Downtime

I know it's beta, but doesn't it seem like the servers always pick the most inconvenient time possible to crash? Sigh...so much for my planned Saturday afternoon. I'd finished up some work and was all set for some STO, but about ten minutes into it the server crashed. A quick trip to the STO website shows that the server is down for maintenance, but no details on the customer service page or in the forums. I have to admit I'm now wondering if Cryptic's version of "Down for Maintenance" is actually a beta catch-all for "Something fucked up and we haven't gotten it fixed yet, so deal with it until we can.".

As always, it's beta, and today in particular it's the second to last day of Open Beta before the servers go down for a week. I've gotta figure that's about as good a recipe for server overload as I've ever heard. Every Trekkie with a decent PC and three seconds of free time is jumping in to check out this game before they'll have to start coughing up actual cash in order to play.

Another thing I suspect may be contributing to all the server crashes and slowdowns is that Cryptic didn't take what I call the "Trekkie Factor" into account properly. What I mean is that, as Craig Zinkievich noted in his "State of the Game" post recently, they underestimated the amount of interest and attention this game was going to get. They studied the models, and they based their expectations upon what had come before. Thing is, Cryptic should have known better. This isn't just any MMO, this is a Star Trek MMO, and that makes all the difference.

There's a major difference between STO and every other MMO out there, up to and including even those based on hugely popular books and movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. The difference is that Star Trek is by far the sci-fi universe that's the longest running, most detailed, presented in the widest variety of media, most profitable, most honored, and most collected, with a worldwide fanbase so huge that it makes the subscriber list of WoW look like a sparsely-attended tea party.

Where did we all come from, Craig? We've always been here, patiently waiting over the last couple of years for our chance to play this game, this newest iteration of the Star Trek universe we've all heard so much about. The real question I have is how on Earth or any other Federation planet could you and Cryptic not have seen this coming? You make an awesome game based on the most popular sci-fi franchise on the planet and you didn't expect it to get above-average interest and attention? Really?

Given that it's still beta, I discount such issues as expected growing pains, but I also hope that this has served as a lesson to Cryptic: This isn't Champions, it's Star Trek. You can't administer and promote this game in the same way as one which will likely struggle to maintain half of STO's eventual player base and level of player loyalty. While many of us have played MMO's before, we're not your average MMO players. Trekkies are a breed unto ourselves, and Cryptic needs to learn how to effectively market to and cater to that fan base, not the average MMO player.

Their marketing stumble with the incredibly poorly-planned and executed Del Taco promotion also adds to the evidence that Cryptic and their marketing team really need to take the time to understand exactly who they're trying to market this game to and how to do it most effectively. It doesn't matter if you can offer the best game ever if your marketing is so bad that you end up pissing off players who've already made an investment in your game. In my opinion, the smart move for Cryptic here would be to make the Del Taco shuttle pet available through in-game microtransaction as soon as the game launches officially, and I mean immediately. Remember, Cryptic, we're collectors. Don't offer STO collector's items that only some have access to. All you're doing is guaranteeing yourselves more angry complaints in the future, the very last thing this game needs.

Politicians understand that in order to be successful you need to take care of your base. Mediamakers of any stripe need to understand that the same is true for them as well. Cater to your base, make us happy, all of us. Take care of us, Cryptic, and we'll take care of you.