Aug 13 2008
Players ARE content.
One of my new mantras as a game developer is the belief that players are content. Developers who ignore this do so not only at their own peril, but to the disappointment of their own customers. What do I mean by saying players are content? I mean they provide at least as much (and probably more) entertainment for your customers than any actual content you create as a developer. In a fashion, the game you design attracts a certain type of player, and those players take it from there to keep each other amused and entertained.
This is not an absolute (as nothing really is when it comes to anything as complex as designing games). There are many aspects of a fun, well designed MUD that can be fully enjoyed solo. But a good game developer will always be aware of the fact that maintaining an active player base and valuing each and every player are vital priorities. Looking at players simple as customers is a mistake.
So, how does one acknowledge, support, and take advantage of the fact that players are content? Here are a few ways:
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1) Dump the subscription model. (Yes, here I go again.) If your business model causes people to quit playing and no longer be around, you have made a huge mistake. Developers are extremely hesitant to remove content from their games. Crappy instances, poor zones, badly realized features, and weak or broken classes rarely get removed from a game. They just lie around and languish with little or no developer attention. Players generally hate this, because they get sucked into partaking in this content (or making a character of the broken class) and eventually realize it isn’t up to snuff. But developers are so loathe to remove content, they leave it in place anyway. But when it comes to players, who are an extremely valuable and entertaining type of content, developers act very differently. If you can’t pay up, you’re gone. They ignore the fact that when one customer chooses not to maintain their subscription, their quitting the game could have a cascade effect. Their best friend or spouse is likely to quit as well. And then friends of those people may quit. Or after a few such people quit, an entire guild might quit. And so on and so on. Just because someone doesn’t feel the game is worth $15 a month right then (and it may not even have anything to do with their satisfaction with the game - it could be real life commitments, travel, school, work, all sorts of things) a lot of content may potentially disappear from the game - as well as a lot of additional subscriptions and therefore income.
It is an incredibly common occurrence on an MMO that people start quitting not because the game is not fun any more, but because all their friends are gone. What a shame and what a failure that is. Without the subscription, those people could at least pop in now and then long enough for the person still enjoying the game to feel like their friends are still a part of the community.
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2) Run events. Events bring people together and give players an opportunity to show off for other players. Think of some fun, interesting events and let the creativity and sense of humor of your players shine. Some of the events on Threshold are pretty simple and yet end up being tons of fun due to the creativity, humor, and general wackiness of certain players. It amazes me that most MMOs nowadays barely have any staff run events at all.
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3) Give players ways to show off their own creativity and talent. I’m back to my player housing rant. Decorating and designing a house, guild hall, temple, etc. is a great way for players to show off their design skills. Players will pour enormous amounts of time into decorating their homes, and then other players will enjoy the content as well when they come and visit. Homeowners will take great pride in their accomplishments, and other players will enjoy getting ideas from talented designers to use on their own homes.
And player housing is just the beginning. Let players dye their clothing and armor. Let players custom design certain cosmetic articles of clothing. Give players a way to create purely cosmetic outfits. It boggles me to no end that Threshold , Everquest, DAoC, and Ultima Online all had clothing/armor dye, and yet somehow this technology eludes the Blizzard developers.
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4) Let players affect the world. I love this one because it is something pretty much unique to the text MUD world. On graphical MMOs, players have almost no ability to affect anything in the world. They can’t change the landscape. They can’t change the politics. They can’t change the factions. The state of the world is set in stone and they are just passing through tinkering with the respawns. But on text MUDs, players can dramatically affect the game world. They can repel major invasions that would have otherwise devastated the landscape. They can overthrow political leaders of cities or kingdoms and take over themselves. They can make THEIR religion dominant over others. They can control the economy through role play and politics rather than just buying all of an item and relisting it for a higher price. When players feel like they can affect the world around them, they have a much deeper emotional connection to the world. They will work together to make the world feel a lot more alive.
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So what do you all think? As players, do you feel like you are content? How important is this type of content to you and your overall enjoyment of a game?
I agree, though I look at it from a competitive perspective. If a game provides me with a steady supply of human opponents, I’m happy. I don’t view stuff like dungeons, raids, crafting, economy, or other stuff like that as a neccessity. I do enjoy some of them(over the last year I’ve displayed a bit of a talent for mmo economics for example), but it’s really not what I play a game for.
I agree with the idea about implementing house design and things like that. It might not catch the interest of the mayor player base (me included) on an ordinary Hack ‘n Slash MMO, but it will still add flavor to the game and will attract some of the more creative players (often women) which will add to the game.
