Post by Morreion on Mar 3, 2010 1:08:06 GMT -5
You had to be “There”: 5 Lessons Unlearned by the MMO Industry (Pop Culture of Destruction)
This article is a retrospective of There, but it makes some interesting points about MMO design:
This article points out the fact that facilitating social interaction can be an important thing for MMOs. So many do it poorly these days.
This article is a retrospective of There, but it makes some interesting points about MMO design:
The MMO industry would do well to take a look at what “There” was, and what it did right.
1. Social Interaction Is A Content Stream (and it’s Free!)
It sounds incredibly obvious, but game companies can’t seem to get it into their heads that people talking with each other – laughing, planning, interacting and getting to know each other – is a content stream. MMO’s are often described as content channels where the developer pushes graphics, sounds, animations and other assets to the user. But what about the user pushing their own content to other players. I’m not talking about the creation of objects – although There featured that as well – I’m talking about people gladly sharing ideas, conversations and various ways of connecting.
It sounds incredibly obvious, but game companies can’t seem to get it into their heads that people talking with each other – laughing, planning, interacting and getting to know each other – is a content stream. MMO’s are often described as content channels where the developer pushes graphics, sounds, animations and other assets to the user. But what about the user pushing their own content to other players. I’m not talking about the creation of objects – although There featured that as well – I’m talking about people gladly sharing ideas, conversations and various ways of connecting.
2. People Will Pay To Look Cool
“Microtransactions be damned” seems to be the motto of the modern MMO player as business models change, and the sand shifts right under their feet. But it should be noted that “There” did Microtransactions very well. Most of the items that you could purchase in game simply added to the fun, or were related to how you looked. People gladly paid money to buy new and interesting forms of clothing as their characters interacted.
“Microtransactions be damned” seems to be the motto of the modern MMO player as business models change, and the sand shifts right under their feet. But it should be noted that “There” did Microtransactions very well. Most of the items that you could purchase in game simply added to the fun, or were related to how you looked. People gladly paid money to buy new and interesting forms of clothing as their characters interacted.
3. If You Give People The Tools, They Will Interact. If You Don’t, They Won’t. [my bolding ~Morr]
People basically want to interact with other people. There are exceptions, but most people enjoy talking with or interacting with other players in the game if given half a chance. “There” gave people a lot of chances to interact in a hover board sporting events, parties and simple get-togethers in open areas. But more important than just the offense were the tools given to the players so that they could interact. Yes, there were things like dance moves, friends lists – but there was a lot more than this. The unique avatar system caused people to emotionally invest in their character in ways that doesn’t take place in most games these days. The designers understood that interacting could be a way of communicating, but it could also be a way of showing off, or flirting or just spending some time talking to someone.
People basically want to interact with other people. There are exceptions, but most people enjoy talking with or interacting with other players in the game if given half a chance. “There” gave people a lot of chances to interact in a hover board sporting events, parties and simple get-togethers in open areas. But more important than just the offense were the tools given to the players so that they could interact. Yes, there were things like dance moves, friends lists – but there was a lot more than this. The unique avatar system caused people to emotionally invest in their character in ways that doesn’t take place in most games these days. The designers understood that interacting could be a way of communicating, but it could also be a way of showing off, or flirting or just spending some time talking to someone.
4. Chat Can And Does Lead To Other Forms Of Play
...But the real unlearned lesson from “There” was that chat constantly led to activities of all kinds. Chat in and of itself was entertaining and fun, but inevitably someone would say “why don’t we do something?” And often we did.
...But the real unlearned lesson from “There” was that chat constantly led to activities of all kinds. Chat in and of itself was entertaining and fun, but inevitably someone would say “why don’t we do something?” And often we did.
5. Even Hardcore Players Enjoy Social Interaction
I would hardly call myself a hard-core player, but I did play other MMO’s and often told people about “There” as a stopping off point after they finished a hard day of killing monsters, or fighting super criminals. Many players took me up on my offer to show them the virtual world, and agreed with me that having these kinds of interactions in the games that they loved would’ve added tremendously to the value of those games.
I would hardly call myself a hard-core player, but I did play other MMO’s and often told people about “There” as a stopping off point after they finished a hard day of killing monsters, or fighting super criminals. Many players took me up on my offer to show them the virtual world, and agreed with me that having these kinds of interactions in the games that they loved would’ve added tremendously to the value of those games.
This article points out the fact that facilitating social interaction can be an important thing for MMOs. So many do it poorly these days.
