Power. It's a tight rope for developers. How do you make players feel strong early, without giving them too much, too soon? In his weekly Wednesday column, Garrett Fuller examines this problem and looks at how some other games have pulled it off.

Another way MMOs do this is with the initial game story. There are two good examples here of how a game can make you feel important and powerful. The opening 20 levels of Age of Conan is the best example out there. Say what you want about the game as a whole, those first twenty levels are a marvel the first time you experience them. Secret missions, sorcerers, priests, and even prostitutes immerse the player in Conan’s world. Yet, you are the one crushing your way through Hyboria. The story line gives a player twenty levels of solo content and immerses them into their character. It makes them feel stronger, part of the story, like they are making a difference.

The Death Knight also provides a good example of an introductory storyline. From levels 55 to about 60, you are the story. Each Death Knight works for the Lich King to terrorize the Scarlet Crusade. NPCs scream and huddle away as they approach; they ride a dragon and burn buildings, it is intense right from the start. Warcraft has come a long way from killing ten boars at level one.

Read it all here.

 Interesting article on power in an MMO. Also referencing diablo as a single/multiplayer game. I would have liked to see some other games referenced and maybe some pros vs. cons of those ones. It seems like alot of articles these days focus mainly on World of Warcraft, which I'm not bagging. Obviosly the success shows something, but those contrasts are what spark great conversations IMHO.

An example I can give was when I started playing MMO's.

I started playing UO( Ultima Online) in 98. It started of with a good mix in that you could go out of town and fight baddies, but you still had to be careful not to run into that roaming ettin that would smash you. At lowers levels this gave the sense of accomplishment, but also left that danger. Very much a PRO in my book, because it makes the game more difficult. To contrast against newer games made there can be a more linear progression with very little danger, unless you seek it out.

The next game I played was EQ(Everquest). This game started with a sense of very little power. When I played a Half-Elf warrior and I could get smashed by a giant bee, or orc pawn. The reason for this was there was not automatic training for weapon skills when I started playing this game. So if you didn't put training points into the type of weapon you had you would miss *ALOT*. And the fights would take a few minutes, with unknown success. 

So for these two examples the games started off with more difficutly than the games that are coming out today. I'm sure the reason was to appeal to a wider audience, and not put off as many people who were just starting out. 

Anyone else have examples from the first 10 levels of other MMO's they have played?

 Guild wars provided a neat experience for me. It was the first time cut scenes made it into an MMO and the using ability "cards" instead of gear made the difference. It may have changed a lot since launch, but that is what came to mind after reading this

Very interesting article, everything was well-said. Good job! I had a good read, makes me want to play WoW since I have never tried it before.

As for MMOs and power, I have to reference LOTRO.

It may not be the best game, or even my game of choice, but in the first 10 levels, you get story instances, quests designed around you, and you get to meet and interact with HUGE names from Middle Earth. They make you feel like you're part of the driving force behind the Lord of the Rings storyline, and I think they did a fantastic job, start to finish, with it.

Story elements like 'Story Instances' are a really good idea. This way, every so many levels you're reminded of not that you are special, but just HOW special you are to the story, and it makes you want to push on.

If by level 10 in WOW your all in green gears that's because you bought most of the AH.

I'm not sure of a MMO that has made players so powerful the players didn't want to continue. Please inform me of said game. I'd love to play it. My problem is I can't stand the grind. Its pointless, and I can learn to play my class a lot better if I didn't have to kill the same stupid mob a million times. Running asinine quest that certainly don't help me learn my class.

Great article.  Power is an interesting approach to analyzing an MMO. Often the facade of power stems from special solo chain quests in my experience.  A good example is how WoW has special class quest lines.   There's definitely a sustainability problem for developers here.  As you asked -- what happens when it's time to rejoin the world with the rest of the thousands just like you?  It's like that false motivational poster that says "Remember you are special and unique... Just like everyone else."  The longer developers can maintain the suspension of disbelief the longer gamers feel special and powerful.  

I like the concept of the legendary weapon that LOTRO  started using last fall where you get a special weapon that can level up with you and take on new attributes as well.  Another good approach was in CoH in the whopping character design feature and transportation power choices (jumping, flying, etc.)  Perhaps we'll see more things like this which enable players to feel special without remaining isolated running solo quests and story lines all the time. 

Beez

Originally posted by Aguitha

If by level 10 in WOW your all in green gears that's because you bought most of the AH.

Exactly ^^ Most people(with out a high level character to fund them) are in a mix of white and one or two greens by level 10 from my experience.  Blizzard did a good job with Death Knights up to level 58-59 and then it falls off. It would have been simple to set up a gear check in the code that would change the color scheme of any gear a DK equipped to dark blue/black. That way DK's would keep the same dark and foreboding feel to them through out the game.  Over all a good article.

Originally posted by brostyn

I'm not sure of a MMO that has made players so powerful the players didn't want to continue. Please inform me of said game. I'd love to play it. My problem is I can't stand the grind. Its pointless, and I can learn to play my class a lot better if I didn't have to kill the same stupid mob a million times. Running asinine quest that certainly don't help me learn my class.

