The roles we play

[Oatik]

www.massively.com/2009/12/08/the-roles-we-play/

If you want the player to feel like a wizard, it'll take more than fire damage, funny-looking robes and a pointy hat. The game mechanics need to make him feel like a wizard and so place him adequately in that role. When I think of wizards, I think of chanting spells in unknown tongues, spellbooks with runic lettering, powerful magic staves, pentagrams drawn on the ground and teleportation. I sure as hell don't think of pressing 1 to 4 repeatedly and then picking up the loot.

This covered some of what I'd like to see in more games, story that you live not story that you read about in 9 pages of quest text.

[Regolyth]

If you want the player to feel like a wizard, it'll take more than fire damage, funny-looking robes and a pointy hat. The game mechanics need to make him feel like a wizard and so place him adequately in that role.

I think that's a very true statement. You really do need to mechanics to "feel" appropriate for the class you're playing.

[Morreion]

Excellent link, Oat!

Problems arise when game mechanics take priority over the story roles players are placed into. Game designers aren't just responsible for creating balanced and interesting game mechanics that work. Their job is to carefully craft a game experience based on how they want the player to feel -- to create a role for the player to fill. This counts as much for class and race design as it does for quests and zones. If you want the player to feel like a wizard, it'll take more than fire damage, funny-looking robes and a pointy hat. The game mechanics need to make him feel like a wizard and so place him adequately in that role. When I think of wizards, I think of chanting spells in unknown tongues, spellbooks with runic lettering, powerful magic staves, pentagrams drawn on the ground and teleportation. I sure as hell don't think of pressing 1 to 4 repeatedly and then picking up the loot. It's up to the game designers to create unique mechanics for every class matching their role and practically every MMO falls far short of the mark in that department.

Agree 100%. When you feel like you're playing a game more than a role, that's not a good sign. At least to people who like a role to begin with.