MMP Game Design Challenges and Their Solutions

1. MMP Game Design Challenges and Their Solutions Matthew Ford, Auran Games Australian GDC, Dec 2004

2. Purpose • Describe classic MMP design challenges • Signs • Effects • Present solutions • Used by released MMPs • Mistaken solutions • Some speculation, not much though • Discuss

3. Me • Not from around here • Amateur game making • Programming, card games, board games • Atari in California 1993-1995 • Lead game designer, producermultiplayer arcade • Accolade in California 1995-1998 • Lead game designer, producermultiplayer PC • Microsoft Games Studios in Redmond 1998-2004 • Lead Program Manager for Asheron’s Call MMORPGs • Advising on Xbox online games and other PC MMPs • Lead action-game designer for Citizen Zero at Micro Forte, Sydney • Short stint as game designer for Mythica • Auran Games in Brisbane now • ProducerPC MMORPG

4. MMP Game Design Challenges • Bias towards MMORPGs • A good MMP game design is not just about solving problems • Nor slamming successful games • However similar challenges come up in most MMPs • Like any craft, we learn (aka steal) from each other’s effort and advance the craft • Don’t have too much pride to use others’ ideas: we are working collectively • Game logic trumps reality or story consistency • Let’s get on with it…

5. Note for readers • Click following Area hyperlinks in slide show mode to see particular areas and solutions • To go back to previously viewed slide (like browser Back navigation): • Right click slidepick Last Viewed • Or use mouse button mapped to “Back” for web browser (often the mouse’s most prominent side button) • Finish with Area hyperlink “Conclusion”

6. Areas • Social • Advancement • Player Opinion • Economy • Game Balance/Tuning • Crafting • Usability / New Players • PvP • Conclusion

7. Social • Level gap • Queuing • Over/undercrowding • Grouping vs. solo • PvP consent • Newbie Welcome Wagon

8. Advancement • Level gap • Choice regret • Macroing • The Grind

9. Player Opinion • Over/undercrowding • Queuing • Nerfing • Choice regret • Grouping vs. solo • Macroing • The Grind

10. Economy • Cash inflation • Balance loot vs. quest items • Balance crafting vs. loot • Craft yourself out of a job

11. Game Balance/Tuning • Cash inflation • Balance loot vs. quest items • Balance crafting vs. loot • Nerfing • Tuning inflation • Runaway exploits

12. Crafting • Balance crafting vs. loot • Craft yourself out of a job

13. Usability / New players • Feature breadth vs. approachability • Tutorial • Newbie Welcome Wagon

14. PvP • PvP rating abuse • PvP consent

15. Level gap • Symptoms • Friends who don’t play same amount drift apart and can’t play together any more • Acquaintances drift apart before friendships formed • Effects • Limits audience to those with regular schedules or who play max amount of time • Increases class imbalance sensitivity • Advancement obsession can get too strong

16. Level gap solution chart

17. Level gap solutions • Sidekicking (CoH) • Allow lowbies to team up with highbies and get a temporary power boost • Horizontal not vertical growth • Grow in versatility not power (PS) • Persistent XP sharing • Like a hunting group but permanent • Twink-Aid • Allow highbies to sacrifice group XP to lowbies • Fun to be highbie: reward extremely efficient play (FFXI) • Highbie trophy incentive

18. Over/undercrowding • Symptoms • At launch, newbie areas too crowded • After first rush, newbie areas too dead • Popular high-level hunt spots mobbed • Effect • Overcrowdingfrustration, rudeness, childishness • Undercrowdinggame not sticky

19. Over/undercrowding solutions • Instances • Area in game world replicates multiple copies to match crowd • Spawn rate sensitivity • Work to get to prime spot, force exit • Timed quest effect teleports you • Forced back to town for selling, healing • Accept newbie overcrowding • Spawn rate sensitivity essential here • High-level, encourage grouping through dynamics not proximity

20. Queuing • Symptoms • Players waiting in place for a spawn • Effects • Immersion breaker: heroes in line • Rude behaviorservice calls • Boredom

