Post by Morreion on Jun 25, 2010 8:33:39 GMT -5
Killing Fun by the Numbers
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy writes about the trend of MMO games to forget to "add the fun" and instead focus solely on how to keep us paying that $15 a month.
Bill makes a good point. Too much content is repetition, like WoW's faction grinding. Part of this is lazy game design, part of it is the lack of allowing players to be the content or create their own content. I think virtual worlds are better in this regard than theme parks. The latter tend to be over-controlling and almost stifling in their cattle chute approach to making you do things instead of giving you freedom of choice. Since interaction with other players is no longer needed in many games, the focus is on repetitious PvE (or no-consequences PvP). Taking the social element out of games is a big hindrance to the possibilities of a much richer experience.
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy writes about the trend of MMO games to forget to "add the fun" and instead focus solely on how to keep us paying that $15 a month.
We’re all rats.
We get set down into a box and we’re told to press a button over and over until we are assigned rewards at random intervals. If we stop pressing the button, we get electrified by the grid below our feet: a diabolical way to keep us pressing that button. It’s a clever way to keep us locked in our operant conditioning chamber lest we break free and realize that there’s a way out of the box should we choose to cut loose.
advertisement
We are gamers.
We play our chosen MMOs and we kill virtual creatures repeatedly in the hopes we will be assigned shiny gear at random intervals. Should we stop killing the virtual creatures in search of our loot, we won’t be able to compare to our peers. We won’t be able to progress our characters. In the shift to subscription gaming, developers must find a way to keep us playing and paying.
They are trying to get us addicted, and the scary part is that it’s actually working. I won’t deny that I have fallen time and again for the lure of the shiny. At heart I am an achiever when it comes to the Bartle Test. Most modern MMOs are designed to snatch people like me. I can’t even remember the last time I wasn’t subscribed to some game or another. But as developers begin to realize the need to keep us hooked, they rely increasingly on mechanics that reward a ridiculous amount of repetition and along the way they’re forgetting to add in the fun. The hero of MMO developers isn’t someone like Richard Garriott anymore; it’s B.F. Skinner. In the process of working so hard to get us to pay a subscription, a lot of studios seem to be forgetting to make their games fun.
We get set down into a box and we’re told to press a button over and over until we are assigned rewards at random intervals. If we stop pressing the button, we get electrified by the grid below our feet: a diabolical way to keep us pressing that button. It’s a clever way to keep us locked in our operant conditioning chamber lest we break free and realize that there’s a way out of the box should we choose to cut loose.
advertisement
We are gamers.
We play our chosen MMOs and we kill virtual creatures repeatedly in the hopes we will be assigned shiny gear at random intervals. Should we stop killing the virtual creatures in search of our loot, we won’t be able to compare to our peers. We won’t be able to progress our characters. In the shift to subscription gaming, developers must find a way to keep us playing and paying.
They are trying to get us addicted, and the scary part is that it’s actually working. I won’t deny that I have fallen time and again for the lure of the shiny. At heart I am an achiever when it comes to the Bartle Test. Most modern MMOs are designed to snatch people like me. I can’t even remember the last time I wasn’t subscribed to some game or another. But as developers begin to realize the need to keep us hooked, they rely increasingly on mechanics that reward a ridiculous amount of repetition and along the way they’re forgetting to add in the fun. The hero of MMO developers isn’t someone like Richard Garriott anymore; it’s B.F. Skinner. In the process of working so hard to get us to pay a subscription, a lot of studios seem to be forgetting to make their games fun.
No more do I play MMOs for the gear. I don’t care about the payoff. If it’s a grind, I avoid it. And here, I define “grind” as something bland that I must do repeatedly for a pittance of reward. If I’m playing a game where the only way to progress is through mindlessly slaying mobs because I’ve run out of actual questing content to partake in, I stop playing. If I am told the only way to get the game’s best weapon or armor is by repeating this content over and over again, then I don’t try to obtain that item. It’s my very own MMO credo.
I don’t very much enjoy being treated like a rat. And I don’t suspect game developers really want us to be treated as such either. They’re really just trying to find a balance that will keep us both enjoying their game and paying to do so. It’s a business. In anything that is serially delivered, like a TV show or a magazine imprint, the only way to keep that business going is to keep your customers hooked. MMOs that base their entire revenue model off of the subscription process are stuck in the same conundrum as your favorite weekly sitcom. Our money keeps them working, which in turn keeps us entertained. But for MMO design balancing the lab-rat practices with the actual fun is proving to be a difficult task for many designers.
I don’t very much enjoy being treated like a rat. And I don’t suspect game developers really want us to be treated as such either. They’re really just trying to find a balance that will keep us both enjoying their game and paying to do so. It’s a business. In anything that is serially delivered, like a TV show or a magazine imprint, the only way to keep that business going is to keep your customers hooked. MMOs that base their entire revenue model off of the subscription process are stuck in the same conundrum as your favorite weekly sitcom. Our money keeps them working, which in turn keeps us entertained. But for MMO design balancing the lab-rat practices with the actual fun is proving to be a difficult task for many designers.
Bill makes a good point. Too much content is repetition, like WoW's faction grinding. Part of this is lazy game design, part of it is the lack of allowing players to be the content or create their own content. I think virtual worlds are better in this regard than theme parks. The latter tend to be over-controlling and almost stifling in their cattle chute approach to making you do things instead of giving you freedom of choice. Since interaction with other players is no longer needed in many games, the focus is on repetitious PvE (or no-consequences PvP). Taking the social element out of games is a big hindrance to the possibilities of a much richer experience.