So you run out and drop $50 on the newest MMORPG release. You hand over your credit card info so they can automatically charge you $15 a month and start playing. You go all limp and creamy over the new graphics and feel refreshed by the change of setting as you proceed to knock down quests and level your character. Then, about a week into it, you realize something. This game is boring as hell.
I'm going to stop this example here and explain that this probably isn't true for first time MMORPG players. For those of us who have been around the block a time or two however, we tend to get a sense of deja vu fairly quickly. Of course, if you're a veteran MMORPG player, you'll know the off the cuff answer to your boredom: "The game really doesn't start until you hit the endgame." WTF?!
Why in the hell do I have to wait for the space of three months to a year (depending on time invested per week) to have fun? This idea is doubly retarded when you consider that these games charge a flat monthly fee and don't get any extra money for the length of any given session. There is no reward for the devs or the players to demand XXX amount of hours before they can settle down and have fun.
Now I know how some of you are going to react to all of this. Some of you are going to say that I'm an "instant gratification, freeloading carbear" that wants everything handed to me. Two responses to that:
- If the only fun you receive from a game is the reward then you might as well be "playing" a slot machine.
- We play games to alleviate boredom or break up the monotony of our daily lives. wasting our precious free time on boring grind defeats the purpose of playing a game in the first place!
With that out of the way, I want to break this problem down a little bit in order to zero in on some possible solutions. I'm going to try to keep an eye out for ideas that either haven't been tried yet, or haven't shown up on the forums. I may not find any new ideas, but it's possible that we can put a new enough spin on well worn ideas to put all of this in a new light.
The first major problem that contributes to boredom is the focus on killing mobs as the only way to advance. Some games give you a paltry amount of XP for going into an area that you've never been before, but these games generally revolves around killing and crafting. The former is about as exciting as watching a ten second boxing clip loop for two hours and the latter is as much fun as doing your taxes. Question: Don't the people of <insert fantasy / sci-fi universe here> do anything for fun? Another question: What do the people of <insert fantasy / sci-fi universe here> do for a living?
The reason I ask this is because almost all of the MMORPGs that I've played haven't really shown the things that the "natives" of said game world would do in their off time. Every game has a pub, but there really isn't anything to do there but chat. Have you been to your local bar lately? Not only do they serve drinks, but many of them have pool tables, dart boards, a juke box, and I don't think I've ever been in a RL tavern that didn't have a TV hanging over the bar and turned on. Yet for some reason, the inhabitants of Norath and Azeroth don't even play cards, dice, or primitive board games. Even in the Middle Ages, people bet on dice! And wouldn't it be cool if your character started showing the physical signs of being drunk after a few too many? You would kind of stumble around, things that are too far away would get blurry, every time you typed a message, it would be filtered so that it read like drunken slurr, etc. But apparently no one does any of these things in the worlds of most MMORPGs. Hell, they don't even play sports! Phantasy Star Online Episode 2 offered a basic soccer game in the lobbies, but no other MMORPG even acknowledges that there might be other things to do in the game world than kill monsters and get "PHAT L00TZ." Strange when you consider that these games are supposed to be sold on their social aspect.
Ultima Online was probably the only game to answer the question of what the people of Britainia did for a living. It also got blasted by critics for requiring players to make millions of skull caps in order to get the money for gear before they could kill so much as a rabbit. Or as was more often the case, before they survive a rabbit attack. In spite of this, UO had one of the best crafting systems of any MMORPG. It also forced players to pick a "civilian" occupation before moving on to be and adventurer. This actually fits with heroic fiction in popular culture. Luke Skywalker was a farmer before he went on a quest to become a Jedi. Bilbo Baggins was a well-to-do homebody before being whisked away by Gandolf and a gaggle of dwarves. Peter Parker was a bookish high school nerd before he became Spider Man. Dedicated warriors and states men are rare, even in this day and age. While you will find people working as soldiers or policemen, you'll probably feel compelled to ask them why they chose that particular profession in private conversation. In times past, this was even more true since most soldiers were conscripts or wealthy landowners that could afford their own weapons. With the exceptions of rogues and wizards, everyone else should have a "day job." I guess rangers would be an exception too since their "day job" is living in the woods away from civilization.
Giving the player something else to do is only a partial solution though. A more robust solution would straighten out the leveling curve to a great degree. This can be done in several ways, but I personally like the skill system over the leveling system. A skill system, if done right, makes it impossible for everyone to cover all of the bases. While you may be awesome at dual wielded axes, someone else is outstanding at sneaking and backstabbing. While yet another person is profoundly perceptive and magically inclined. No one can dominate in every situation at all times. With levels, you get railroaded into formula solutions to problems and that is the very essence of boredom. You can still get around this by making the power gaps between levels less pronounced and eliminating gear bonuses on non-exclusive items. In short, there should be only a small number of +20 Sporks of Doom to be had and the class that can wield such a weapon should have an achilles heal or two. However, after so much of a difference in levels, the same old problems of exclusion step in.
In the end, the only real solution to this problem is to design these games as social spaces first and games second. Currently, we're designing these as games first, last, and always. Is it any wonder that people rush to the level cap, get bored and leave?
MMORPG.com writes:
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