The Daily Grind: Is maintenance mode better than nothing at all?

@avaloner

Yeah that would have been great for SWG. I really never expected the game to ever be shut down (obviously i knew it would at some point, but not anywhere near as soon as it was). I played SWTOR and really just couldnt get into it. Just your regular run of the mill MMO with voice overs and a Star Wars theme was what i got out of it.

@avaloner

Unfortuately, SWG was a special case. I have no doubt that SOE would have kept SWG operating years after they made the decision to stop maintaining it (though, I note, they were still actively developing it at the time of its demise). What SOE could not control was the license from LucasArts, and there way no way LA was going to let another SW game "compete" with its shiny new baby SWTOR, no matter how extremely different the two games are.

Personally, I still maintain that LA was bone-headed in this decision. Most SWG players who had any inclination to try SWTOR (such as me) would have played both. Now, I play neither: SWG because I cannot; SWTOR because I will not. I doubt I am alone in this.

@(Unverified) Hear, hear. I hate that people seem to assume that SWG was closed down because it wasn't making money. If you look at it from LA's POV, it was closed down because it WAS making money, and that was bad for TOR. I don't want that getting lost in the noise.

@(Unverified) I'm not sure if I misread you, but when I buy a box for a mmo I expect updates for my monthly fee, not just to keep servers running.

If I was playing a game where their corporate attitude was "Well, we are paying for your servers. What more do you want?" as the default to getting new content, I'd quit.

I'm pretty sure you are misunderstanding, and/or the OP meant "single-player game". Though even there, post-launch patches and DLC are increasingly common...

@StClair
"the idea that an MMO is just kept as is with no updates and only enough attention to keep the servers running."

This is what the thread is about.. mmos. The guy above did not mention single player games at all, just 'box' games. Mmos also come in a box. Even B2P mmos like Guild Wars 2 are said to 'buy the box, play for free'.

You are trying to clarify something where none is needed as the it's is clearly labeled by genre (mmos) AND by games mentioned (Vanguard, (Tabula Rasa, Asheron's Call 2, and The Matrix Online, to name a few)

@Graill440
"There is no reason at all to play a game in this condition."

What happens if you like the game or the people playing it and you don't mind it being it not having new content developed for it? I feel that is a pretty compeling reason to keep playing. Sure ideally people should go out and volunteer for charaty or something but that has nothing to do (or very little) with people wanting to play a game like Vangaurd that was not being actively developed.

Just because a game is not reciecving new content does not mean it is not fun to play.

@Graill440

Depends on the type of game actually. A theme park will die without new content but I could see a game like EVE continuing for years without any new content at all.
The only game company that actually does something to justify a sub fee nowadays is Trion with Rift. In that aspect they remind me of older companies that sticked truly to the subscription model releasing content regularly which justifies a subscription. Maybe that will change as the company grows and gets older as it did with every other company.

@Graill440 "Most would rather play a maint mode game than go outside and do volunteer work or the like, sad."

If we're going to judge how we spend our discretionary time by those criteria, then we shouldn't play games at all--we should be out in the world, making it a better place for all. While you're at it, why don't you excoriate every person who wastes time watching television?

I play games for fun and relaxation. If a game I love has gone into maintenance mode and I still get enjoyment from it, what difference does it make? It's not like new content produces any sort of meaningful achievement in the real world, any more than the old content does.

Not everyone will agree to paying a monthly fee for a game without new content, but they can vote in the way that matters: By quitting the game and taking their money with them. If a game falls below viable subscriber numbers as a result, pull the plug. Otherwise, what harm is there in keeping it going?

@real65rcncom And sadly I think EA would rather shut it down then keep a server open for people like that. But who knows they might grow a heart and keep a server open for them.