UO Blog - Leaving a Trace in the Gaming World - September 1st, 2009

Content:

• Introduction
• 1. Individualism
• 2. Social Behavior
• 3. Taking Risks
• 4. Political Decisions
• Concerning Ultima Online

Introduction

What makes the difference between a successful MMORPG and any other game? Of course, there are a lot of technical and game-mechanical factors as well, but one of the most important elements is: In a successful MMORPG, players can shape their gaming world on the long term. Of course, players are looking for adventure and challenge. But when they log out after a 3-hour gaming session, they also want to have the feeling that their in-game actions had an impact. This impact can be of very different nature. Maybe the player gained some fame, received a title, found an artifact or defeated someone/something powerful. Or he contributed something to the community. Or he created something visible to and useful for other players. Or he changed the course events of global (gaming-world) dimension, and be it only as a small cog in the gear.

While countless adventures, challenges and items can attract a player to a game for quite some time, this attraction will fade sooner or later. The number of those features determine a game's BREADTH. But, the only thing that can bond a player to an MMORPG in the long term (and I'm talking 10 or more years here) is his constant opportunity to shape the gaming world and its history, and to leave a trace. The quality of such features determine a game's DEPTH.

Player activities and behavior must have a consequence. Every psychologist can tell you about the importance of consequence in real life: Employees in a big firm need the feeling that what they do is recognized and has a consequence, otherwise they'll be unmotivated. Little kids have to learn that their behavior has consequences in order to be able to lead a happy life; this is a very important task in child education. If an MMORPG lacks of realistic consequences, the players will lose their motivation, quit the game or start doing stupid things.

We have to keep in mind though that introducing consequence to an MMORPG at a later time is a difficult task. Players may have gotten used to their cushy gameplay where they can do whatever they like without implication. At first glance, they will feel constrained. However, it is like teaching someone who never did sports that exercise is healthy: Most people will refuse to cooperate. But if they're introduced to a healthy way of life step by step, they sooner or later will appreciate it because it is a door-opener to a more interesting, happy and versatile life.

To learn how an MMORPG can be improved in such a way, we have to look at the methods that allow players to shape the gaming world:

1. Individualism

Individualism is a very important prerequisite for a happy and motivated population. Both in real life and in a game. People need ways to express themselves, their character (or the role they play), their experience or their courage. Most players want to be heroes in one way or another, and they want to be recognized as such. Most valuable are such characteristics that are directly visible when someone enters your field of vision. Individualism can be achieved by:

• Individual appearance, race, clothing, equipment, mounts and pets
• Titles that reflect achievements (skills, solved quests, courage, reputation)
• Buildings, structures and items created by players (custom housing, crafting, etc.)
• Attitude (good/neutral/evil alignment) of a character
• Federation of like-minded players (guilds, communities)

Equipped with such characteristics, players can be recognized and remembered. By utilizing such attributes, everyone can profoundly affect the behavior and reactions of other players around him. Thus, individualism allows a player to shape the gaming world.

2. Social Behavior

Players can commit good or evil deeds. Both can be rewarding in one way or another. However, in order to keep people interested and motivated, the way players treat one another must have realistic consequences. This especially concerns antisocial behavior. While evil players are an important element of every MMORPG, it polarizes players and is a possible source of conflict. But an MMORPG without conflicts and emotions is a boring game! The key is that every crime and every counteraction must have realistic consequences for the involved players. If it doesn't, the system will be abused to the point of absurdity.

If evil deeds are not punished in a realistic way, evil players will mostly harrass and mass-murder other players over and over again. This will result in frustrated and annoyed victims on the one side, and bored and brainless culprits without honor on the other. The game should offer tools that allow players to realistically counter crimes, and it should reward players that stand up to the evil. As evil players can add a lot to the gaming experience, they should have their own niche in the game where they can succeed and become famous/dreaded, but without being able to abuse the system. (Detailed suggestions for UO can be found here.)

The antagonism between good and evil is a very fundamental way to allow players to shape their gaming world. This antagonism will breathe life into a game. It causes emotions. Communities will emerge from such conflicts. Even history and economy of a gaming world can be affected by the balance between good and evil.

3. Taking Risks

"Let's go to the dungeon X and slay the evil creature Y!" People keep doing this in MMORPGs over and over again. The more dungeons, creatures and loot a game offers, the bigger the BREADTH of a game and the longer it will keep people interested. However, such features alone will not suffice, because the commitment of players to the game will remain shallow in such an environment. Such challenges are mastered without consequence, except maybe a nifty artifact as a reward. Rewarding courage is important for an MMORPG. Every game developer knows that. But what really makes the difference are consequences that could arise from such tasks and affect the rest of the players. Some examples:

If you successfully take out an orc camp, what happens next? Usually, the orcs will reappear after some time (respawn), just waiting to be slain by the next adventurer. With no impact on the gaming world. Such heroic deeds should always result in world changes that will challenge the player community anew. Instead of just respawning the same orcs again, they could call for reinforcements, and suddenly more and stronger orcs will join them to defend the orc camp. Or they will flee and move to a different place.
If you kill the boss monster in a dungeon, it shouldn't just respawn. Maybe a revolt will happen inside the dungeon. The monsters could decide to take revenge, leave the dungeon and attack the nearest city. Or they could use new and more clever tactics to defeat the intruders. (Lots of suggestions for enhancing UO in such a way can be found here.)
A group of adventurers entering a dungeon could unknowingly be infected with a plague. Upon entering populated areas, more players could be infected and the plague could spread like an epidemy. This would send the whole game community on a quest to search for a cure. (Occurances like these should be random and not reproducable, to avoid abuse.)

Thus, new challenges are automatically generated in an unpredictable way, which could lead to a chain reaction of exciting and fascinating events, without the necessity of Game Master interference. Players would have to organize themselves, join forces and cooperate to save their gaming world from evil and disaster. This would give the game a lot more DEPTH.

4. Political Decisions

Most MMORPGs have a history and a storyline that is usually accompanied by moderated public events. Of course, such events are a lot of fun. But in most cases, these events are either passive (players just watch or participate) or are just another limited challenge (like an invasion of monsters). Most events lack of player decisions. The way players behave in such events has no consequence. Players should have the opportunity to make a political decision (follow A or B, support the enemy or fight it, etc.), and those decisions should have consequences for each player. For example:
The king of the realm announces that elves are invading the realm on its western border. You can choose to either defend the realm, or to support the elves because you sympathize with their goals. Depending on your decision, certain creatures may treat you differently, the access to certain locations or ressources may be limited or facilitated to you. You also can receive different kinds of rewards, depending on which side you fight. The outcome of such events should determine the historical evolution of the realm, resulting in permanent landmarks.

Of course, such political decisions should not interfere with player communities (like guilds) or penalize players. It should just offer new opportunities to shape the gaming world and make a difference.

Concerning Ultima Online

Ultima Online offers a lot of features that allow the players to impact the world of Britannia. The individualism of players is extremely encouraged, from equipment to custom player housing. This is also a reason why a lot of players are sticking to this game for many many years. A lot of improvements could be made by enhancing the points
- Social Behavior,
- Taking Risks,
- Political Decisions
as described. UO has a lot of potential here, and improving these would turn it into an unmatched and rather perfect MMORPG.

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