Lessons from Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR)

** Read my new post for an update on SWTOR's transition to Free-to-Play ** 

Word is out that the highly anticipated MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic is floundering. As Executive Producer Rich Vogel says goodbye to Bioware and subscription numbers dip, rumors are spreading about an upcoming switch to a free-to-play model.

In this blogger's humble opinion, SWTOR is a great game. I've been a huge SWTOR fan from launch, and i still play almost every day. It boggles my mind why this awesome game is doing so poorly, but there is one 800-pound gorilla in the room, which nobody seems to be talking about, that could explain much of the game's troubles.

SWTOR needed about 10 solid servers at launch, but the game launched with about 40 servers (don't quote me on the exact numbers), some with very nasty performance problems. Most players saw their home servers empty out quickly as players flocked en masse to a select few servers. Players who did not investigate the issue and make a server switch probably had the impression that the game was completely dead, and simply left. When you're on a populated server with good performance, this game is truly epic, and doesn't disappoint in a single way.

Imagine subscribing to an MMO that habitually freezes, crashes and glitches, then imagine 90% of your server population disappearing several months after launch, and you will understand what a large number of launch subscribers experienced with SWTOR. This combination can only lead to player attrition with such a large number of attractice multiplayer titles on the market and the horizon.

I think the main lesson to learn from SWTOR is to err on the side of caution when it comes to the number of servers at launch, and to never settle for laggy, glitchy servers for a AAA MMO. Adding servers is easy, but SWTOR proves that reducing the number servers to compensate for poor planning can alienate players and cripple a game.

Bioware has recently locked all but about 10 servers. Any new subscribers should have a completely different experience from those who subscribed between December 2011 and June 2012. So there is a ray of hope that SWTOR can redeem itself. But with so many gamers making decisions based on word-of-mouth referrals, Bioware is going to be hard pressed to convince new players to try the game. Short of coming right out and saying, "We messed up, but now our server architecture is designed to facilitate robust social play," I'm not sure if MMO fans will truly understand how well-designed this game is.

Read more about the current state of SWTOR in this Gamasutra article:

BioWare 'looking at free-to-play' for Star Wars: The Old Republic

Ouya Impresses Kickstarter Backers with Revolutionary New Console

Ouya has burst onto the gaming scene in a big way recently, making headlines equally attractive to gamers and game developers. The company and product of the same name recently blew their Kickstarter funding goals away by over $2 million in the first several days, hooking backers with promises of a new type of console that they hope will change the face of the console-gaming market.


Built on Android 4.0, Ouya is designed as an open-source console with a price point under $100. Ouya encourages and invites indie developers to enter the world of console gaming as legitimate players, rather than as small voices in a crowded market of secondary importance, as is the case with current console's indie marketplaces. Far from a box for gimmick games, Ouya invites AAA developers and publishers to weight in with their best titles, as well.

Much has been said about the impact that Ouya may have when it hits store shelves in 2013, but I am more interested in the game-changing undertones of this project's very existence. The tug-of-war between AAA players and Indies has not seemed to favor either side in recent years. On one side, we see things like Digital Rights Management evolving to a point where sharing games is no longer an option, for example, while on the other side we see indie developers creating more open-source games with unlimited distribution. As another example, we see platforms like the Playstation 3 becoming more difficult for indie developers to break into, while at the same time publishing on mobile platforms becomes increasingly cost effective for indie (and even basement) developers. Ouya represents a merging of these two worlds and a reconcilliation of the two divergent trends. On a mass-market, open-source platform, AAA titles can exist alongside Indie titles with casual gamers unable to tell the difference between the two.

Whether or not Ouya makes the splash that many expect it to, this company has put an idea out into the world, and their success on Kickstarter shows that gamers and developers are not going to let this trend disappear. Ouya proves that the gaming industry as a whole wants to see Indie developers and AAA publishers on more of an even playing field; this can only be good for gamers and the industry.

