January 2005
- Homogeneity and choice (Was DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs?) Mike Rozak
John Buehler wrote:
> Unfortunately, I think that's entertainment for a designer, not a
> player. A designer is entertained by the composite experience
> (the tapestry) of all the players running around in their
> fictional world. For any given player, they have a single thread
> of that
[snip]
> Design entertainment for a type of player (probably an enthusiast
> of a certain experience), and not for fellow designers. If an
> entertainment experience occurs and nobody but a designer can
> witness it, does it truly happen?
I don't disagree with your points. I do find it amazing how
intertwined everything is...
Weather turns into a topic about artistic freedom/license... Do I
create weather effects that I would like to experience and tell
those players who don't like it to go elsewhere? Or do I cater to
the masses and have weatherless weather? Or someplace in-between?
(This topic has undoubtedly been discussed to death.)
While I don't know which side of the fence I fall on with respenct
to the mountain-pass scenario, the snow-covered pass raises issues
that I dislike about some of the MMORPGs I've played: (Which I plan
to rectify in my world(s).)
1) Homogeneity - In a MMORPG, one point in space is pretty much
the same as any other point in space, other than differently
shaped trees or differently shaped monsters. The same can be said
for time, where day = night, except that night is a shade
darker. Or of races, and often of classes. Homogenaity is further
bolstered by instantaneous world-wide chat, world-wide
teleportation, and world-wide item markets.
Taking homogeneity to extremes produces a world with instant
teleportation anywhere, being able to talk to anyone any time you
want, etc. It's a 0-sized world, which isn't a world. It's more of
a Yahoo Games website where users get to choose which monster they
want to fight and when, or which mineral they want to mine now, of
who they wish to talk to at any particular moment, etc.
Potentially contentious issue: I see a virtual world as a platform
upon which sub-games (like combat, spaceship flying, crafting, or
chat) are based. Yahoo games is the same thing, except that it has
no spatial component. The less "spatial" a MMORPG is, the more it
competes against Yahoo Games or any of the other zillions of free
web-games...
I feel that space and time should subtly (or obviously) change the
behavior of each sub-game. If I engage in combat on an ice field,
my character should be more likely to fall (unless he's very
dextrous). If I engage in combat in a dungeon corridore, my 2
handed sword shouldn't work. If I engage in combat standing near a
boiling bit of lava, my armor metal should overheat, benefiting
characters with leather armor. Etc. If I go fishing in ice I catch
trout (or other fish that feed in cold water). If I go fishing in
a dungeon corridore I catch eyeless fish. If I go fishing in a
boiling pit of lava I have to buy a new lure.
Weather that actually acts like weather is a good way to attack
homogenaity.
2) Choices - Interactivity requires that the player makes
choices. For a choice to be meaningful to a player, it must have
consequences, some of which adversely affect the player. Asking a
player to choose between door A or door B is worthless and
deceitful if they both have the same results. (Also: It's bad
design if door A and door B look the same and give no inkling as
to the results of the choice. If door A is almost always a better
experience then door B, then the choice is likewise bad.)
One of the consequences most commonly used in MMORPGs is wasted
time... if you choose to attack a monster and die, you lose XP or
have to run back to your body as a ghost. Both are time syncs,
kind of like detention is used in high school.
Another consequence that is less-frequently used is the denial of
content.... If you cross the mountains you will be stuck there for
the winter (2 weeks), but you'll be able to see the winter
festival. If you stay on this side of the mountains you miss the
winter festival, but aren't isolated from the rest of the world.
Weather (and mountain passes) can be used as a choice mechanism.
I know which way mass-markets tend to go: You can find McDonalds
almost everyplace in the world (homogeneity), and the choices
provided by mass-market systems are fairly weak (Do you want your
sandwich to be called a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder? Do you want
fries or a hash-brown with that? Will that be Coke or Sprite?).
Mike Rozak
http://www.mxac.com.au - [SPAM] DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs? Dana V. Baldwin
- Homogeneity and choice (Was DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs?) Mike Rozak
- Homogeneity and choice (Was DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs?) John Buehler
- Homogeneity and choice (Was DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs?) Mike Rozak
- Homogeneity and choice (Was DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs?) John Buehler
- Homogeneity and choice (Was DESIGN: Why do people like weather in MMORPGs?) Mike Rozak
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