Anarchy Online - Shadowlands Toured

Thanks to GameSpy for their in-character guide tour of Anarchy Online:Shadowlands, the newest expansion pack for Funcom's PC cyberpunk MMORPG. The article references the game's botched launch back in 2001: "The very name brings up images of anarchy when one remembers the disastrous first effort at colonizing the planet. Basic services didn't work, colonists disappeared, weapons and equipment suffered from mysterious breakdowns, and there was fear that the entire notum project would have to be abandoned." But it goes on to suggest that: "Even now Omni-Tek Corporation has difficulty recruiting colonists. That's unfortunate, though, because the corporation has long since stabilized the situation." Can/should MMORPGs be given a second chance after a bad launch?

Comments

sure give em a second chance

[7-Vodka]

Give them a second chance if the game actually becomes good. why would you care if a game used to be crap if it's great now?
Sometimes it's even good to be there in the buggy beginning. I remember I started playing ultima online a week after release and it was the buggiest game ever, with exploits mistakes and rough edges all over the place. As it turns out, these led to hillarity and fun beyond anything the game has become after it was 'fixed'. It was absolute chaos, and that made it an incredibly good game to play.

Oh, but don't give it a second chance if the game sucks. *cough* Asherons call 2 *cough*

the golden rule

[jimius]

The golden rule of developing MMOG's.
You _will_ have startup problems.

The only way to counter it is to be prepared by not sending off the entire project team to a new project, the game ain't finished until it works properly.

Re:the golden rule

[madaxe42]

The game ain't finished until it's over. The devel cycle for most mmorpgs is the lifetime of the game, from the moment devel starts until the final server shuts down.