For more information, visit Ouya's Kickstarter page:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console

"Online Game Development" by Rick Hall & Jeannie Novak - Book Review

Online Game Development was my first introduction to the Game Development Essentials Series. It was a unique learning experience, as I was soaking up as much SW:TOR as I could while the book introduced me to the intricacies and nuances of making solid MMOs. Online Game Development provides a clear and thorough overview of the many considerations that go into crafting a commercial MMO, approaching all topics from three distinct perspectives: design, technical and business. This triage of vantage points makes the book deeply insightful for anyone involved in making online games. Artists and programmers get a peek into the financial implications of design decisions, for example, while project managers gain insight into the constraints faced by server and database gurus.

The book moves logically through the life span of an MMO development project, beginning with the planning phase. Authors Hall and Novak explore the constraints that influence design decisions for online multiplayer games, and discuss methodologies for working within constraints to enhance players' experiences. Moving on to design and initial marketing, the book delves into such considerations as core mechanics, mechanical themes and social elements, tying the technical requirements into marketing considerations. Particularly insightful are the succeeding chapters dedicated to the pre- and post-launch phases of development, including the Alpha and Beta stages, as well as continuous content development throughout the life of the game.

Anyone aspiring to enter the world of MMO development can gain from reading Online Game Development. Since the book covers such a wide range of information, it is not intended to provide an exhaustive discussion of all topics. Rather, it gives you an idea of exactly what to focus on as you continue a quest for knowledge and mastery of the MMO development process.

Critical Path Method (CPM) in Video Game Development

Aside from covering news and providing commentary on events in the video game industry, I'm going to use this blog to provide quick business tips for startup or experienced software developers. Think of these tips more as quick guides to get you thinking in new directions about the way you develop games and run your company, rather than as comprehensive tutorials. I will provide additional links to further reading on each topic.

Today's post is about utilizing the Critical Path Method (CPM) in video-game development. The Critical Path Method provides a way to visualize the multiple concurrent workflows necessary to keep large-scale projects on schedule, with a focus on determining the specific sequence, or set of sequences, that must be completed on time for the entire project to finish on schedule. This crucial series of activities is called the critical path.

As with all timeless strategic tools, the rules of CPM are simple, but the strategic insights and possibilities are numerous. I'll give you a quick overview of CPM here, and you can follow the links at the end of the article for a more in-depth review.

CPM charts use nodes to represent different activities in a multi-step process. Nodes are drawn in a diagram from left to right, beginning with the first activities and progressing to activities that require inputs from previous nodes. CPM charts can include more than one sequence of activities, with each sequence drawn above or below the others. Nodes are connected with solid lines to show the flow of materials (in the case of game development, completed components such as 3D models, CG sequences or blocks of working code) and dotted lines to show flows of information. Planners write the estimated fastest and longest completion times on each node, as well as the required manpower and any required inputs. Using the quickest and longest possible completion times, planners begin with the first activity in each sequence and determine an earliest and latest completion time for each activity, based on a set start date and time. Nodes with a buffer between the earliest and latest possible completion times are said to have slack time, and those without a buffer have no slack time. Drawing a line between each activity with no slack time reveals the critical path -- the series of activities that must meet their deadlines for the project to come in on time.

Whew... that was a mouthful. Now let's move on to how this applies to you. There are two things I can say for certain about delayed video-game launches: 1) they happen all the time, and 2) customers hate them! CPM exists to avoid this very problem, making it an extremely valuable tool for video-game developers. Knowing which activities in your workflow are crucial to the timely completion of the overall project can allow you to shift resources, devote personal attention or call in outside help for your most time-sensitive activities. You can use CPM data to alter the start times of critical activities, forcing slack time into the equation to allow a margin for delay, or to set more realistic product-launch dates with less chance of disappointing customers.

Rushing through a development project is never a good idea; proper planning is the best defense against the urge to cut corners at the last minute. After reading this post, there's no longer any excuse to be surprised when a specific activity pulls an entire project off track!


Further Reading:

How to Determine a Project Timeline

CPM and PERT Weaknesses and Strengths

About Process Selection and Facilities Layout in Operations Management

Business Tools for Scheduling