Post-Launch Update: Motor City Online
- May 02, 2003 12:48 PM PST
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It's been seven months since EA's car-pee-gee peeled out of the garage. Is MCO still "ping of the road," or is this hot rod up on blocks?
When you think of massively multiplayer online games, you probably think of elves, magic, castles, swords, and that stuff. Let's face it-EverQuest, Ultima Online, and The Dark Age of Camelot have set the pace for big online communities. Back in November, however, EA got into the act with a greasy, unabashedly American alternative, Motor City Online. Originally part of the Need for Speed series, MCO gives players a chance to buy, build, and race hot rods over the Internet. The game takes advantage of the online community with a free-market economy, a club system that promotes friendly competition, mutually beneficial cooperative race modes, weekly rewards for each track's fastest times, nice perks for advancing in level, and updatable content. Seven months and several patches after it began, Motor City Online is currently better than ever, having weeded out the big bugs and endured the predictable growing pains. It's a solid racing game with cool cars, a creative fanbase, and plenty of untapped potential.So why is Motor City Online racing under the radar, and why aren't you playing it?
The problem isn't in the recipe. With the target market of American males, nearly all of whom profess a love for sports cars, this game should be inviting to anybody who's ever dreamed of taking a 1965 Ford Mustang to a big oval track and opening her up, or driving a 1957 Corvette way, way too fast down a dirt road. Some have heeded the siren's call. It's estimated that there are between 30,000 and 40,000 players in Motor City, which isn't a lot compared to something like EverQuest (add a zero to the end for EQ's numbers), but still makes for four servers with about 500 racers on each at any given time. That's plenty of competition. So?what's the problem?
Well, for one, EA's seemingly gone out of its way not to promote the game anymore. During the launch period there was a big blitz with splashy ads; this year, the game wasn't even displayed at E3 (one rep said that the company was simply focusing on its latest titles, like every E3; MCO had launched and was therefore on its own). You can't have a persistent online universe without a little bit of persistent promotion. Also, many players balked at the $40 game cost and $10 per month fee (first month is free), especially console gamers who are used to paying one flat fee for a game that does everything up front. Plus, since credit cards are the payment method for just about everything online, what happens when your rabid target market doesn't have a Visa? Thankfully, EA has since fixed both problems: MCO is now $20 for the software, and the $10 per month fee can also be paid by check (over the phone, no less-call them with your bank info and you don't even have to mail anything in) or everybody's favorite online payment service, PayPal. Too bad EA didn't bother to tell anybody about either improvement. A simple press release would have helped refresh some memories and reignite interest.
Unfortunately, the last place most people heard about Motor City Online was from the rumor mill, which has been predicting the game's demise for months. Maybe you caught wind of MCO staff layoffs some months ago and figured it was finished. But the rumor mill isn't always right, and the truth is that MCO's remaining team has adapted fairly well. New cars have been introduced, new tracks have gone online, and the dev team has not only taken player suggestions but also taken time out to race against the paying customers in publicized events. That's building a community, and that's cool.
Unfortunately, all those cars and tracks that have been released were pretty much in the can before the layoffs, so it seems like MCO is just dragging stuff out of the garage. Most recent "new" cars have been variations on or limited editions of existing models, like the 1973 Firebird Formula, the 1970 Plymouth Hemi-Cuda, and the 1970 Ford Mustang 429. The data is already there, so slap a new so slap a new paint job on there and it's done. Also, there are things that were promised on the box and shown on the game's website that have yet to come true--like being able to own a 1966 Shelby Cobra or a 1963 Corvette Stingray, and not just "borrow" them for a sponsored race now and then. Why aren't they up for sale right now? It's anyone's guess, but there doesn't seem to be a good reason.
Maybe it's a matter of artwork. Each car has several paint jobs, some of which are rare (like rust, or limited editions for the holidays, or what have you). But by and large, the cars that were available in the early days look better than the ones just introduced. Perhaps some of the artists were among the folks let go. Why else would the stripe on the Olds Hurst 4-4-2 look like it was painted with a giant square sponge? The plan to accept user-created paint jobs is coming to fruition this month, but is it a means to increase user involvement, or a talent search to fill in the gaps on the design team? Depends on how cynical you are. But the community is there to support the game as much as the game supports the community. Shaky or not, it's a sign of progress.
And really, that's the key-Motor City Online HAS improved significantly since its November launch. It's a more enjoyable, balanced game now, with more cars and better gameplay modes than before. While it still has some flaws (Fix the minor annoyances! Clean up the paint jobs! Bring out the rest of the cars already!), they're acceptable and easily fixed. People who were scared off at launch might be willing to come back now?if only they knew it was still worth checking out.
