Demigod's Long Tail?

from Demigod Forums

A Gamasutra piece had a segment that seemed relevant to Demigod's current situation.  Please excuse the long quote: 

"There's also been a belief where people seem to think that they can release an online game and it can be shaky at first, then improve -- and that idea is over, I think.

EJ: Yes. It's absolutely over. My observation from releasing games is: what you release on day one sets your curve. Sets your curve, so that no matter what you do, no matter how much money you throw at it, you never really break out of that curve. So it's very, very important for us to get that right. We don't have the belief that we can ship something incomplete and get it out there.

Now, the reality of the situation is, you know: there's always the variables that occur as you get the game to ship -- there may be areas that we could do better at. But the fact of the matter is, we're very, very focused on the fact that the game has to be executed well. It has to be stable, it has to be enjoyable, and it has to be worth the money, day one. Period. End of story.

You're talking about "curve", and I find that an interesting concept. Because if you look at some games, they start at maybe 800,000, and then they shrink down to 300,000, right? But then you look at EVE Online, and it started really small, and grown to 300,000. And that's a big victory.

EJ: Absolutely.

How do you look at those sorts of issues?

EJ: So, EVE Online is a great game, because what they did is they came out, they didn't have a lot of press, and they had a really dedicated fan base. So they used that dedicated fan base to get away with what you can't necessarily get away with in a game that's heavily publicized. They stayed quiet; they stayed under the radar; they built the core features, they built the core player base, and then they just started attracting more and more players. It's a growth curve.

That's not the average curve. Most games -- that are fairly mainstream, that have a lot of money behind them -- tend to have to make a big splash. And then they release, and the curve starts high, but it immediately starts to decline"

So in your opinions which model describes Demigod? 

demigod
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Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

 Well the first one i cant really say, I didnt buy the game but 2 weeks ago and i didnt really have to many problems alot of others seem to have had. But as for the second one, thats yet to be determined.

Eve, as it is the example being used, has been out for many many many years, i was a lil'un when that came out. After along time, and alot of improvement, not to mention you can now download it for free, try it, and then decide wether or not its worth paying a monthly fee to continue. It isnt >_> .

Demigod wasnt that hyped, i read ign but i never really heard about it untill i saw a review come up on it. So if you want to use the Eve example then there is room for redemption for the unfornate release problems. I do believe the sales have been decent and thus far there has been alot of dev/publisher support for the game so why wouldnt it win out in the end? Most the games that come out of the box faulty and then the devs just say screw it and move on are the ones that die. Demigod i'd imagine would be more like the witcher wich was released with some major flaws but the devs hunkered down and fixed it, re-released the game and it did amazingly well.

Reply #2 from Demigod Forums Top

Might be a bit of a stretch, they are talking about MMOs.

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Demigod Forums Top

I think, to a degree, the release state of a game can define your game's performance overall. The stigma of a bad release can haunt a game till it's dying day, however Demigod is a little different from other games in that the game itself is fantastic, and nearly all of it's problems are technical glitches and not bad design choices. Several games, most notably World of Warcraft which went to become the most successful MMORPG ever made, have released in a similar state - I think these kinds of issues are easily overlooked when the product itself is of very high quality. I think if Demigod had of been a lesser game, then half of the player base would have left already - however they want the game to succeed because they enjoy playing it. So, overall, I think Demigod will do quite well.

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Reply #4 from Demigod Forums Top

I think overall the next couple of months will tell.

The current crucial features that Stardock need to concentrate on is the competitive play and matchmaking. It will not hold a core crowd, until the matchmaking is rock steady and people actually can see the progress they are making in getting better at this game.

 

I am not sure the game will have the longetivity of a MMORPG, however, it will not not keep a core crowd until clan support, matchmaking based on ranking and pantheon creating decent 3v3 and 4v4 games consistently is in. These are all features in Stardocks ballcourt.

 

After that they need to get the modding in, although I imagine it will come first possibly.

I am not sure though that modding is such a big winner, Supcom had a decent mod manager, however, I rarely played with them, ranking was far more interesting. Only a few of the alternative playmodes would I mess around with.

Reply #5 from Demigod Forums Top


EJ: My observation from releasing games is: what you release on day one sets your curve. Sets your curve, so that no matter what you do, no matter how much money you throw at it, you never really break out of that curve.

If that's the case, then RIP Demigod, it's clear they don't want to waste any more money on it, because we all know how well Demigod was on day 1 and afterwards.

We don't have the belief that we can ship something incomplete and get it out there.

Releasing a mp centric game with such basic and primitive mp features and even that didn't work from day 1, contradicts this belief.

Reply #6 from Demigod Forums Top

Might be a bit of a stretch, they are talking about MMOs.

True, but the models still apply to multiplayer-centric games, don't you think?

We don't have the belief that we can ship something incomplete and get it out there.

To clarify, the interview is between a developer of upcoming game APB and Gamasutra, it bears on Demigod only in terms of their conversation on games being given leeway to update post-release...

I tend to agree that games are being given less of a window to get their shizzle together, "water-cooler" conversations happen instantly these days and are archived forever..