Sign In »
Register Now!
Help
Default
100 Members
200 Members
300 Members
400 Members
500 Members
600 Members
700 Members
800 Members
900 Members
1000 Members
1200 Members
1400 Members
1600 Members
1800 Members
3000 Members
2000 Members
We've fixed up the grammatical errors in the article and reposted it here for everyone to read. Enjoy!
Quote
The name "Jake Song" has a huge effect when mentioned in both online communities and in the MMO developmet industry. The first Korean online game "Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds" and 12 year-old MMO "Lineage" (which still has 200,000 subscribers) are both his creations. Nexus was the game that made Nexon into a powerhouse MMO company in Korea while Lineage did the same for NCsoft, similar to Ultima's effect on Origin Systems or WoW on Blizzard.
His name alone is powerful enough in and of itself to spark anticipation in the MMORPG arena. Therefore as soon as he announced that he was working on a new MMORPG, without even introducing any screenshots, the game was listed at the top of "must-play" lists of gamers immediately.
However, Jake Song is feeling a great weight on his shoulders right now. The massive expectations for "ArcheAge" take a heavy toll on him. What is on his mind right before the the game's first closed beta test? Let’s hear from him!
Why July?
July is the busiest season for the Korean MMORPG industry because of summer vacation. Jake Song chose the 1st CBT schedule personally. The reason is not summer vacation, though. It's because of XLGame's internal development schedule. Jake Song set milestones every 3 months and, quite by accident, ArcheAge's first closed beta test happened during July. ArcheAge is far from its completion, however, so it might need more time before being finalized and introduced to the world.
Jake Song confessed that it feels like "he has done all vacation homework except writing a diary." The main focus of the closed beta test is to train XLGames for upcoming development. Jake's biggest worry, though, is the distorted meaning of beta tests among MMO players and unrealistically high expectations.
He added: “It is huge burden for me because many people are involved in the project and the result could change their life. Whether we intended to or not, we made people having huge hopes for ArcheAge by talking about it with the press. We do not think the 1st CBT will meet the lofty expectations people have created. We are worrying about those users experiencing disappointment during the first closed beta test."
The Purpose of Beta Tests
Like Jake Song said, originally closed beta tests really were just "tests" and nothing more. However, users today consider a beta test as a first step to commercial service and evaluate the game without pity. If the game in CBT can not attract them, they eliminate the game from their "must play" list.
Mr. Song knows the market’s trend well. That is why he carefully managed the official site's launch. He emphasized that the closed beta test was mainly focused on experimenting with new features and getting feedback from testers through the official forum. However, there are still lots of forum posts from users with high expectations.
He said “I tried to reduce the gap between dreams and reality through the forum and meetings with fans directly. If someone still has high expectations for the CBT client, we might fail to deliver.
It all comes down to the legacy of his name. Does he feel that his reputation actually disturbs the current project? “My burden on Archeage never got lighter,” he said. When he worked on "Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds and Lineage there were no reasons to have burden on his shoulders because nobody care about him yet.
Different Circumstances
Today's MMO fans respond differently in feedback compared to players in the past. It used to be that most MMO feedback was filed with negative opinions like "that's Impossible to do," for example. Nowadays most feedback is about possibilities and dreams like "this isn't so hard, so it should be possible."
Jake Song said “I just needed to show them impossible things were possible in the past. Now today I am surrounded by an ‘everything is possible’ atmosphere. It is easy to fill low expectations but hard to fulfill impossibly high expectations. I myself might have brought this situation upon us.”
Will you take the blue pill...or the red pill?
It seems Jake Songs' worries are bigger than we thought.
“We will put forth our best efforts throughout the 1st, 2nd, 3rd CBT and OBT in order to fulfill expectations. However, the 1st closed beta test will likely give users more disappointment than satisfaction. It takes time to show them everything we've created, but we are still worrying about those users who will never come back after being disappointed with the 1st closed beta.”
He added “it seems users put ArcheAge on the same level as the Matrix. As the movie shows everything is possible in a virtual world called The Matrix, the users want to experience anything they can imagine.”
However Mr. Song admits to there being a technical barrier, a limit on time, resources, etc. It is just like he is "Morpheus" and users who observe ArcheAge are people who want to stay in the Matrix.
The first closed beta test could be the moment when Morpheus gives a chance to Neo to take a red pill or a blue pill. The choice is up to users. They must be ready for high system requirements and a 40:1 competition rate to become testers.
Preparing for CBT1
The ArcheAge that you will experience during the first closed beta test is at a very early stage in development. We are sure that it will be a totally different game when it begins OBT or commercial service, with more in-depth content and a better gameplay system.
