http://www.gamergod.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=287
Lot longer then I thought It would be. Interesting read though.
World of WarcraftInterview With Shawn Carnes, Game Designer, WoW
by Grimwell on 08/29/2005
Shawn Carnes, Game Developer for Blizzard Entertainment, was kind enough to take some time out to speak with me and the rest of the GamerGod team at GenCon Indy 2005. We were able to talk about a diverse range of topics concerning World of Warcraft (WoW) and explore his thoughts on a few current 'hot button' topics in MMOGs today.
Grimwell:
With WoW breaking every MMOG record for subscription numbers, what is the plan at Blizzard for retention of users?
Shawn:
Current retention is high, and I am more impressed by the low turnover than our resubscription spikes during patches. The WoW live team continues to work on content directed to the existing customers to keep them interested in the game. If I had to guess, somewhere between 15 - 20% of our accounts have at least once 60th level character, so the content needs to cater to those customers.
Grimwell:
You mention spikes during patches. What are you seeing there?
Shawn:
Every time a major patch has been dropped for the game, we see a notable number of accounts reactivate. These spikes are easy enough to see and can be related to people wanting to check out the new content.
Grimwell:
With WoW being played just about everywhere, what are the plans for expanding the user base to raise the numbers?
Shawn:
Taiwan is the next market that WoW is going into; the official date for this should be in the WoW FAQ.
Grimwell:
As WoW rolls into new markets, how is localization handled?
Shawn:
Blizzard staff handles localization of the game client for all regions. The work is done by Blizzard employees who are not a part of the WoW core development team, and they are from the area that the game is launching into.
Localization is one of the first steps taken after content is closed. Once it is functional and works for the US side, it's given directly to the foreign teams to make it fit their environment. This allows for a very quick conversion into local needs.
Grimwell:
How are player accounts handled differently in different nations? It is widely known that Korean gamers go to gaming "baang's" (cafe's) to play. How are the subscription options changed to fit regional approaches?
Shawn:
Well, North America and Europe are very similar. There is strong entrenchment for things like credit cards to support what we think of as 'traditional' subscription models. As a point of interest, Europe has experienced very strong growth in the MMOG, and general internet industries now that most countries follow the US model for access: Pay a flat rate for a month of access instead of pay by the minute.
Numbers from other countries are a bit more difficult to clarify on because they do not follow the traditional subscriptions scheme. The Korean Baang culture extends further than Korea and changes how numbers are reported, but they are accurate despite the huge difference in how it is done.
Grimwell:
Sony has in-game billboards in Planetside, and /pizza in EverQuest, Anarchy Online has a free client with billboards and streaming video advertisements in the game; with the wide audience that WoW has are there any discussions about having some form of in-game advertisements in the client?
Shawn:
Blizzard has no plans for in-game advertisements. They really do not fit the general nature of WoW. The development for WoW is, first and foremost, focused on the total game experience. What the players experience is our key to continued success. I will note that there is a small video card logo on the interface screen but it is incidental and not a part of the game.
On a personal note, '/pizza' was a good idea that could have been done better within the game client. Done right /pizza would have involved the player walking their character up to a vendor in the game and ordering a pizza through the vendor interface. The thought should have been tied in to the rest of the game such that people could find tickets as loot for free pizzas. There are a lot of interesting tie-ins for this idea that could work within the framework of the game better, and would have further expanded on the idea.
Grimwell:
What of real money trading (RMT) for in game goods? Has Sony's move to launch the 'Station Exchange' caused Blizzard to rethink its stance on RMT?
Shawn:
Blizzard does not condone RMT. We are more concerned about the experience of the players than we are in expanding in other directions.
Grimwell:
How does Blizzard detect and stop RMT within the existing game client, forbidden by the EULA and TOS?
Shawn:
It may be a surprise, but we get a lot of tips from existing customers reporting the behavior. They serve as a valuable asset in detecting this sort of behavior. We also have some internal tools to detect behaviors in the game that imply such trading.
Grimwell:
Blizzard recently stated that there is a tool in use through the game client that attempts to detect users who have hacked the game client. How is this done without invading the privacy of the customer or exposing the tool to the hackers?
Shawn:
It is a server side tool; the client side is left alone. Raph (Koster) was right when he said "Never trust the client." If you put anti-hacker sniffers in the hands of the client... it would not be wise. The tool is server side and watches for odd client behaviors.
It is difficult and potentially intrusive to be pro-active and snoop the customers hard drive data, so we take a reactive manner and watch what is done instead of snooping their data. Proactive measures lead to the greatest controversy, and don't fix the problem.
Grimwell:
What about the programs out there that modify the UI and tweak how players interact with the game?
Shawn:
I try UI mods occasionally, so I am not personally against them. I think they are good so long as they do not marginalize the player experience against developer expectations of that player experience. Tools that work against design intent are bad because they change the experience.
I even think it would be good for Blizzard to regulate these mods and give assistance to the modders so long as their work does not marginalize the needs of the game. For example, I've used a tool that allowed a person to send one mail to multiple destinations; it was good and did not change the game play experience, it made things easier without breaking the game.
Grimwell:
Getting back to a point you hit on earlier, 'Battlegrounds' were introduced into the game not to long ago. How have they been received? Are things going as expected?
Shawn:
The initial response is good. People are participating and enjoying themselves. For Battlegrounds to work long-term there needs to be equal buy-in on both sides. There is still some work to be done to have things work as planned and generate that buy-in. There is an imbalance on the servers, with less Horde players than Alliance, and the issue does affect the buy-in for both sides of the equation. We are looking into solutions for this.
The solution is to focus on something that solves any circumstance, not just for one group. You can't focus on just one group situation and come out with a good fix.
Grimwell:
Are there plans to expand on Battlegrounds in the near future?
Shawn:
More battleground types are not in the pipes as of yet, but this will likely happen in the future.
Grimwell:
How did the WoW team define success prior to launch, and how is it defined now?
Shawn:
Currently our high marks have us over 3.5 million accounts and 300K concurrent players. I think that this level of growth is a great indicator of success. We are about four times beyond our original hopes for success prior to launch, which is a good thing.
Grimwell:
With WoW as a clear success, an expansion is a no-brainer to follow up on the success. What are the plans for this?
Shawn:
An expansion is planned, not in 2005, possibly in late 2006 barring unforeseen chaos. Work is already going on for the expansion, and it's going good. What to look for?
Blizzard is good at polishing what we do well. The WoW expansion will be like other game expansions in that there will be new characters, items, spells, etc. but it will have the Blizzard twist.
Grimwell:
What range of levels will the content cover in this expansion? Will it focus only on the high level characters, or will there be something for everyone at every level?
Shawn:
While the full range of levels is covered, it won't be equal; the support will be proportional to the population of the game, so it will tip to the high end of the game (as most veteran players will be of high level).
Any new quest arcs will fit into existing areas and arcs. Since WoW takes players on a deliberate path through the levels in specific areas, any new quests need to take advantage of these areas and pair up with existing content instead of making new areas for the same level range and moving or splitting up the player population.
On behalf of the GamerGod staff, I would like to thank Shawn for taking the time to talk with me on a busy convention floor. Don't forget to come back to GamerGod.com daily for future articles about WoW! Discuss this interview in the GamerGod forums.
Lot longer then I thought It would be. Interesting read though.
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