Today’s Daily Grind is not really about any one MMO, so hear me out. I came across a thought-provoking poll the other day from Star Wars Galaxies emulator SWG Legends; the player devs asked gamers whether they would prefer quality-of-life, economic, combat and class balance, or new content updates – and to my surprise, quality-of-life won.
Caveats apply here; the poll had a pretty small turnout on Twitter compared to the overall playerbase, and it’s a sandbox, so it already attracts the type of player who’s more into sandbox simulation than a steady stream of content-locusting.
But still, I never expect players to care about quality-of-life upgrades. They’re nice to have, sure, but if you did an entire expansion that was nothing but making the existing game better, well, nobody would pay for that. I’m thinking back to how players got angry at New World for overhauling a zone as part of an expansion, even though it greatly boosted the quality of play in that zone and the rest of the world. I couldn’t help but wonder whether this is one of those things that gamers say they want but don’t actually show up for.
What do you think – should MMO devs focus on quality-of-life features over content? Does your answer change if the game does?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