 

Well, in PvE games quests break down to various basic types(Fed Ex, Kill X amount of Y, escort and offense/defense of location Z). The more creative designers weave their story lines around those. The rest just throw a LOT of the first two at players and hope for the best.  Some people can tolerate grinding to a greater extent than others(the Koreans must have a grinding gene ^^).

Learning ones class requires experience in the repeated use of ones skills in different combinations, in different situations.  Doing that effectively requires the designers to REALLY understand the basic dynamics of their entire system.  All too many throw players off the deep end, and expect them to sink or swim. Thats why Pick Up Groups tend to be so horrible in many games. In well run guilds, players get used to working with their guildmates, and thus learn their class and also learn to trust others to do their jobs as well. Its a difficult balance. Too much "hand holding" annoys some players, while others get intimidated unless the learning curve is kept to a lower level.  The best games are those that understand this balance, and integrate it in to their fundamental system.

I agree that a good story helps tremendously with player interest, but I wouldn't confuse feeling important with feeling powerful.  Frodo Baggins was the most important character, and one of the least powerful in a traditional MMORPG character "hero" sense (sans magic ring, of course). 

I'm likely in the minority, but I prefer "low magic" worlds.

I'm making my way through EQ2 at the moment and I cannot believe how absolutely outrageous some of the spell graphics and ability effects are.  Even the lowliest of characters conjures up huge weapons to smite their enemies (and it's kind of ridiculous looking when it is partially resisted and doesn't end up doing that much damage)  Melee powers flash and boom as much as their arcane counterparts.   Why should a "bash" with my shield cause a green glow?

Plain silly if you ask me.  Give me a rusty sword at level 1 and make me earn and appreciate the +1 non-glowing upgrade I get at level 15.  That way when I hit level 30 and win something really powerful, I'll really enjoy it.

I think it's a sense of growing power that's more important than a sense of outright power at the beginning.

 EDIT because I forgot some stuff

Originally posted by Beezerbeez

 Another good approach was in CoH in the whopping character design feature and transportation power choices (jumping, flying, etc.)  Perhaps we'll see more things like this which enable players to feel special without remaining isolated running solo quests and story lines all the time. 

 

Beez

Yeah CoH did something very right in character creation (even low level characters should be able to choose from a variety of decent looking outfits) and initial leveling.  I suppose one could equate arresting 10 Hellions with killing 10 rats, but it does seem more important somehow.

Great article!

I find it interesting that some games are exceptionally easy at low levels, while others are a real struggle.  I think it boils down to the type of gamer the design is targeting.  Some people want gratification that's easy, but others find satisfaction in rising above a stern challenge.

Ken

Hey, what’s in that sack?!

Originally posted by Aguitha

If by level 10 in WOW your all in green gears that's because you bought most of the AH.

LOL, very true... and in today's economy that means you have a main on the server.  Anymore a full set of level 10 greens costs more than your first mount plus training.

Ken

Yeah, yeah... you're all ceewl, important and powerfull, at lv 10... just like any other lv10 newbie.

But, hey! you can be a deathknight! Ride dragons burn vilages, scare NPCs (boo!)... just like countless other DKs..

Doesn't matter what devs give you, if any other player can get it without much trouble, then it's not power it's a prop.

If some players can live with such illusions good for them, bad for gamecraft though... A player who disregards the rest of the server with exeption of a couple of friends and few random acuaintainces is taking the 1st M out of the genre. He can have all that "story fun with friends" while playing a multiplayer rpg just as well. There just to few games for those poor sods lately, so they are trying MMOs but are still playing them like a MP RPGs... what a waste of developers' efford...

Power is gauged acording to an average competition. So I guess the only ones powerfull are guild leaders in games where a guild can go far (oh, and probably those crazy guys who grinded enought for the latest MAU, whatever color it is...).

Yeah the first few levels of a deathknight are great, then you go to outland and get to grind the same boars (except bigger and with spikes) that noobs grind at level one.

It'll be a very successful MMO that can make the single player experience RPG experience stick throughout the game.

Like SW:TOR.

Originally posted by Reianor

A player who disregards the rest of the server with exeption of a couple of friends and few random acuaintainces is taking the 1st M out of the genre. He can have all that "story fun with friends" while playing a multiplayer rpg just as well. There just to few games for those poor sods lately, so they are trying MMOs but are still playing them like a MP RPGs... what a waste of developers' efford...

And that is the players' choice, is it not? What right do you have exactly, to judge how a person chooses to play a game? Your quote on this post is how I go through mmorpgs post-wow, and you can blame the lovely wow playerbase for it. This is my choice, I pay my monthly fees, and looking down on people like me, calling them poor sods only reinforces my opinion that most mmo players out there are not worth knowing, and that I made the right choice when I disregard them all and stick with my friends and my friends only.

I almost hate using WOW to illustrate a point again.  But that's like speaking English here and, in all honesty, probably the best example.

