THE PERFECT MMORPG

- A Massively Multiplayer game is a game that can support hundreds of players in a single world.

- A Role-playing Game is a game where the player follows and progresses through a story in a fantasy world. Since the player is a one-of-a-kind person in a single-player RPG, their story is unique to them. They’re enjoying the game partly because they’re the only character that’s doing these things, and often affecting the world. They get to see and change what happens to this world (even if predefined). The change to the world makes the game interesting, the player wants to know what happens next, and the player has a role in this game (hence Role-playing Game).

Now, an MMORPG, by today’s standards, is a fantasy world with thousands of players. The world has a back-story, yes, but does it’s story move on? No. The story remains the same, and every player experiences it in the same way. Yes, there are different races and classes, which give the player a different perspective of the story, but it’s still the same story for every player! Expansions may be added with a little story progression, but it’s often just a device for extra content.

The major problem with today’s MMORPGs? The player has no role! The MMORPG has simply become a competition to see who can be the most powerful. It is a competition that involves the player staring at the screen for hours, days, weeks and months on end doing the same thing… over and over again... Oh, but there’s the social aspect, isn’t there? Well, there are problems with the social aspect:

- Players that have friends in the game that they actually know might as well play a different multiplayer game. They might as well be in a chat room. They are now part of the big competition as a group, helping each other reach higher levels.
- People you meet in the game have the same aspirations as you. Pretty much everyone just wants to be stronger and better.
- People you meet and befriend in the game? Same story. You might as well have met them in a chat room and played a different game, in fact that would probably be more fun.
- People you fight in PvP just want to show you that they are stronger (have spent more time levelling up). There is barely any skill in a PvP fight – it relies on choosing the right skills and being a higher level. That’s hardly Gameplay. There is no element of chaos – a knowledged player will know the skills of every class, therefore know what to do to beat them. Very repetitive.

A vast world and a massive array of items means nothing in a game where everyone has the same goal and follows the same path to that goal.

So, to reverse the bad points and turn them into the good points that an MMORPG should have…

The game needs to be DYNAMIC. The world that it’s played in needs to be more than a static realm with a back-story. What does a back-story mean if it can’t be built upon and moved forward?

The game needs to allow for players to have ROLES. The players need to be able to do things that change the world in any number of ways. This ties in with the world being dynamic. As the developer can make changes, so can the player. Of course, a single player wont be able to do much. A collection of players, however, will.

I think the key might be realism… anything the player does should produce the desired effect. Attacking a guard will end in them attacking you, and taking you into custody. Killing someone’s pet will make them angry at you (this is a given for players, but it should be the same for NPCs).

Ah, let’s rethink that. The key is FREEDOM. Too many MMORPGs restrict the player e.g. you are unable to attack and kill NPCs, or NPCs are too strong to be worth attacking, other than for a bit of fun. Another aspect of freedom is level differences. More often than not, if a player is 2 or 3 levels higher than someone else, they will win the fight without a shadow of a doubt. Also the freedom of exploration. Powerful monsters should not exist simply because they are further away from the beginning areas. In fact, they could be right around the corner…

Maybe the main problem is with the very concept of Level. If you think about it, giving a person an overall ‘level’ is pretty stupid (it works for many games, but it’s becoming very bland and not too creative). In an MMORPG, it seems people are only separated by a few things:
- Level (general strength)
- Race (if only aesthetically)
- Class (what kind of skills they have)
- Equipment (rarely making that much difference with Level Requirements)

Skill is not included on that list. It damn well should be. Also, skill should not be restricted to simple ‘combat ability’. Everything the player does should require some skill. I am speaking of the player’s skill, not their character. In order to improve their character’s skill, the player must be skilled at the method in which this skill is upgraded. This adds a lot more variety to the players instantly, as now it is not a question of how much time they put into something, but their natural skill and personality. If a player finds a certain thing fun to do, chances are they’ll keep doing it, improving their own skill as well as their characters.

Player skill gives characters individuality, and this also changes the character’s path, which eliminates the linear aspect of the game. No longer are players putting time into either levelling up or crafting, they are actually putting effort into playing. Achieving things with skill should be ultimately more rewarding, thus a more enjoyable game. As well as this, it brings in the community aspect! Players ask for help if they suck at something they want to get good at, and new roles are created as more skilled players are asked for help, and some might even become tutors and masters of their craft (be it combat, smithing, tailoring, gardening…).

As well as the above, to make the skills rely on certain aspects of the player, they need to be challenging in different ways! Different challenges, which can come from many different types of games, ultimately making the game a big combination of lots of games. These challenges should be fairly basic, easy to pick up but hard to master.

Because of this Skill system, the game becomes more ‘realistic’. The world is no longer full of the majority of people who are combat-oriented and the minority who craft; it is a massive collection of very different people. The players have their individuality. There is much further and deeper division within combat and crafting. One does not simply fight - he fights for a reason. Wealth? The safety of a community? Power?

Every skill should be important in the world – not just a device for profit, but also a device for survival. A decline in food will force people to become farmers, bakers, chefs etc. else their community will become weaker, maybe even die. Likewise with lack of soldiers/guards, or perhaps tailors when a cold winter comes. All of this strengthens the bonds of the community, making them a formidable force.

This will affect the economy of the world, too. Players who make things will be selling things. Communities grow around people who make items in certain styles, and grow certain plants, which change the characters in a subtle way.

