With the recent resurgence of the Division following an excellent patch it made me wonder what would be the correct way forward with the IP. The game is in a pretty great place now, delivering on the promises it initially made. Now what would be a good way for Ubi and Massive to capitalise on their hard work getting the game to that level?
1. Chase the 2
The obvious option. Announce a sequel that requires current players to leave behind their characters and start fresh. Presents a good jumping on point for newer players. The question then becomes how much (and what) do you change for existing players that warrants them leaving behind their characters and hours they invested? Would it be a radical departure such as Guild Wars > Guild Wars 2 asking players to learn a ton of new mechanics or a more conservative approach such as Destiny 2 where a veteran player would feel right at home in terms of mechanics?
2. The vertical expansion
(example: Diablo RoS)
A big paid (traditional) expansion that adds new content, raises the level cap requiring players to leave behind their gear and progress from the old game to level up once again. The foundation of the game remains the same, though new activities and challenges are added. For new players this could be seen as daunting, though Massive could allow players to skip parts of the old levelling process in favour of a single use character boost with a special tutorial zone easing them into the game.
3. The horizontal expansion
(example: Guild Wars Nightfall)
An expansion that allows new players a jumping on point giving them a complete levelling experience but doesn't necessarily ask the older players to progress through a levelling process again. Instead it exists next to the existing game, adding a new area to explore complete with a full campaign that can be played through. Progression would come in the form of new specialisations/classes that allow for new builds to be explored, new weapon types and new challenges to overcome at the endgame. New players could forego the entire original game and start in this one and still have a satisfying experience, though they will not have access to the area of the original and perhaps certain skills.
What do you think, are there other options they could seemingly use, just keep expanding the game through patches as they are doing now for example?
And in general what would you prefer for these types of games?
1. Chase the 2
The obvious option. Announce a sequel that requires current players to leave behind their characters and start fresh. Presents a good jumping on point for newer players. The question then becomes how much (and what) do you change for existing players that warrants them leaving behind their characters and hours they invested? Would it be a radical departure such as Guild Wars > Guild Wars 2 asking players to learn a ton of new mechanics or a more conservative approach such as Destiny 2 where a veteran player would feel right at home in terms of mechanics?
2. The vertical expansion
(example: Diablo RoS)
A big paid (traditional) expansion that adds new content, raises the level cap requiring players to leave behind their gear and progress from the old game to level up once again. The foundation of the game remains the same, though new activities and challenges are added. For new players this could be seen as daunting, though Massive could allow players to skip parts of the old levelling process in favour of a single use character boost with a special tutorial zone easing them into the game.
3. The horizontal expansion
(example: Guild Wars Nightfall)
An expansion that allows new players a jumping on point giving them a complete levelling experience but doesn't necessarily ask the older players to progress through a levelling process again. Instead it exists next to the existing game, adding a new area to explore complete with a full campaign that can be played through. Progression would come in the form of new specialisations/classes that allow for new builds to be explored, new weapon types and new challenges to overcome at the endgame. New players could forego the entire original game and start in this one and still have a satisfying experience, though they will not have access to the area of the original and perhaps certain skills.
What do you think, are there other options they could seemingly use, just keep expanding the game through patches as they are doing now for example?
And in general what would you prefer for these types of games?
