Feedback: Concerns about the seasonal design of Once Human

[Gyson]

I have some concerns about the seasonal design of Once Human, and I think the most productive way to begin this is to list what we currently know about "seasons" in Once Human.

• Seasons were originally planned to last 6 weeks, but this is subject to change.
  
  
• Seasons are divided into stages, and the community on each server is tasked with completing community goals to advance through these stages. This results in additional rewards, unlocking more of the map, and unlocking additional gameplay (i.e. dungeons, encounters, etc.).
  
  
• Seasons will shift the style of gameplay with specific objectives, with a changing focus on either PvE or PvP (or a mix of the two) depending on the seasonal goals.
  
  
• Participating in a new season will require you re-level up your character and unlock memetic progression again each time (everyone starts their character at level 1 each and every season).
  
  
• In-game tokens, weapon and gear blueprints, mods, skins, building blueprints, titles, and your friends list will carry over between seasons. These are essentially account-wide unlocks.
  
  
• At the end of each season, your materials, components, medicines, ammo, and gear acquired during the season will be transferred to the "Eternaland Depot" on "Eternaland", and you can strategically choose to bring some of those assets with you on your next seasonal character to make leveling up again easier.
  
  
• Eternaland is a small, private, instanced map you can visit at any time, where you're free to build without limits. You can customize the gameplay rules here (to what extent we don't know). Your items can be permanently stored here. You can invite friends to visit your private instance.
  
  
• Seasons end with a "settlement phase", heralding the end of the community goals. In this phase you're free to work on your personal goals (exploring the map, working on completing seasonal achievements, conquering strongholds, etc.).
  
  
• It is unclear whether the "settlement phase" lasts a set amount of time, or if it is an unlimited amount of time. We know that you can choose to sign up for a new season "when you are ready", which implies you can remain in a concluded season forever. However, the term "phase" is used, which can suggest this stage may only last a finite amount of time. We'll dive into this more shortly.
  
  
• When you're finished with a season you can choose to join a new season, or you can replay a previous season. I imagine we will essentially have a list of servers to choose from, with swaths of them hosting specific seasons, and you simply create a character on the server you prefer. e.g. "Season: The Prime War - Server A", "Season: The Prime War - Server B", "Season: Control and Conquer - Server A", "Season: Control and Conquer - Server B", "Season: Who Loves Ponies? - Server A", "Season: Who Loves Ponies? - Server B", etc.

With hopefully everyone on the same page, let's talk about what I see as "the best case scenario" within the confines of the design plan outlined above. And that has to do with the "Settlement Phase".

In the best case scenario the Settlement Phase lasts an unlimited amount of time, meaning (for example) that if Season 1 is "The Prime War", and you create a character on a server hosting that seasonal content, that character can remain on that server forever - even after the season finale has occurred. That character will never lose its levels or memetic progression. The server has essentially become "an eternal realm", and you have a character on it.

But even in that best-case-scenario, this is where the problems start. Because in this scenario your character is essentially trapped on a dying server. That server will not have new content added to it, the seasonal community events will be over, and the players populating it (Warbands, Hive members, friends, etc.) will eventually grow tired of the lack of any meaningful progression and move on (either from the game entirely or onto new servers with new seasons). And new players discovering this game won't have any reason to join it (assuming they even have the option).

In a normal MMO this problem is largely kept at bay by an unending amount of content updates, which in turn entices old players to stick around and new players to join. But we won't have that on a seasonal server that enters the Settlement Phase. It is essentially a case of the developers ending the movie in the theater, but allowing you to remain in your theater seat until you're ready to leave with the empty bucket of popcorn in your lap.

Additionally, while players are spending time on a server that has reached the settlement phase, they are missing out on account unlocks which are occurring on servers where different seasonal content is playing out. Assuming most players don't have an unlimited amount of time to spend on gaming, the developer's goal of "fair and stress-free gaming experience" paired with their suggestion of taking your time mopping up content in the settlement phase seems to be at odds with the infamous problem of FOMO.

So, even in the best case scenario the push for a seasonal system is sabotaging any chance players have at a meaningful "eternal realm" (i.e. a "normal MMO") experience. I'm having a difficult time seeing this as a good thing. I realize there are players that enjoy seasonal content, but there are also players who dislike it. I look at RPG games like "Diablo 4" and survival games like "Tribes of Midgard", - games that stuck with their seasonal plans despite player concerns, and now these games only retain a small fraction of their original interest. In games like this many players just don't seem to be interested in repeating the same leveling process, regardless of how many gimmicks the developers toss in to change things up. Players seem to prefer end-game progression, but the Once Human development team seems oddly determined not to provide them with it. Apart from the seasonal design I really like this game, so this aspect is frustrating because it will likely kill my interest in it.

[Sir Víve]

People quit playing Diablo 4 and the only thing that brings anyone back is the new season. MMOs all seem to flop eventually too. Personally, I usually end up back on my match based games pretty quick because most game content is finished pretty quick after exploring and seeing everything. Traditional themepark MMOs seem to be a niche genre in general afaik. Plus, I could point at more traditional games that most haven't even heard of and use that as a reason those types of games fail, doesn't mean it's true.

But yeah... seasons could suck if the game sucks. That is usually how it goes.

[Gyson]

Originally posted by Sir Víve:

People quit playing Diablo 4 and the only thing that brings anyone back is the new season. MMOs all seem to flop eventually too.

So.. I'm not sure what you define "flop eventually" as, but we have cases where MMOs have been going strong for 5 to 10 years. Let's be realistic, though.. any game at that point faces the challenge of simply being dated. But if a game can have a strong grip on your attention for that many years I would call that a hugely successful product and not a flop.

As for your point on Diablo 4, all I can say is that all of my friends who were playing D4 abandoned it once they finished the main campaign and realized there would be no new content available for the characters they created on what Blizzard calls the "Eternal Realms". Most of them had no interest in going through the leveling process again each season, even though Blizzard was allowing some progression to be account-wide (just as Once Human is doing). A few friends tried out the first season, but quickly gave up once they confirmed it would be as unappealing as they had feared.

I am aware that Season updates on D4 bring some players back, but some of those players are checking in not for the seasonal content, but for the accompanying balance changes and quality of life improvements that (in theory) improve the base game.