A new take on MMOG Development

Take one mmog, split it into to two different variations, toss each version on its own beta server and let the players decide the victor by way of vote. Zhengtu, a very popular mmog development studio in China is using this concept called split-testing for their newest mmog, Juren. Split-testing is useful in determining what the masses prefer without spinning wheels and gambling subscriptions by targeting the development directly at the players. The overall vision is molded more so by the players but the developers do the hard part and that is providing all the choices for the players to pick from. The plan is to launch the more popular Juren with the more favored features from the second version as well, as to not completely alienate the other userbase who prefer the version that isn’t picked.

There are pitfalls of course with the process. More work. A lot more work when it comes to content creation and coding. More works means more money. A studio partaking in split-testing probably needs two different development teams with a few key leads and producers working in-between for it to really be effective and a fleet of golden armored trucks filled with shiny crisp duped currency that passes for the real-deal. The big obvious issue with split-testing on such a massive scale is just because something is more popular doesn’t necessarily make it better. I’ll just skip it this one time; I’ll read it later; I don’t plan on playing this at launch and just want to mess around ya know. Too many factors when taking into account the every man vote because not every man takes it serious. Depth will be sacrificed unless the mmog being split-tested is extremely niche and the majority testing are hardcore players and the gathered data is weeded, culled, cropped, chopped and ultimately balanced and then bastardized.

There might be some Big Trouble in China with the Lo Pans and this split-testing thing is strong magic. Developers may need to split-test their mmog in order to succeed in the future or retain what players they got. I’m not sure how massive the mmog landscape is like there since grind on a stick isn’t tasty or neither is shelling out cash for a virtual magic carpet ride, but it’s a safe bet mmogs there will flood the market and split-testing may become expected if the process is already in use by one of the more popular studios.

Most North American mmog developers can’t even handle one beta version correctly and their development process is flawed and frightening. Imagine the Vanguard Beta split into two. That is mmog hell right there and makes me want to cleave my face with my keyboard. Vanguard players would be waiting for the first raid encounter if they split-tested Vanguard into two different betas. Time to pick one guys! I don’t want to, please for the love of sanity. Despite the overall beta suck from nine out of ten mmogs on our side of the planet, the overall split-testing concept is promising. Split-testing can very effective in smaller developments like the user-interface. I think any other Lotro user interface would be better. Perfect example where split-testing could be effective and an employee fired for crappy art. Ah zing. Lotro, zing it was.

I’m definitely excited about the potential with split-testing in smaller virtual words made with Metaplace. Imagine a generic fantasy based mmog with 1000 active players. Why 1000? Because it’s more realistic and not every mmog has to be the WoW killah. At the character select screen you have the option to pick different rulesets. Do you want traditional levels or a skill based character? It’s up to you. You want to grind with quests or completely toggle quests off and actually have npcs behave differently to your playstyle. Sure thing. Do you want to be a Quest Master and create events through different tags that are connected to rss feeds? Go for it. Do you want to check your auctions/trades from a mobile device that has access to an internet browser? No problem. The server stays the same, no matter any of the above choices.

And it can all be tracked, all the clicks, all the choices. It’s the intertubes, foo! Every click can be tracked and the creators can iterate development through your results or just keep the random craziness. It’s beautiful. Now, someone has to make that mmog, but what we see with the Machinima explosion today, is what I hope will happen with smaller based mmog spaces. I’m guessing it will take another ten years, that is if the tools are lying around and us cavemen can use them without needing 10 super genetically enhanced brain stems connected to our peanut brains. Hmmm. peanut brain, that’s insulting. I like peanuts.

Hat Tip: The Forge. This is where I learned about the whole split-testing mmogs in China thing.

Interested in Metaplace? Not much there, but it’ll either be the biggest flop on the web or be the next best thing for user generated virtual worlds since text-based muds.
Raph Koster discussing Metaplace. Tis be a video, mon