An example – a particularly productive farmer produces some high quality potatoes that can increase a character’s fortitude! The community that buys food from this player will all receive this benefit, and become stronger together, separating them from other communities within the game world - perhaps a place where there are unskilled farmers producing food for that area, or simply farmers producing food with different benefits. Perhaps one community benefits from enhanced strength from a particular farmer, therefore having an advantage when it comes to melee combat. Warriors who are strong already will become even stronger, but then they have the choice of what to do with their power! They can protect the community from danger, fight amongst each other in tournament, fight other communities and win their community more land, anything!

This all adds to the story of the world. Wandering travellers may stumble upon this land and find out about their history. Players could even become historians (requiring no skill, simply the will to write about things and an interest in the world – these people will be rare, but a very welcome addition to the game), documenting the happenings in their community, and eventually venture out to meet other historians and compile their works into a massive world history! Perhaps things happen between two communities, and the historians have seen things from different perspectives!

And all this develops from a world in which nothing has happened before the players entered. Think of how it could be if the world’s ‘back-story’ affected things. In fact, the back-story wouldn’t matter too much a few months into the game, it would create its own back-story. The game could even start with absolutely nothing. Maybe players could start as cavemen working to improve their world. Rather than fighting to become stronger, characters will fight to survive! Perhaps there are goblins who have moved nearby, and rather than them being there all the time as some quest given by an NPC, they actually pose a threat, and NEED to be gotten rid of.

What would make things REALLY interesting is if there were two factions. More often than not, factions exist only as a device for PvP. These factions can’t really accomplish anything, they’re just fighting endlessly. With two (or more than two! Dozens maybe!) factions in this ‘perfect MMORPG’, players will be fighting for land, to become the stronger faction. Perhaps people want to try forming alliances between factions? Players will have different views on this. A divide will form between peacekeepers and war makers. So conflict grows within the factions, they may even split off into yet more factions. Factions could win wars, forcing the losing faction to retreat to safety, or perhaps become enslaved!

And this is all within the player’s world. Outside of the communities and towns and cities and faction wars is a world to explore. There may be secrets hidden in this world – powerful secrets. A player may find an object that could change the world completely! That player now has a choice, and he also has power. He has temptation, and he is either selfish and mean or generous and helpful, he also belongs to one of several (most probably conflicting) factions. This player also feels special, and other players will be shocked, amazed or jealous when they hear of this player’s discovery. It depends on the person. Some may want to assassinate him, gaining the object for themselves! Others to protect and advise him (if only with the intent of betraying him).

TO SUMMARISE

- There are no ‘levels’. Characters progress in certain skills, and their character’s physical and mental abilities can also improve to a point. There is no need to ‘progress’, however, as characters can assume the role of an explorer, historian, politician, thief etc. Combat is not determined by character strength, but mostly by player skill. A strong character with good armour and a good weapon only has a better chance of winning, not a definite chance, however he will still be respected and feared, as there is a good chance that he obtained such equipment by being naturally good at fighting. Appearance can be deceiving, as he also may be just a thief with no combat skill. Players can be devious, cunning and tricky. An intelligent person can play the game just as well as any other gamer.
- Emphasis on community. What use is a load of players if they all do their own thing? Every skill is useful; most players need to contribute for the community to work. The community is not simply guilds or raid parties, or just a chat room.
- The world builds its own story – changes happen within communities, and can end up affecting the whole world, as a kind of butterfly effect. The world is never static.
- The game acts as an immersive escape from reality because it is its own reality. Pick any point in the game’s existence – it will most likely be very different. A player wouldn’t get bored and never come back, in fact they are more likely to come back to see how things have changed!
- The world will never work its way into something boring. If things start to get dull, the game’s creators can add something into the game to disrupt things. Perhaps players will want to change things by starting revolutions or declaring war.
- NPCs are kept to a minimum. At most, they are evil monsters or just critters. There will be no quest-givers, maybe not even townsfolk, guards, rulers or vendors. The players create and assume such roles, or the game’s creators may appoint roles to them e.g. a particularly bold and clever player may be given the opportunity to become a Lord, or perhaps an explorer will discover some dark secret and become a completely different character!
- The information given to the players will be very limited. This works for just about everything. On a small level, players will not immediately know another player’s name, and will go only by appearance or profession until actually meeting and talking to them. There will not be any solid information about the game world – it is to be explored and discovered, with tales to be told and rumours to be passed. There will also be no ‘numbers’. Character information will be abstract, certain aspects possibly randomised upon creation. The player will find out what they are good at, and be natural good at certain things.

With these concepts, the game can take a vast multitude of paths. It is all a question of human nature.

This is what I deem to be the ‘Perfect MMORPG’. This is a game where the players rule, and the world is constantly changing. It is massively multiplayer, it is online, and it is a true role-playing game. A lot of it is based on some ideal situations, and making it would probably be quite a bit risk. Sure, most players will still want to simply become stronger and better, but I think the game would encourage players to have fun, and also work together.

I’d love to see this done as an experiment; it’s basically an MMORPG with no restrictions. If I knew how to make one, I’d probably try it

Some of these concepts may be transferrable to other types of games as well, or maybe not. Either way I hope this article has been interesting or inspiring in some way. Thanks for reading