IMHO Zones aid greatly in cultivating that feeling of power.  You know youre fairly safe early on, as long as you stay away from the red spawn.  Keep an eye over your shoulder for the wandering monster and don't over-aggro.  No danger of getting ganked here.   Within 2 to 6 hours you are murdering most things in the zone with ease.  So now youre feeling pretty good about yourself.  And soon youre ready to head over the hill to the next zone.....second verse same as the first.

Everythings wonderful, as long as you don't decide to be a tourists.

~R~

Originally posted by Reianor

Yeah, yeah... you're all ceewl, important and powerfull, at lv 10... just like any other lv10 newbie.

But, hey! you can be a deathknight! Ride dragons burn vilages, scare NPCs (boo!)... just like countless other DKs..

Doesn't matter what devs give you, if any other player can get it without much trouble, then it's not power it's a prop.

If some players can live with such illusions good for them, bad for gamecraft though... A player who disregards the rest of the server with exeption of a couple of friends and few random acuaintainces is taking the 1st M out of the genre. He can have all that "story fun with friends" while playing a multiplayer rpg just as well. There just to few games for those poor sods lately, so they are trying MMOs but are still playing them like a MP RPGs... what a waste of developers' efford...

Power is gauged acording to an average competition. So I guess the only ones powerfull are guild leaders in games where a guild can go far (oh, and probably those crazy guys who grinded enought for the latest MAU, whatever color it is...).

Like it or not, *most* people in MMO's richly DESERVE to be ignored. In reality(as in games) power is a matter of perception/illusion. That perception/illusion underpins the concept of legitimacy as well as "authority". Dev's that can tap in to that can fashion much better *entertainment*(which is what games are about) than those who ignore it.  If its competition you seek, then PvP games would likely be more to your taste.  But there is also an art to that. Other wise one ends up with a total gank fest, which tends not to be a good business model.

Originally posted by abbaba

Yeah the first few levels of a deathknight are great, then you go to outland and get to grind the same boars (except bigger and with spikes) that noobs grind at level one.

It'll be a very successful MMO that can make the single player experience RPG experience stick throughout the game.

Like SW:TOR.

I think this is the key here.

You can't start out so awesome ala Death Knight or AoC first 20, then go to crap.

If you start out awesome, you have to stay awesome.

Which is hard to do, takes more time and effort.

On the same token though...

WAR did a pretty good job of making things feel epic and important and the player feel powerful early on, I mean you are constantly fighting the enemy, lots more NPC fighting then monsters in WAR, and always these big forts or caves and towers and towns etc.etc. especially in the public quests...

But it felt so grindy because you'd just move from one cool thing to another, so after a while they seem less and less cool and more just "more of the same."

So I think you have to spread out the cool, go from awesome to ok to awesome again as I think this gives players something to look forward to without overwhelming them.

WoW was good at this by having quests, then quests that lead you into a dungeon, then more regular quests, then more dungeon quests. Change up the pace, go from "normal" to awesome and back again over and over, easier to keep  you motivated to keep going.

WOW and EVE are the games in the MMO division worth your 15 bucks every month, perfect no way still need some work but ahead and shoulders above the rest of the pretenders. One that came close Warhammer hope Bioware can fix it.

It often seems as a game goes on that balance of power gets harder to maintain. If a game comes to a point where you feel like a giant stomping worms it loses its sense of fun. Where there is no risk left for you rewards and victories become hollow. WOW had a sense of balance when it came out but with Wrath it got more of the feeling of running over flowers with a lawnmower.
 

As more and more of the games focus on the single player experience I find my interest in MMOs wane. I might as well play dragon warrior of final fantasy. I miss the days of EQ1 where I felt the thrill of a doable challenge. Where my little half elf covered in sweat and gore would throw aside the body of his foe to join his new found friends against the remainder of the monsters we faced. However, now in most games I only feel the overconfidence of easy defeats. Quests become so easy people don't want to group and when you try to find people to join you you are answered with responses of "that’s a solo quest". So you trudge over to your enemies and try to pull groups of npcs in hopes of finding some challenge in your victory.
 

Though I play LOTRO atm I still search for the game where your power feels less like using a nuke on a chipmunk and more like a sword on a well trained foe.
 

Originally posted by Scot

Hey, what’s in that sack?!

Yeah! Open it!

Death Knight = Fail x 2 x infinity. WHY?? I will tell you why and also why I stopped playing WoW forever.

1. Yes the DK class did give the player power a lot of power at the begining of the expansion. So I thought to my self hmm now is a chance for me to take revenge on those little Pallies that think they were all that when in fact they wound up being little cry baby boy's who got there butt kicked by the DK class so what they had to do they decided to run to mommy (BliZZ) and complain so mommy decided to WIMP the DK class with the following patch.

2. After I gave Blizz 40.00 dollars of my hard earn money plus another 15.00 a month to own a powerful class just to get it yanked from me well that was the straw that broke the camels back that and the fact that with WoW it got to be the same boring content that was introduced with BC just a few added twist and it seemed a story line or two. Being a vanilla WoW player I began to loath Blizz NOOBNESS