As reported everywhere, yesterday, the Sigil team was wiped clean.

… at approximately 4:30PM today, Sigil employees were told to meet outside. At which point they were terminated.

— as reported on F13.net.

I had high hopes that I would really enjoy Vanguard. Failing that, I had high hopes that they would one day repair the game enough that I would really enjoy Vanguard. The mass layoffs and SOE’s hegemony doesn’t bode well for the short term.

There’s a lesson here. A Lesson to rule all Lessons.

Up until a couple months back, there were very few hyper-successful (in terms of mass appeal) MMO’s (traditional monthly subscription gamey MMO’s … I’m not referring to things like Second Life or Habbo Hotel).

There is the 8-million pound gorilla, WoW. The Lineage series fits here. Perhaps even RuneScape with 1 million subscribers at $5/month.

And now there’s LotRO, currently the best selling PC game on the market, according to GameIndustry.com.

Sure, there are a few other middling MMO’s running at a few hundred thousand subscribers … but given the cost of developing a MMO, I’m not sure that can be considered a stunning success.

I’ve never played Lineage (any players care to comment?), but for the others, LotRO included, the commonality is Accessibility.

Accessibility is a loaded word. It’s a combination of:

• Reasonable system requirements: If your game won’t run on your average Grandma’s computer, people won’t play. Most players, hardcore geek excepted, won’t spend (or can’t spend) a grand to buy the latest and greatest just to play a game.
• Easy learning curve: Don’t frighten players away with Kobayashi Maru-esque quests right out of the gate. Levelling should be quick and easy to start, with an option for harder play, if (and when) player’s choose. It’s a fantasy, afterall. Most of us don’t fantasize about being slaughtered mercilessly.
• Quality user interface: A confusing or difficult interface is frustrating. Generally, people don’t choose to engage in frustrating activities for their playtime. Make it easy for your players to understand what they must do, how to navigate the world, how to impact the world, and how they have impacted the world.
• Quality!: Again, there’s nothing more frustrating that a bug. Frustration is anathema. “Polish” is your god.

Notice there is no mention of novel game mechanics, beautiful graphics or deep story line. People are sheep. And as everyone knows, sheep have been eating the same long grass in the same green meadows since human kind first invented rack-of-lamb and wool mittens. They aren’t going to change any time soon.

There’s certainly nothing novel about the mechanics of any of the mentioned games.

You find mobs and whack at them until they (or you) spill loot. Many millions of dollars to build an electronic piñata. Sure, at higher levels, some of these games require carefully choreographed group play to succeed.

Each reveres the much maligned holy trinity of healer, tank, nuker.

Each is based on the never-ending cycle of grind, loot, gear-up, grind, loot, gear-up …

Each periodically rewards their slobber-dripping-players with a bone or fetid treat on behaviourial-modification-expert approved fixed and variable schedules, complete with ringing bell (who doesn’t love the Ding!). Pavlov would be pleased.

There’s nothing new here. It’s all yesterday’s leftovers. Well warmed, spiced nicely, presented pleasantly, and brought to your table with a smile.