Having several evaluation processes before completion is the latest trend in MMO development. Developers tweak games over and over according to the result of each evaluation.
Jake Song said, “in today’s huge development environment, it is hard to change the direction of a project even though we know we are wrong. It is because lots of time, labor, and resources have been put into it. Therefore, it is necessary to have evaluation process from the very beginning in order to determine whether we are doing well or missing anything.”
To be continued...
His name alone is powerful enough in and of itself to spark anticipation in the MMORPG arena. Therefore as soon as he announced that he was working on a new MMORPG, without even introducing any screenshots, the game was listed at the top of "must-play" lists of gamers immediately.
However, Jake Song is feeling a great weight on his shoulders right now. The massive expectations for "ArcheAge" take a heavy toll on him. What is on his mind right before the the game's first closed beta test? Let’s hear from him!
Why July?
July is the busiest season for the Korean MMORPG industry because of summer vacation. Jake Song chose the 1st CBT schedule personally. The reason is not summer vacation, though. It's because of XLGame's internal development schedule. Jake Song set milestones every 3 months and, quite by accident, ArcheAge's first closed beta test happened during July. ArcheAge is far from its completion, however, so it might need more time before being finalized and introduced to the world.
Jake Song confessed that it feels like "he has done all vacation homework except writing a diary." The main focus of the closed beta test is to train XLGames for upcoming development. Jake's biggest worry, though, is the distorted meaning of beta tests among MMO players and unrealistically high expectations.
He added: “It is huge burden for me because many people are involved in the project and the result could change their life. Whether we intended to or not, we made people having huge hopes for ArcheAge by talking about it with the press. We do not think the 1st CBT will meet the lofty expectations people have created. We are worrying about those users experiencing disappointment during the first closed beta test."
The Purpose of Beta Tests
Like Jake Song said, originally closed beta tests really were just "tests" and nothing more. However, users today consider a beta test as a first step to commercial service and evaluate the game without pity. If the game in CBT can not attract them, they eliminate the game from their "must play" list.
Mr. Song knows the market’s trend well. That is why he carefully managed the official site's launch. He emphasized that the closed beta test was mainly focused on experimenting with new features and getting feedback from testers through the official forum. However, there are still lots of forum posts from users with high expectations.
He said “I tried to reduce the gap between dreams and reality through the forum and meetings with fans directly. If someone still has high expectations for the CBT client, we might fail to deliver.
It all comes down to the legacy of his name. Does he feel that his reputation actually disturbs the current project? “My burden on Archeage never got lighter,” he said. When he worked on "Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds and Lineage there were no reasons to have burden on his shoulders because nobody care about him yet.
Different Circumstances
Today's MMO fans respond differently in feedback compared to players in the past. It used to be that most MMO feedback was filed with negative opinions like "that's Impossible to do," for example. Nowadays most feedback is about possibilities and dreams like "this isn't so hard, so it should be possible."
Jake Song said “I just needed to show them impossible things were possible in the past. Now today I am surrounded by an ‘everything is possible’ atmosphere. It is easy to fill low expectations but hard to fulfill impossibly high expectations. I myself might have brought this situation upon us.”
Will you take the blue pill...or the red pill?
It seems Jake Songs' worries are bigger than we thought.
“We will put forth our best efforts throughout the 1st, 2nd, 3rd CBT and OBT in order to fulfill expectations. However, the 1st closed beta test will likely give users more disappointment than satisfaction. It takes time to show them everything we've created, but we are still worrying about those users who will never come back after being disappointed with the 1st closed beta.”
He added “it seems users put ArcheAge on the same level as the Matrix. As the movie shows everything is possible in a virtual world called The Matrix, the users want to experience anything they can imagine.”
However Mr. Song admits to there being a technical barrier, a limit on time, resources, etc. It is just like he is "Morpheus" and users who observe ArcheAge are people who want to stay in the Matrix.
The first closed beta test could be the moment when Morpheus gives a chance to Neo to take a red pill or a blue pill. The choice is up to users. They must be ready for high system requirements and a 40:1 competition rate to become testers.
Preparing for CBT1
The ArcheAge that you will experience during the first closed beta test is at a very early stage in development. We are sure that it will be a totally different game when it begins OBT or commercial service, with more in-depth content and a better gameplay system.
Having several evaluation processes before completion is the latest trend in MMO development. Developers tweak games over and over according to the result of each evaluation.
Jake Song said, “in today’s huge development environment, it is hard to change the direction of a project even though we know we are wrong. It is because lots of time, labor, and resources have been put into it. Therefore, it is necessary to have evaluation process from the very beginning in order to determine whether we are doing well or missing anything.”
To be continued...
Part 2 is coming tomorrow evening. :)
Back to top
