MMO Gaming

So, Hexedian made a post in the Kill Ten Rats forums (tied in, apparently, with this post from Hex’s blog…yes I shortened it to Hex, because I am that lazy.)

I’ll quote it below and then my response because it’s a good subject and gave me an idea (and who doesn’t love an idea.)

I’ve been thinking for while, and I’ve come to the conclusion that most MMORPGs that we see today are simply too easy. Not that the time to acquire power is too short, I don’t mind that either way, but understanding an MMORPG, and playing it to near perfection, requires next to no skills from the player.

Now, that may seem intuitive for the people who are used to being made fun of because they play a game that doesn’t require skills, but one has to understand that it doesn’t have to be that way. MMORPGs can be every bit as challenging as the next shooter or platformer, without necessarily asking the player to time rocket jumps to the perfection. Why, one of the best catalysts of skillful gaming, human opponents, is, by definition of massively multiplayer, already common in large quantities. The only thing required, then, for skills to play a more interesting part, is for players to be able to make a difference in the game that doesn’t come from having bigger numbers next to their name, or simply more zerglings to attack with.

So, I’m wondering (And obviously trying to start a conversation), has any fellow rat-slayer had any idea of how to make MMORPGs more interesting skill-wise?

And my response:

I think this varies from game to game. For instance, very few people in WoW were “playing [their class] to near perfection.” Most players are average or below that, not exceptional (unless we are talking about a DPS class, in which case my 3 year old sister can play one of those “exceptionally”.

Why should understanding how to play be difficult? That’s one of (the many) reasons I hate EVE. It’s a pain in the ass to get into. It’s a game that is unnecessarily complex, which is unfortunate because the idea kicks ass. For instance, when playing my 14 day free trial I spent 3 hours one night on the beginning tutorial…and still wasn’t finished. That’s a flaw of design. That’s not a “deep” game, that’s just annoying. I want to be playing the game 3 hours into it, not figuring out what the hell is supposed to be going on.

In what ways, exactly, are shooters or platformers more challenging? I’m at a loss as to how we are adding challenge without making proper execution a prerequisite of that?

I think you answer your own question pretty well. It involves getting rid of levels…and stats if at all possible (and yes, it is not only possible but surprisingly simple.) Personally I believe that the only “stats” that should exist in the game are a measure of health and a measure of “power” to let you perform special moves/actions (like mana, or endurance or whatever the game wants to call it.)

The problem with stats is that they negate player skill. If a player is very good at playing, it doesn’t matter, because the secret dice roll says they miss or hit and how much that hit does when it happens. That’s a ridiculous way to go about creating “skill”.

I’ve also heard talk about throwing out classes/jobs in games too and going completely skill based, but I think that is a mistake. Sure, skill based games afford some leniency. You don’t exactly have to worry about balance issues between different groups but that doesn’t mean you have achieved player freedom in relation to building a character. All you’ve done is gain time before the cookie-cutter build is discovered, or that one uber-skill is found.

With classes you give yourself, as a developer, freedom to explore different options for playing even with everyone using the same builds. Sure all X class may be the same, but at least when you pick up Y class you are playing in a different manner. Of course, that is another flaw of design, all classes playing the same, which so many games seem to do.

The other major problem shown in games is the idea of the trinity of classes. Tanking, Healing, Damage. And though I could go on for pages on just this topic I’ll throw in a mini-version of it along with this topic. This sort of old-school thinking is a flaw of design. In fact…it’s a random design element that was added in first-generation MMOs that is just plain stupid because it doesn’t exist elsewhere in games (generally speaking). Take your typical pen(cil) and paper RPG like Shadowrun or Mechwarrior and find the tank/healer/damage trio in them. Here’s a hint…you won’t.

Hell, take a single player RPG, Final Fantasy for instance (any of them, doesn’t really matter honestly) and try to find that set up of 3 characters. They don’t exist (really). Oh, sure, there is some difference. Maybe Aerith is a better healer than Cid but both could heal and both could take damage and they could also do damage. Why do we add this arbitrary 3 groups into our MMOs? Does the fact that we are playing with other people mean we each need to specialize?

That’s nonsense. It stems from the belief that all 3 of those paths are linear. That healing is about (only) restoring lost health. That tanking is about (only) stopping others from being hit. That doing damage means (only) ticking away X amount of health on a mob. That’s all ridiculously linear thinking. It is another flaw of design.

There is another option. Each player can bring the same things to the table…yet they are all completely different. Each player can have the ability to heal…but not just by restoring lost health. Each player can tank…but that doesn’t mean that each person has to stop others from being hit. Each person can do damage…but that doesn’t mean each one has to tick away X amount of health of the target.

Speaking of which…why are people so afraid to combine tanking and healing into one role? The two are so intrinsically linked that you need one and the other, not one or the other. Why not tie them together…and you know what…we’ll be really crazy and throw damage in there too…all in the same class. I’m not talking about hybrid classes, which can fill in at a bad spot for one of the primary classes but don’t really replace them…I’m talking about each class providing every role (regardless of “spec” or whatever term you want to use) and yet still requiring other players for various encounters and making each group still able to work with one another without becoming redundant.

You know what…I better stop there for now or I’ll just keep going until I hit the character limit.

You’ll noticed I used a phrase several times in my response: flaws of design. That’s the idea I had…a new column. I haven’t ironed out the details yet but I’ve got a a couple of things floating around still. Basically each week/2 weeks, I will be taking on a design issue with my take on how to fix it. I’ll be looking for some material to use, so if you have something you wanted me to talk about contact me. You can use the contact link on the side or reach me by e-mail at brandon.levan[at]451press.net I have other means of contact, such as IM, available upon request.