The meaning of content
Another term being thrown around the WoW forums these days is "content". What is content? We went on a wonderful adventure to find content and can't wait to share it with you!
Content...where is it?
Depending on who you ask, content can mean different things. It could mean a new zone in a game. A new enemy. A new race or class. Everyone has a different definition of the term content. What does it really mean though?
As a game developer myself, this topic does hit a sensitive nerve. When I'm developing a new level, I'm making more content. The same could be said when I go back to edit an existing level, adding "simple" things like enemies or a new scripted sequence. Its all content because its part of the game. Games can be light on content or content-rich. It all depends on the developer. When you're talking about an MMORPG, its constantly evolving. While some content is removed or changed, more content is added in its place.
Going back to my game for a moment. I'm currently developing a mod for Amnesia: The Dark Descent. While not an MMORPG in the slightest, its still a game. It requires level building, scripting, entities, textures, inventory management, quests, etc. I'm still working on the very first level. I started out with the basic layout of the level, adjusting things here and there to fit with my vision of the level. I then added objects to the game (that's content!), lighting (more content!), entities (even more content!), and scripting/coding (look! content!). When I'm trying to say here, is that no matter what a developer adds, its considered content at the most basic of levels.
Content doesn't always have to be some huge expansion in the world or something like that. It can be as simple as adding a new quest or a new mount (in-game or store). Nonetheless, it seems it'll never be good enough. Blizzard can add ten new zones, and it wouldn't be good enough. Why? Because "the bugs make it impossible to play". Its really asking a lot of a developer of any kind to quickly pump out content and expansions all while complaining about the bugs.
The ones who do this are the worst of the worst. They will sit there for hours complaining about the lack of content, so Blizzard makes more content. When that's done, the same people will complain about the bugs, so Blizzard works on the bugs. It then goes back to complaining about the lack of content. You see where this is going. We live in a society where people are never satisfied. More on that in the next article.
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