Here Be Mountebanks

Here Be Monsters, originally a Facebook game that expanded to a browser game and iPad game, is closing. A final quest line was released, and players were given one month's notice; that's better than some games. But since I've seen a shutdown done with respect and compassion, HBM gets no kudos; the shutdown follows almost nine months without new content (down from a former promise of "new content every two weeks"), and a growing list of bugs that were never fixed or even formally acknowledged.

The game was doomed the moment Gamesys slowed down new releases and stopped accepting feedback from players, over a year ago. HBM lacked the features necessary to keep players involved without a constant stream of new quests and collectibles.

HBM also seemed to be designed to "trick" the players into spending time and money on the game--the "spend premium currency" and "spend valuable time potion" buttons were large and easy to hit by accident, along with the button that removed a "buddy;" all of these easily-fixable design problems cost players resources that could only be fixed with substantial time in game… or spending cash.

Players noted several smaller design flaws: the "search backpack" textbox partially covered the items it found; premium items lacked accurate descriptions; item prices or functions changed without warning; in-game documentation was nonexistent beyond the early tutorial quests. None of these drove players away directly, but they were a constant irritation.

In summer of 2014, Gamesys removed player-to-company contact from the game—the only "support" requests allowed were for financial issues. If you couldn't buy more premium currency, they wanted to hear about it; if you got double-billed, they were legally obligated to take notice. But if your game was frozen or you couldn't figure out what to do next or an essential quest item had vanished... check the wiki or the forum for advice; no official help is available. They pulled all official reps from the forums and chat, and handed over management of social interaction in the official game spaces to player moderators.

That marked the true end of the game and the shift from growth to inertia. When a company decides it doesn't need to hear from dissatisfied customers, it'll slowly lose the satisfied ones as well; loyal customers will trickle away and new ones who hit a roadblock of any sort will stop, not return--and not tell their friends about the game.

All of Gamesys' attempts to limit "negative" feedback, including banning people from the forums and chatroom, only served to make the game invisible to any larger community. Players who felt cheated or just dissatisfied went away and didn't return, and this becomes a vicious circle:

low player participation = less money for the company = fewer resources spent on development and support = lower player draw;

repeat ad infinitum until something cracks, and the company realizes support costs more than it's gaining and pulls the plug.

This isn't the first MMORPG to close down without warning after a long stretch of telling players "be patient; we'll get things fixed up soon." It's not an unusual pattern in the gaming industry—so players can learn to spot the warning signs, and not put their money and their emotional commitment into the games that won't last.

If features that annoy or frustrate players are not fixed; if players are expected to inform each other how the game works; if criticism is squashed; if game features are changed without warning or explanation; if the company dodges questions about future plans; if players who don't spend much (or any) money on the game are told to shut up and enjoy what they're getting for free… that's a game looking to maximize short-term profits, not to be sustainable for several years.