The other day I was running the games I play through my mind, trying to figure out what made me enjoy one type of game over the other. Games today are so complex that it’s sometimes tough to put a finger on why one stands out. Is it combat style? Graphics? Depth of gameplay? Social features? Of course the enjoy-ability of a game is determined by a combination of all these things. However, for me, one common thread seemed to reoccur: I enjoy games with licensed Intellectual Property (IP). This revelation dismayed me greatly, because my mind tells me that investing my time and energy into a game that’s very survival is in the hands of contract lawyers is a horrible idea. Recently, my favorite MMO (Lord of the Rings Online) faced the dilemma of IP renewal, and we’ve all heard stories of the sad fate of Star Wars: Galaxies, a casualty of two big companies deciding that renewing the IP license would not be financially advantageous.
So, why do I gravitate towards the titles that pose the largest threat of suddenly ripping my characters and content away at a moment’s notice? Why does my heart say yes when my head says no? I posed this question to some of my favorite podcasters over at MMO Reporter Network’s Too long, Didn’t Listen. The discussion was…mostly a slightly related sidebar about Star Wars the Old Republic. Which was ok, because SWTOR is one of the MMO’s that I enjoy the most, along with the afore-mentioned LOTRO and very recently, Marvel Heroes. Of the games that I’ve tried but have not been able to “settle into”, Rift, Guild Wars 2, Neverwinter and Star Trek Online, only STO had licensed IP that I was pretty familiar with. Even Skyrim (which I’ve purchased TWICE, once for PS3 and once for PC, thinking that I would eventually get into it), with all of its beauty and depth, can’t seem to hold my attention.
I think for me it comes down to a matter of time and immersion. I like being immersed in the game, but don’t have the time to “catch up” on a lore with which I am not already familiar. I’ve known the world of Star Wars since I was four years old. I’ve read the different works of Tolkien over the course of twelve years. These are settings that I can step into and immediately have a frame of reference available to me. I don’t have to go find Bree on a map and I don’t have to go research the history of the Empire, nor do I have time to. I already know enough to play the game and understand my place in the world. Skyrim is a beautiful place, as I’m sure The Elder Scrolls Online is going to be, but I just don’t care about it, nor Telera, nor Neverwinter, nor Bippity Boppity nor whatever other place where I’ve not previously set foot.
I guess that’s why the game companies pay big money for IP licenses. It’s not just for reduced development cycle time. It’s also for people like me, who will gravitate towards familiarity. If games were about principle, I’d probably be spending all of my time in Rift. However, for me, games are about fun. Unfortunately, that means taking some risk. I risk time invested in a six (almost seven) year old game with an IP license because it’s where I have the most fun. I risk rumors of ghost towns and a constant nagging to subscribe because, hey, it’s Star Wars. Most of all, I risk my favorite leisure-time activity being ripped away from me by some suit who didn’t like how the line chart looked this month. Then again, I guess we all risk that. It just seems like that risk is increased now that there are TWO suits involved (the game execs and the licencors).
If my gaming time were something a little more precious, like my kids’ education or my marriage, perhaps I would let my head do a little more of the ‘leading’. As it is, I’ll continue to follow my heart and have fun with my favorite games for as long as I’m able, IP or no IP.
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Great article Braxwolf – I heartily agree that it is much more fun and immersive when you can play a game with a world that is already familiar to you, and to experience that world in a new and interesting way (I think Turbine does a pretty good job of this with LOTRO – showing us some of the off-the pages stuff that could have been happening in ME). However, the risk is obviously there that the lawyers and execs can make it all come crashing down when the rest of the business seems to be fine. But overall, I think people spend too much time worrying about that: it is not THAT likely to happen when both parties are benefitting from the arrangement, and it is only a game after all – if it shut down tomorrow, life would go on, you would eventually find something else to fill the gaming / entertainment void that it left (after a bit of crying and cursing maybe…).
Just my 2 cents.
This is the only official Turbine response I’ve read. It was from one of the 20 Questions:
Q16: Given player concerns about the license and Turbine’s relationship with Saul Zaentz/Middle-earth Enterprises, can you say anything about LOTRO ending in 2014 as some have predicted?
A16: We plan to support LOTRO for many more years to come. We are very fortunate in that we enjoy a great relationship with Middle-earth Enterprises. They visit our offices several times a year to check out our upcoming plans for LOTRO and continue to be very supportive. – Sapience
I read that as a diplomatic way of saying, “We don’t know, but we hope everything will be okay.” And so do I, Turbine, so do I.
Interesting. I interpreted that slightly differently. What I heard was “yes, we’ve negotiated a new contract but we’re not going to tell you the new date because of how bat-poop crazy you went when you knew the last one was approaching.”
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Also, they may be contractually restricted from telling us the terms of the agreement.
The same thoughts have crossed my mind but in the end I have come away with thinking it’s not that big a deal. Even Galaxies closing wasn’t a true IP pull. Sony fatally wounded SWG with the NGE/CU and the game was barely hanging on – it’s surprising it lasted as long as it did.
Closer to SWTOR launching, Sony realized it was most likely going to take a good number of their players and both Sony and LucasArts agreed that a license renewal was not good for either party. Not very long before this happened LucasArts had stated they saw no reason the two games couldn’t exist at the same time, most likely expecting the Galaxies die-hards to stay.
Regarding our other favorite IP, if I am not mistaken: the LOTR IP has been stripped from other games in the past, for less – I figure if Turbine was going to lose the license, it would have happened by now.