How to Screw Your Loyal Players
Posted by Stropp on January 30, 2008The developers of Shadowbane mustn’t like their customers very much.
The latest patch to go to the test server, patch 22, has some fairly disturbing notes for the players of this free to play MMORPG.
The Shadowbane Team decided that it would be best for the longevity of the game to reset all server and character data and start from scratch.
There’s a lot more to the patch notes, you can read them here, but the upshot is that everything the players have been working on since the game was released in 2003 will be erased. That’s characters, their gear, every change made to the world.
Of course this is all justified in the notes, there are a lot of fundamental changes that are being made. And it’s reasonable for the developers to want to wipe the database. It’s much easier to do.
While it could be done without the wipe, making sweeping changes to equipment is better done in conjunction with it.
I kinda remember the reaction to a similar action taken in a far more popular game and the results it had on subscriptions. Star Wars Galaxies anyone?
The developers admit that they can make these changes without resorting to a server wipe, but it is easier to wipe and start over. I’m not sure that’s a good philosophy for a game dev. After all how would World of Warcraft players react if Blizzard implemented sweeping changes for Wrath of the Lich King by wiping all player data?
However, looking at the forums so far, the reactions seem to be mixed. Some players are lamenting the Shadowbane reboot, while others are heralding it as a move that will save the game by fixing all the problems that have occurred since launch. The question is how the non-forum using players will react to the wipe, and usually, the majority of players never even go near a forum, let alone post on it.
Shadowbane is a free game. So while they may lose some regulars, with a little promotion player levels will probably return to normal levels in no time. Still, I wonder how the remaining old timers will feel.
If by chance you’re a Shadowbane player, I’d be interested in your opinion of this. Of course, I’m interested in your opinion even if you’re not a Shadowbane player.
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I think its a good idea for a game this old with so many code and gameplay changes to try starting over like this and to remarket itself as “get a new start”. It may actually help in the long run
From what I can tell, that seems to be the view of a lot of Shadowbane players as well. I guess I’m a little more skeptical, especially considering the number of free MMOs coming on the market, that they will regain the players that they will lose with the reset.
Nothing hurts a MMO more than becoming a ghost town.
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