I can remember that Anarchy Online Beta had planned both major events and had player influence planned on both power and the storyline. I never played the game when it went live because the game was very buggy… So I have no idea if they kept these ideas.
I heard about a few other MMOs where players could play a big part in the power struggle of the land. From what I have heard these MMOs ended up with problems because when balance tipped too much to one side the game was won or lost. I believe Shadowbane was like this…
I would love if there were more ways to measure your success in the MMOs than the power struggle. Ways to differentiate yourself from the other players so you get some feeling about being unique in some way. An example is the Crafting that has been implemented in most MMOs but those I have tried are really lacking an effort from the designers and are not made in a way where you will end up being unique in any way.
WoW had a faction system as well but the benefit from these factions was gear which for the most part was trash if you were already raiding. I would love for some faction system where it actually did matter but the benefit was still so small that others did not feel like they had to gain the faction.
I am sure there are a million different ways to add other aspects to the game like the design suggestions in this article and I wonder why they don’t use more time adding these things.
I think running events ought to be mandatory. Those are probably one of the best things you could do as a game company to keep a lot of people engaged. There should be company run content daily in a game as large as WoW.
Player housing isn’t a priority of mine, but the idea of a guild hall in an instanced area seems like a really good idea. Let’s get the heads or some trinket of our defeated enemies to showcase. I don’t know how to section off the guild area, but put it in SW or something and let them be open to everyone to walk through.
The last one is huge for me; the epitomy of meaningful PvP. Blizzard has arenas (terrible) and battlegrounds and very little real world PvP. I don’t think the game will ever have it since it’s not designed with that in mind. That’s why I’m trying out a new game with RvR in mind. Deciding to ride into Thunderbluff and harass some guards has exactly 0 effect on the game. That’s not epic, or even all that fun to me. I want to sack a town and actually see a physical change in the world. Skirmishes all of the sudden mean something when your fighting with actual stakes. Border towns are huge pivotal areas with control being determined by daily PvP. That’s just one way for players to affect the world, but a big one imo. Being able to play the economic game or political game are also ways for players to actually get involved in the game. WoW is, was, and probably allways will be a game where the players are passing through tinkering with respawns, but hopefully the next Blizzard mmo will not be.
I have to agree. It’s the players/friends you meet in these games that keep me coming back as much as anything else in them. I played Everquest for 5 years back in it’s prime, shortly after Kunark was released. EQ may not have been as popular as WoW and other newer MMO’s, but it was certainly better than anything on today’s market (disclaimer: I haven’t tried the newest generation, such as Conan, yet).
In my opinion, EQ was a game that got everything right. Its set-up fostered tight-knit guilds and groups of friends. Despite its 1st gen graphics, its environments/dungeons were better and more immersive than any other graphical MMO I’ve played, which encouraged exploration… anyway I’m digressing and this is probably nostalgia talking.
Another thing EQ got right, in the context of this article, is that they took the time to organize events. I remember they would do awesome things around Halloween, or sometimes just for no particular reason. GMs would take control of event NPCs/monsters and wreak havoc. I don’t know what it is, but I think players get a whole lot more satisfaction from a game when they feel that they are able to directly interact with admins in some way.
I have always been intrigued in game development, but lack the knowledge that it takes to do this. But that does not keep me from being a gamer. With that said, I find it hard to get into 1st person games. I actually enjoy the RTS games more than anything else.
I totally agree with all your points (even the housing one). The “it has worked before it will work again” technique has come to a point that it has in fact stopped working. Take WoW for example: I’m excited about the new expansion, but not because there is new content and new raids, but because there is another 10 levels to be leveled, which I will do so with my close in-game friends. It gives an excise to play with each other once again, that does not require us to level yet another alt. This shows (for me at least) the players are more important than the games content. Also the personalization features (changing hair color, dance movement etc) are appealing. I truly could not care much about the ’super cool’ 25 man raids being introduced soon (although I will no doubt try them out)…
Maybe game designers will start listening to what people want soon, if not I guess we will have to keep complaining about it till they do
Yeah, I understand the attraction of new levels. Levels 1->69 on WoW are actually pretty fun. But once you hit 70, that’s when the game becomes crystal meth.
As this article stated I believe that other players of the game are very important.
I have played Threshold RPG for more than 10 years and even though I might stop playing for a year or two I always return later on. I do not return to see new game content. I return because I want to say Hi to my old friends and because the general player base really is amazing compared to your mainstream MMO’s. With amazing I mean very seldom do you run into people who give you a bad experience but very often you run into people who go the extra mile to make a memorable moment through casual RP, Involvement in game changing events or through schemes. Threshold has the downside of being a comparably small game and most my friends there live very far from me.