21. Queuing solutions • Rapid spawns • Beware incentive for non-questers to keep killing: have only reward be quest • One party one kill • Whole party needs to kill it just once • Unpredictable placement • Must wander and get lucky • Earn your way in • Must get rare drop to enter destination area

22. Cash inflation • Symptom • Average cash holding per character rises • Effect • Inflationary pricestuning out of whack • New world tuning vs. old world tuning • Haves, have nots

23. Cash inflation solutions • Cash sinks • Items • Beware upward cycle of items which increase earning power • Status items avoid this cycle • Convenience items good but time=money • Taxation • About as popular as real world equivalent • Transfer friction • Limit inventory and charge transaction costs to store more • Cash not the be-all and and-all • Trophy economy: All about rare-drop items, cash incidental • Items have advancement requirements so cash ceiling hit • Speculation: self adjustment • Holy grail that AFAIK has not been successfully attained in a big game

24. Balance loot and quest items • Symptoms • Quest stuff is so good that you won’t find its match while hunting • Effects • Quests become “must do” • Hunting boredom, item incentive gone • Advancement jumps: qualify for questjump in power from quest item

25. Quest/loot balance solutions • Quest items good in a way different from loot items • Quest items better in specialized situations, loot better in general • Can encourage questing chains • Quest items add status and boost to loot item • Ex. Purple fire, black dye (AC) • Quest rewards not in items but unlock other content

26. Balance crafting and loot • Symptoms • Crafted stuff is so good, why bother hunting for loot, or • Hunted loot is go good, why bother getting crafted • Effects • Crafting becomes required, or crafting ignored

27. Craft/loot balance solutions • Hunt for raw materials for crafting • Loot drops of materials are like “items in waiting” • Crafted items good in a way different from loot items • Crafted items better in specialized situations, loot better in general • Planned obsolescence • Crafted items wear out fast, loot items as fallback • Also keeps crafters in business

28. Craft yourself out of a job • Symptoms • Crafted items fill the market after which demand for them decreases • Effects • Players unhappy that craft skills needed less

29. Craft-out solutions • Wear-out • Crafted items wear out fast • Rising tide • Constant stream of better recipes • Beware tuning inflation

30. Nerfing • Symptoms • Game out of tunedecrease power of items or skillsunhappy players • Effects • Player frustration • Pops the bubble of constant advancement • Tuning hypersensitivity • Constant tuning flux

31. Nerfing solutions • Bold beta tuning • Nerfing in beta is painful but saves many times the pain later • Friendly facts • Expose players to clear hard stats proving what was overpowered • Raise not nerf • Make low-powered things better, not high-powered things worse • But beware tuning inflation • Obsess less • Demand for perfect tuning often a symptom of a game that’s not very fun to play and level gap problems • Designers can develop unhealthy obsession… be imperfect • Allow respec • Let those obsessed with the perfect class change their class • Beware reduction of replay

32. Tuning inflation • Symptoms • As items and abilities become generally more powerful, challenge goes down • Mobs that were perfect for given level become too easy • Effects • Tuning work creates more tuning workburns time • Game loses fun quietly

33. Tuning inflation solutions • Balance nerfing and powering up • Beware nerfing effects • Logging and mining • Plan for good data logging and mining • Monitor it regularly • Plan ahead of time the action for any discovery you make

34. Choice regret • Symptoms • Players wail and gnash teeth when they realize they made a dumb, permanent, irreversible choice • Effects • Increased demand to fix what they chose • Player despair at being “gimped” • Distrust of future choices • Gimping can increase level gap • Pariah class

35. Choice regret solutions • Let them eat rerolls • Some say let players rerollmore replay • Can have small reroll incentives to fast-forward over newbie content • Respec • Let players reverse decisions (AC2, DAoC) • Can cost advancement or rare item/quest • Delay the choice until informed • For example, no character stats or develop them later • Delay choice of spec class (DAoC) • Try before you buy • Allow players to test out a choice before locking it in (PS, ?)

