Synopsis: Player interaction is the source of the best multiplayer entertainment. Any merits that grinding might seem to possess are actually a result of forcing players to interact. Recent games have removed that forced interaction, which contributes to their bland, empty feeling.
The Grind is the phenomenon of players having to repeatedly perform actions over a long period of time in order to reach some goal. It is like running a marathon. Or climbing a mountain. You just keep slogging away at it until you reach your goal. And in an MMO, the grind is shared. You're all trudging along, side by side, picking other people up when they fall, commiserating about the sores on your feet, the callouses on your hands and the tendency of your eyes to spontaneously cross and uncross.
That sounds like a pretty good recipe for some real worthwhile memories, doesn't it? You've got people helping you up, maybe a few putting you down, you've got trials and tribulations to share, and a community of players who are actually interacting in a personal way. That's the sort of environment that EverQuest produced. I have my memories of that game. I have war stories and some really enjoyable moments. And I sincerely hope that I never play a game like that again.
What I do hope for is a game that can get the players interacting. In EverQuest, the grind contributed to an overall environment that accomplished that. But it wasn't just the grind. There was also mandatory grouping, a nasty death system and most of all, it was a crowded world.
There were people everywhere you turned. We were constantly in each other's way. We had to interact. Not only because we were too many people for such a small world, but because the game systems forced us to. We were dependent on each other to play the game.
That is why EverQuest is remembered. Because of the fact that we all had to do things together. The grind just happened to be the shared experience. The corpse runs just happened to be the point where the most hung in the balance, and the kindness of friends (and strangers) could be demonstrated.
But we also came together when there were bugs, when we needed items made and all other manner of activity. EverQuest forced us to interact. After a fashion, the bugs in EverQuest really were features.
Compare that with World of Warcraft. Players hardly need to interact. They can email each other. They can buy and sell through the auction houses. Anyone can become a crafter of any type of item. Players can solo all the way up to the highest levels. When EverQuest players wanted to buy or sell an item, they had to turn into barkers on street corners, trying to hawk their wares. Finding an item relied on word of mouth or visiting a certain zone that the players had turned into their marketplace.
Yet given the choice of the two games, I'd immediately pick World of Warcraft. While EverQuest succeeded in bringing players together, it was done in forced, draconian and otherwise unpleasant ways.
It is not the grind that makes games enjoyable or memorable. It is the process of keeping players interacting with each other. World of Warcraft succeeded in eliminating the pain of EverQuest, but that included the elimination of all the forced grouping effects. That is why World of Warcraft is so practical as a soloer's game until the highest levels. What the next generation of games will have to discover is how to formulate a game experience that naturally causes players to interact. Not because they artificially must, but because for one reason or another, they want to.
It'll be a real trick to pull off, but I'm certain that somebody will find the magic. Without the grind.
User Comments
While hopefully maintaining the ability to solo? Depending on my mood I will play a character that can group well or solo well. I like the idea of both. I do not like being forced to do either. This is why warcraft = fail to me.
Sometimes I want to group up and enjoy the company of others. Sometimes I want to go lonewolf and stalk my prey alone.
Once again, great stuff. I never played EQ, but as a long time gamer, I heard many a tale. I agree with your logic, but, like t0nyd, I say that soloing should be there as well. Many players prefer soloing and still (want to) contribute and be part of the world and game as a whole. Be it through trading or crafting or whatever. Now I will get in line waiting for the magic to show up.
"The Grind" I am sick of people saying this. Every RPG is about character building and progression. You take away "The Grind" you are left with a Counter Strike. Why do people come to fantasy rpgs and then try to turn them into something that they are not? Go play an adventure game or first person shooter online if that is what you want.
Everquest did it right. World of Warcraft was garbage for a MMORPG but excellent for a single player rpg. I can do that offline though. When you give people hardly any reason to group or make it not needed to progress, you end up with a horrible community like WoW. Why do you I play games online? That is for player interaction, and if the players are so rude and obnoxious like in WoW, no thanks.
