10-13-2009, 03:55 PM
MMOs vs SPGs and keeping MMOs focused (a Variation of "The One Rule")
v2
The difference between MMOs and single player games can basically be boiled down to two key components. Focusing on MMO games, MMOs add two things that single player games can't offer. The first is a social component. The second is an ability to fight with or against other players. No matter how good a single player game is, it can't really offer those two items. As such, MMO developers can't forget why their games exist and what their priorities should be when faced with design decisions.
The social aspect is highly important. People like to talk and interact with other people. Doing so can lead to new friendships or new rivalries which further enhance the gaming experience. The friendships, rivalries and communities which spring up from these social interactions is arguably as important as the game itself. Even those who don't use MMOs to socialize in general, are very happy that the social element exists when it comes time to talk about in game conquests, kills, feats of economic triumph etc. No matter who you are, the social aspect of MMOs and the communities that can form around them are an integral part of any game. Social interaction and the resulting communities it builds are critical.
The second aspect, the player interaction one, is what really sets MMOs apart. Just as its often more fun to play your friends in Chess or Monopoly then it is to play the computer, the same holds true for computer games. Its just more fun to group up with other people to go fight other people or computer players then it is to fight alone with or against a computer by itself. I'm sure there are times, just as we sometimes like to be by ourselves reading a book, that a good single player game can provide the environment we want at the moment. But any advanced gamer's true love (imo) will always lie in interacting with other players.
Whether its the social element or competitive/cooperative player interaction element, MMO developers need to keep focused on what sets MMOs apart from other computer games. As such, MMOs developers should go out of their way to ensure that the social and player to player interaction is well done, easy to use, and central to the game. Anything that takes focus away from these two components, should be the enemy of any good MMO game design. All of this seems fairly obvious, but I imagine that I must be missing something since game developers continue to lose focus on these two most basic and most important aspects of MMO gaming.
v2
The difference between MMOs and single player games can basically be boiled down to two key components. Focusing on MMO games, MMOs add two things that single player games can't offer. The first is a social component. The second is an ability to fight with or against other players. No matter how good a single player game is, it can't really offer those two items. As such, MMO developers can't forget why their games exist and what their priorities should be when faced with design decisions.
The social aspect is highly important. People like to talk and interact with other people. Doing so can lead to new friendships or new rivalries which further enhance the gaming experience. The friendships, rivalries and communities which spring up from these social interactions is arguably as important as the game itself. Even those who don't use MMOs to socialize in general, are very happy that the social element exists when it comes time to talk about in game conquests, kills, feats of economic triumph etc. No matter who you are, the social aspect of MMOs and the communities that can form around them are an integral part of any game. Social interaction and the resulting communities it builds are critical.
The second aspect, the player interaction one, is what really sets MMOs apart. Just as its often more fun to play your friends in Chess or Monopoly then it is to play the computer, the same holds true for computer games. Its just more fun to group up with other people to go fight other people or computer players then it is to fight alone with or against a computer by itself. I'm sure there are times, just as we sometimes like to be by ourselves reading a book, that a good single player game can provide the environment we want at the moment. But any advanced gamer's true love (imo) will always lie in interacting with other players.
Whether its the social element or competitive/cooperative player interaction element, MMO developers need to keep focused on what sets MMOs apart from other computer games. As such, MMOs developers should go out of their way to ensure that the social and player to player interaction is well done, easy to use, and central to the game. Anything that takes focus away from these two components, should be the enemy of any good MMO game design. All of this seems fairly obvious, but I imagine that I must be missing something since game developers continue to lose focus on these two most basic and most important aspects of MMO gaming.
"Hamilton is really a Colossus to the anti republican party. Without numbers he is an host within himself. They have got themselves into a defile where they might be finished but too much security on the republican part will give time to his talents and indefatigableness to extricate them. We have had only middling performances to oppose to him. In truth when he comes forward there is nobody but yourself who can meet him. His adversaries having begun the attack he has the advantage of answering them and remains unanswered himself. For God's sake take up your pen and give a fundamental reply to Curtius and Camillas" - Thomas Jefferson to James Madison