36. Feature breadth vs. approachability • More choices and data = more fun for gearheads = more daunting for casuals • Symptoms • Design battles and tradeoffs • Require tutorial, then fight over pace • Effects • Gearheads think game too simple, or • Casuals think game too daunting

37. Feature breadth solutions • Pick an audience and deal • Elegance: emergent breadth • Unlocking complexity • Basic GUI simple, can “unlock” complex version (WoW chat, mods) • Layer by layer complexity • As you advance, add new features (Ragnarok) • Tutorial (if done right)

38. Tutorial • Symptoms • Players bored by tutorial • Players show ignorance later of things taught • Quit during tutorial (log this) • Effects • Bad first impression • Ignorancefailed appreciation for your genius

39. Tutorial solutions • Allow skipping? • People misestimate their need for a tutorial • Can allow skips after previous success • Call to action and story: invisible tutorial • Grab player by giving them important goals (Halo, CoH, EQ2) • Praise achievement • Must demonstrate knowledge to advance • Allows fast progress by those who know (if not much tedium) • Must restate how to succeed if they are stuck • Use multiple channels • Some key off of audio, some visuals, some patterns, some text: use them all

40. Grouping vs. Solo • Symptoms • Players complain they can’t solo • Players leave because they have few friends • Effects • Retention • Tuning uncertainty

41. Grouping/Solo solutions • Decide on your mix • Explicitly discuss your goals for solo vs. group play • Decide how it changes during advancement • Game dynamics • Some classes solo oriented • XP bonus in group • Make grouping painless • Looking-for-group and –friend features, default • Easy teleport to group leader • Items that fill in missing role • Can cost about as much as a share of the loot that missing group member would get

42. PvP rating abuse • Symptoms • Players consensually kill each other to gain rewards • Players defect from fight from fear of rating loss • Effects • Real fighters resent wannabes who cheat their way up

43. PvP rating abuse solutions • Zero-sum system • One party gains as much as other loses • Where do points come from? • New players, who must advance a certain amount to get a pool of losable points • What about newbie ganking? • Chess-like rating system accounts for level • Lower rewards for rekills (PS) • Prevent defection • Vulnerability before teleport/logout • Debuff runners • Punish defectors • Defectors treated as losers, no matter what the excuse

44. PvP consent • Symptoms • Too consensual: jerks have no fear, lose sense of paranoia • Not consensual enough: preying upon the weak just for fun • Effects • Lowbies scared off • Highbies pursue boring play

45. PvP consent solutions • Two layers: consensual and non-consensual • Non-consensual costs the aggressor dearly but it can still feel worthwhile (Lineage) • Allows some paranoia and jerk punishment but checks rampant ganking • In lowbie areas prohibit highbie first strike

46. Macroing • Symptoms • Players use macros to gain while not at keyboard • Effects • Rapid advancement from 24-hour play • Robots are antisocialgame more antisocial • Players feel their advancement cheapened • Players resent lack of action by developer

47. Macroing solutions • In some cases, see as design request • People may be macroing what is too boring or click-tastic • No advancement for things which are that easy? But: • Some players are less skilled than good bots • Gimpy players get stuck • Bot skillz can amaze you • War on Drugs strategy: forbid it and push it underground • Macroers must go where less likely to be seen and reported • Does not solve it but makes “respectable” players less agitated • Speculation: “Macros welcome” server?

48. The Grind • Symptoms • Players complain about time it takes to advance (but they always will to some degree) • You can’t stand to play your own game • Effects • Audience limited • Players may leave • You can’t relate to your players

49. Grind solutions • Accept it • Some day it’s the lifeblood of a good game, and it’s like the weather… • Multiple advancement axes • Trade one grind for another sometimes • Careful enticements • Slot-machine / pokies strategies of rewards of various rarities • Tons of content • If the reason for the grind is to prevent rapid content burn, spend millions on heaps of content • Expansion pack earnings can justify spending even more on content

50. Newbie welcome wagon • Symptoms • New players feel lost and unconnected with only other newbies to comfort them • And many of those may be busy rerolls • Effects • Conversion rate suffers • Early content rushed through