I am sorry, but if you want to encourage coming together you have to require coming together to advance, to sell, to buy, etc etc.
Congrats T0nyd for being featured, again, in the MMORPG.com newsletter for your blog. Somebody's popular!
You must not forget that WoW does have forced grouping from level 15 or so on to the end game. Instances of all level ranges. True, you don't have to do them to quest up to max level, and up until about level 55 you can have a max level toon clear the instance for you, but is that not still grouping?
My leveling process 50-60 and then later 60-70 was probably 60% grouping in instances and 35% solo questing, 5% group questing. It's all about play style. Most who create an alt will have their max level buddy clear the instances for them levels 15-60ish but it's still grouping. First time through on a new toon reaching the new content, you probably grouped a lot more then you remember.
Nearly all PvP is group based in WoW, and all end-game PvE is grouping as well. If you skip all the instances till you hit 70 and just solo grind quests, yes, you can then solo to max level. If you choose to run the instances, even if only by a max level friend who clears it all for you, you are at least still grouping.
t0nyd and Norden, the difficulty is that if soloing is viable, players will apparently solo because grouping is onerous. This was my inspiration for "Raids for Everybody!", where players are all in the same area, pursuing a common goal, but without the need to say that we three are an official group and that we're going to do this, that or the other. Instead, fluid, happenstance alliances could form and dissolve simply because certain players were approaching the common goal in a similar way. Those happenstance alliances might last a few seconds or they might last an hour or more.
It reduces, but does not eliminate the entanglement with other players that makes it so hard to quit a session or change a personal agenda. So a bunch of people who want to solo can actually work together. Not officially, but just because they happen to be pursuing the same goal.
qombi, thanks for your thoughts. The fact that there is an existing recipe for RPGs does not deny the possibility of other recipes that will work as well, if not better. Eve Online is exploring one that is neither Counterstrike nor stock RPG. There are many other recipes besides, and they will be discovered in time.
heerobya, World of Warcraft does not begin to touch upon the forced interactions that EverQuest systems produced. All of the systems found in World of Warcraft had nastier versions in EverQuest that caused players to band together.
Take a look at this article about a World of Warcraft study:
http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2006/02/alone_together_.html
This was a masterpiece, a beauty of words scrawled upon digital paper. You are an artist my friend.
How much does EQ2 compare to EQ I wonder? At launch there was no auction house I can recall and you had to buy spells from others. unfortunately the group XP debt was a killer for teaming. it wa slike the devs punished us for teaming with others in a way. guess I was just selfish. just didnt understand. And WoW had PVP at launch. WoW was a godsend at the time :(
I have played EQII for a little over a year and I want to give my perspective on it. Just for a point of reference I had tried WoW for their 14 day trial I bought at the local GameStop.
Graphics: After playing EQII and getting used to the high end graphics, I found WoW to seem almost childish in it look and feel. I am sure that I will be flamed and screamed at for this comment,. but it is how I feel as well as my wife and 5 kids.
Gameplay: I was not happy with the UI nor the actual combat system in WoW. EQII was easy to learn and master with little documentation. I also found it easy to modify the interface to fit my style of play. As for the forced interaction, well, I played for 6 months before I even tried my first group. Once I did I then got into a raid (2 groups or more) and that was awesome! Although I still do most of my fighting solo, (maxed player at 70 and now on way to new max of 80) I do still enjoy the group and raid play too much to want to give that up.
Summery: I found WoW better for those who were not looking to out a lot of time building a character and all it's associated skill sets from Tradeskills to Tinker or Transmuter. The lore is entrenched and with all the expansions, adventure packs and updates, the game always seems to hold something new.
Just my opinion. :-)
Giju
Mystic24, thanks for the comments. The article was talking about the original EverQuest, which came out in 1999. It was a very different game than EverQuest II. But good for you for raising five kids :)
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