't think EA is the bastion example of ethical behaviour when it comes to customer expectations in the MMORPG market. I also don't think Mythic is a good example of responsible budgets and deadlines for the health of their products, although that perspective is interwoven with their arrival to their EA-Mythic roost.

I'm surprised to hear this from a fellow Peter Molyneux fan, the king of raised expectations. Developers do get excited and hype stuff that they want to get into the game, and much of that stuff doesn't make it in time, or doesn't work as planned. Passion for your game just comes out that way. This is especially true with the complexities involved in MMORPGs.

I think the implication that there's an intentional bait-and-switch is absurd. There's no sinister attempt to hijack expectations. Wishful thinking perhaps. From evidence Funcom seems almost too honest about their shortcomings.

I still see this as more of a Craft than purely a business. I'm more often disappointed when it's treated as the later.

Yesterday, a msg was forwarded from a friend that felt like they'd "died inside a bit". At first I was boggled, I didn't think they were interested in Gods and Heroes or anything else I'd heard recently. Then I checked the news--

EA has officially begun an acquisition of BioWare and Pandemic Studios. BioWare has the full press release available in PDF format.

It appears that EA's primary interest is increasing their RPG holdings, especially with the unnamed MMORPG from BioWare. A very wise choice for EA for the future. My take on this though is that BioWare is the pinnacle of independent game design, while EA has the notorious reputation of stifling exactly that sort of thing.

As AFK Gamer and Tobold have both pointed out, EA/Mythic has oddly shut down the current Warhammer Online beta for at least 2 months. And now the rumours get to fly, the most obvious of which is a possible delay for the Warhammer release date.

Before EA scooped up Mythic, Warhammer Online was poised to grab a solid niche of the MMO market, but more and more it seems that EA has big hopes for WAR to challenge WoW for dominance. So far though, the leaks from the beta have been a mixed bag and my guess is that EA/Mythic is going for another round of polishing. Despite Mythic's pre-EA insistence that they would be happy as #2, I think they're shooting for the stars now.