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WoW has a special place in my heart as well. I started out playing with a few friends and we have been catching up through Teamspeak even though we were not always playing together. Nearly all guildmembers has been people living near me which have made it easy to meet up RL as well.
I have several family members playing from those around 10 to my dad who is above 60. Both of these are CASSUAL gamers and even though my dad has maxed out a few chars he doesn’t care about the end game stuff nor has the ability for that side of the game. What he find funny is trying to get rich and playing the different classes.
We need to remember that the casual players do make up a large percentage of the player base in WoW and for them the battle to reach max level might be all of the game they ever want and ever see.
WoW was a good game to begin with, but the fact that such a large part of your friends, and their friends play the game makes a huge difference. My guild started out with friends and their friends, and when we had to handle the 40 man raid stuff we merged with two other guilds that was build in the same way and in the same area. This landed us a guild with around 120 members from our area where a large part was friends or their friends. The big use of Teamspeak made sure that you got to know the rest as well.
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So what I am trying to say is that even though Threshold has the superior player base I still end up playing WoW as long as the content is fun and as long as my friends keep playing.
I guess that WoW has lost on both those aspects for me since I stopped playing about a year ago and very few of my friends are still playing.
I think the larger point here really is community. Without it, you may as well pack up and go home.
Sentinel
If I have a chance of manipulating or conforming the world to my own ends and imagination, then I’m probably gonna be pretty darn content.
That’s one of the vast beauty of muds. A form of game so old and basic that most people wouldn’t give them a second glance. Yet a game on which you can do -anything- on and make -anything- happen in a virtually (well, maybe not virtually) limitless world of options. And RP enforced muds have come a long way since they’ve begun.
Community is important. I wouldn’t play a mud if I was the only one playing. Not for ever, anyway. Alot of RP mudders are already experienced. So much so that it’s become an art. They make the game happen themselves. They recruit people to their cause and they do what they can to keep people and they’ve practiced doing such for a long time. If even your enemies are oppressing you in a game, assuming they’re good roleplayers, you will still enjoy the experience. And some of the best RP comes from being oppressed, not from being the bored winners. I’d say only on a mud, though, can you acquire so much respect for your opponent.
If you can form a clan, religion, maybe even a guild, town, kingdom, etc. And take control of other players clans, kingdoms, etc. If not by force, then by coersion, diplomacy, or plotting and trickery. The players don’t need to be thrown into a pre-formed RP/non-RP setting. They’ll make their own.
So if you respect your players and the work that they put into your game, they’ll value you and your game enough to stay with you and coordinate with you. They just might not always have the means to pay for it with coin the whole time. Er, I mean cash.
One of the best blog articles I have read all year. Couldn’t agree more.
Thanks for visiting Ravious, and for your comment.
I have never understood why we are forced to wear the same armour as everyone else in our class. If you can add a scroll to enchant gear why can Gear Stats not just be remembered by the server (as an enchantment) so we can wear whatever we want ? Fishing gear or level 1 rags with dumb hat ?? Fine, just remember to enchant those level 1 trousers with the nice tartan you like so much with your Raid of Awesomness drop trouser stats.
Everquest 2 does this best. For every armor slot, there is an alternate “appearance slot.” You can put whatever you want in the appearance slots, but what counts for stats is what is in your real gear slot.
I think this is one of the most awesome features I have seen in an MMO since CoX invented sidekicking. It results in a LOT more variety in how characters look without needing to create 9 zillion armor sets.
EverQuest 2 did something right then. It usually gets blamed for about everything that can go wrong, but it seems at least this time they had a great idea.
I think the system can (easily!) be expanded to become part of crafting.
EXAMPLE:
You got a Hattori Hanzo Katana, that just does not fit your Plate Armor somehow.
In this system, the sword consists of parts: Pommel, Blade, Hilt. All other weapons work similarly.
Now you want a straight blade instead of a curved one. You just need a straight blade from a longsword of at least somewhat similar item quality. So you go to a smith to get a straight blade or ask him to break down a longsword to parts for you. Then you need an enchanter to extract the essence (the stats) of your weapon. Then you re-forge your new weapon with the stats and the new looks.
There would be rare skins and some unique crafter skins of course.
Guild Wars already has a similar system: You can extract hilts, pommels and inscriptions of various weapons and put them on your favorite weapon skin: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Upgrade
Armor is basically the same, you have different armor sets that have the base stat values of your class, and then you put insignia on the armor to specialize it, e.g. to be more resistant to slashing damage or fire damage, or just add more hitpoints: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Insignia
I changed the blog setup so it lets you post up to 3 links in a comment. 4+ gets flagged for moderation.