Upon the Pyre: The Danger of Hype

I’m breaking from my usual format today to address a pervasive issue that’s arisen on the Internet recently. I’m not exempt from this issue, but I feel that it’s important that we all have a full understanding of what we’re witnessing.

It’s something that every game company does. It sells games. It makes money. It gets people excited. I’m talking about hype. It’s a natural move, of course. When a game company spends thousands of man-hours creating a product, they want people to get interested in it. They want them to spread the word so that everyone and their brother goes out and invests in their product.

Mythic was the hands-down champion for hype over the past couple years. They pumped WAR up so much that Mark Jacobs had to come out and quell the storm, stating that they don’t expect to beat WoW. Looking at their subscription numbers and box sales, it looks like the hype paid off. With 1.2 million boxes sold and 800,000 subscribers, they did the right thing.

Didn’t they?

If you’re reading this site, then you’ve probably checked out some of the other WAR blogs out there too. Over the last week, there’s been a lot of doom and gloom throughout the internet about WAR’s current state and the prospects for its future.

Let’s be honest here, there are faults with the game. However, I pose this challenge to you: name one MMO that didn’t still have problems 10 weeks after launch. Name one MMO that didn’t have people calling doom and gloom this soon after launch (with the obvious exception of the unprecedented Everquest).

It’s a fact of the genre; MMOs are ever evolving beasts. That doesn’t excuse a poor product, a failed launch, or undelivered upon promises. Those are the traps that many of the recent “WoW-killers” have fallen into; however, WAR was not subject to any such faults.

A lot of what you’re reading on the blogosphere are the deflated hopes of jaded followers. They’re not wrong, and they’re not overly judgmental (usually).

It’s important to consider that many of the bloggers your reading have been following the game for, in some cases, years and throughout that time have found themselves daydreaming of how neat features will be and how they will bring back their passion for the genre. WAR is not the first MMO most WAR bloggers have played; yet, they want back that feeling of awe that came with their first.

A lot of us believed we could get that. We believed it because that’s the way the carrot led us.

Mythic has been working the hype machine on all engines for a long time now. Key players like Paul Barnett made us believe that they were bringing something of unimaginable magnitude. It was PR. And it worked. I’ll admit that I lavishly gorged myself on every bit of WAR news I could find before the game launched. I couldn’t wait.

But now, reality has set in and we’re realizing that we’re still playing a game. Is the game fun? Yes. Is the game innovative? In a lot of ways, yes. Does it deliver on pretty much everything that was promised to us? Yes. So what’s the problem?

For a lot of people who’ve followed the game’s development, it just can’t live up to the hype. It’s not a mark against the game in any way; it’s a natural consequence of climbing a tree that’s too high to climb down from. So you fall. And that’s what you’re seeing.

Ultimately, WAR is doing exceptionally well in the market. People are having a ball, and Mythic is working to ensure that continues, with the experience only getting better. There will be bumps along the way, but time will tell whether people feel the same way or not in a year.

The point of this post is not to be a WAR apologist. There’s nothing to apologize for, and it’s not my role or desire to do so. My point is simply this: what goes up must come down, and there’s usually a fallout. Bear this in mind when you’re reading about people quitting (which will more than likely be a temporary break).

Individual perceptions are subjective and usually not representative of the true majority. The truth is, we bloggers are the vast minority. Most people didn’t follow the game forever. Most people probably didn’t care up until they heard some of their friends were trying it. Most people are probably enjoying the game. Some people, new to the market, have probably found that little bit of magic we’ve all felt at some point in our MMO careers.

At the end of the day, it’s about fun and the prospect of bright days in the future. Or, in the world of WAR, incredibly bloody days lined with piked heads and Stunties in barrels. Oh, how I love Stunties in barrels. If you have fun, remember it, and don’t let the qualms of others get in your way.

Upon the Pyre is the a weekly column by your resident casual-hardcore Raegn. Raegn speaks for everybody when he says you’d be missed if you left because of how high others hopes were. You don’t want to see an Ork cry, do you? I thought not. Orks choppa first and sniffle second.