Sunday, June 10, 2007
The Backwards MMORPG Experience
My Tuesday night group recently went to playing City of Heroes from DDO, and it seems we've all been enjoying it a lot. This makes me happy, as I was probably the biggest instigator of making the switch. Now that I've been into the game a bit more, I've started studying up on it a little bit. In particular, I've been trying to find out more about the "end-game" - which, in many MMORPGs, might be just called "The Real Game," because everything before your characters hit maximum level is merely a prelude to the bulk of the gameplay. At least for hardcore players.
Many hardcore players, it seems, never stuck around in City of Heroes very long. Because there's not much the traditional extended end-game in City of Heroes. Many players hit the level cap, and then create new characters. Or flit around finding more stuff to do at level 50. Apparently there is quite a bit to do at level 50 ---- plenty of challenges and things to do to marginally improve your characters. But it lacks a plethora of the defining characteristic of most MMORPG end-game experiences hardcore players expect: Massive time-sinking raids that require dozens of players hours to complete for marginal gains for only a handful of the players at one time.
There are "raid" experiences in City of Heroes, don't get me wrong. In fact, the game lets you jump in on them at very low levels. There's a giant task-force sequence designed for "lowbies" of levels 10-16, the "Rule of Three." Which can be completed by a duo, I learned one night, or even solo, though it's really designed for multiple groups of lowbies. There are giant monsters, designed to be taken down by swarms of heroes ("raid mobs"), that periodically appear in the city. They are just as plentiful in low-level zones as the high-level ones. These are fun - in moderation - and just as fun for low-level characters as high-level ones.
In fact, that might be one of the defining differences between City of Heroes and other MMORPGs - an emphasis on making the experience similar across all level bands, and making the game feel worthwhile and exciting at all levels.
Now, there are plenty of high-level raids for the "end-game" too, the most famous (notorious) of which are the Hamidon battles (which yield very special enhancements... the "loot" for the raid). But the end-game isn't centered around raiding.
As I was thinking on this, I began to realize how backwards (or upside-down) the traditional MMORPG experience is --- based on the ones I've had experience (first- or second-hand) with:
* You start out at level 1, and can solo your way through all the challenges.
* As you gain levels, many classes / archetypes lose their ability to solo with respect to their enemies, and are encouraged to team up with other players to accomplish what you used to be able to do on your own.
* At the highest levels, even a small group of players are incapable of accomplishing much "worthwhile" in the game, and are encouraged to form multi-group raids to take on the game's greatest challenges for marginal gains.
Isn't this backwards? Shouldn't the player be feeling MORE powerful at higher levels instead of less? Why is it that you can handle challenges just fine on your own at level 1 or 2, but are incapable of doing anything without the safety of at least a couple dozen others at the highest level of the game? I mean, sure, you could go back to the lower-level challenges you used to take on and solo them all just to prove to yourself that your character HAS gained some relative power, but there's no point.
Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I think the City of Heroes designers really are onto something, and the non-overabundance of high-level "raid" challenges was not an error on their part.
(Vaguely) related misadventures
* A 2-Person Raid
* City of Heroes Jargon
* Game Moments #8 - EverQuest
* DDO Flies Solo - Kinda
* How to Develop an MMORPG With No Team and Limited Budget
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Labels: Mainstream Games, Roleplaying Games
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 8:38 AM (Permalink)
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I don't think the design is "backwards" per se. It's assumed when a player starts a game that s/he probably doesn't know anybody yet and also is playing an unfamiliar character. Starting with a group and already being familiar with the gameplay is the exception rather than the rule. So the early levels are, as in most game design, based around learning how to control one's character and, in the case of MMOs, meeting people one will eventually group with.
Also, I know people often complain WoW is all about the endgame experience but as someone who's played since just after it was released and still hasn't reached 60, much less 70, on any of her toons I would beg to differ. Obviously, I'm a casual player and I often unsubscribe for a couple months because I'm involved with other things but inevitably I go back, pick up one of my characters and start playing again and, most importantly, have fun doing so.
I have lots of friends with multiple 60-70 characters and even so I have never felt pressured to reach a high level. I think that the assumption that all the interesting stuff happens in endgame is false. Sure, there are a lot of kids who want to get the cool looking gear right away but there are a lot of great experiences they are missing in their hurried grindfest to endgame.
Or maybe this is simply a difference between male and female gamers, I dunno. Maybe it's just me. I feel the journey is as important, if not more important, than the destination.
Also, I know people often complain WoW is all about the endgame experience but as someone who's played since just after it was released and still hasn't reached 60, much less 70, on any of her toons I would beg to differ. Obviously, I'm a casual player and I often unsubscribe for a couple months because I'm involved with other things but inevitably I go back, pick up one of my characters and start playing again and, most importantly, have fun doing so.
I have lots of friends with multiple 60-70 characters and even so I have never felt pressured to reach a high level. I think that the assumption that all the interesting stuff happens in endgame is false. Sure, there are a lot of kids who want to get the cool looking gear right away but there are a lot of great experiences they are missing in their hurried grindfest to endgame.
Or maybe this is simply a difference between male and female gamers, I dunno. Maybe it's just me. I feel the journey is as important, if not more important, than the destination.
Actually, that pretty much mirrors my own feelings on MMO's. I was pretty hardcore when I started playing EverQuest in 1999, but over the last eight years I finally mellowed.
I don't know if the hardcore gamers are really the majority or the vocal minority, but most games spend a lot of time catering to them. World of Warcraft, at least, seems to be doing a halfway decent job of catering to both sides. City of Heroes probably caters a little over-much to the less-hardcore crowd (I hesitate to call them "casual"), but for those of us who don't want to spend 20+ hours a week playing a game, that suits us just fine.
Anyway, since your playstyle seems to match my own, I'll self-servingly call it a "healthy" way to game :)
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I don't know if the hardcore gamers are really the majority or the vocal minority, but most games spend a lot of time catering to them. World of Warcraft, at least, seems to be doing a halfway decent job of catering to both sides. City of Heroes probably caters a little over-much to the less-hardcore crowd (I hesitate to call them "casual"), but for those of us who don't want to spend 20+ hours a week playing a game, that suits us just fine.
Anyway, since your playstyle seems to match my own, I'll self-servingly call it a "healthy" way to game :)
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