MMOGs: History Repeating
by: Cesig
I've spent a lot of time talking about and thinking about MMOGs of various sorts. Ever
since I first heard about Ultima Online back in 1997 I've been absolutely intrigued by
the idea that there are games whose purpose is to allow players to interact with each
other.
Now it's eight years later, but sometimes it feels like MMOG developers are still stuck
in the past. New games are announced and released all the time with play mechanics just
like Ultima Online (or worse). What's the deal, developers? Don't you get it that
players are ready for something new? Why haven't you addressed the major issues with
MMOGs?
Well, I'll tell you why I think they haven't.
For one, nobody can decide on what the major issues are. Since there's such a wide
player base everybody's opinion is different about what is good. Some people like PvP
(like in Dark Age of Camelot or Shadowbane); some people prefer the social aspects (like
in Sims Online).
For two, lots of major in-game issues don't really get noticed by players until they've
already invested a bunch of time (and money) into the game. These are typically issues
that only really affect the high-level characters. This is typically referred to as the
"End Game" (despite the fact that none of these games actually have a distinct end). And
since these players already played for so long and contributed so much money I think
developers consider it a "success," even if these players quit because they're bored with
the game.
For three, people just haven't learned how to make a really good MMOG yet. I think it
can be done, but has it? I don't think so.
So, what does it take to make a good one? Well, I'm not really qualified to say for
sure, but here are some common problems that I've noticed that seem to plague most, if
not all, MMOGs:
Common Problems with MMOGs
1. Eventually there stops being new content for people to access.
This is a major issue in World of Warcraft. Sure, the developers are feverishly adding
new raids, new bosses, and TONS of new lewt, but there's no way they can hope to keep up
with the pace of the hardcore players.
Additionally, if players aren't interested in the new content the developers have created
(say, WoW Battlegrounds) then the devs are essentially wasting their time creating
content that some players won't ever enjoy. Given how diverse the subscriber bases for
these kinds of games are, I don't think there's a way around this. You just have to
minimize it the best that you can.
2. There frequently stops being new goals for players to work toward.
Once you have the latest epic or unique item or whatever then that's pretty much all
there is for you to do until the /next/ epic or unique item is released. This gets to be
incredibly boring for players. Once you've killed the most powerful boss ten times it
starts to become old hat. Then what do you do?
3. Often, players have no way to create their own goals.
This was the case in WoW for sure. If you don't want phat lewts then there really isn't
much point in playing. Going on a multi-hour 40-man raid just to have the /chance/ to
/maybe/ win some item isn't a very compelling option for a lot of players. But WoW
doesn't really allow for players to create their own compelling goals. Sure, they can
craft items or buy and sell items on the auction house, but that's about the extent of it.
4. Players seldom feel important.
In order to maximize the return on their time spent creating content, many developers try
to entice as many people as possible to play through it. After all, it's not very cost
effective for developers to create a boss that can only be killed /once/ by one person in
the entire life of the game. Besides, once that one player /does/ kill that boss, the
other 99.9% of the player base will be pissed off that /they/ weren't the ones to do it.
In most of these games what you end up with is an army of generals and no soldiers.
Everyone wants to be the guy that slays the dragon, not the guy who has to stay back and
watch the horses. But if you don't limit the cool things that can be done in the game
then they won't be important to players.
In WoW, for example, you have Ragnaros, who is arguably the game's toughest boss. It
takes a 40-man group to kill him.
But once they do, nothing happens.
Even worse is that he comes back a few days later so others can kill him. The world
isn't safer. His minions don't come to avenge him. He just respawns a few days later.
That's not heroic. At the end of the day, it doesn't even matter.
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