MMOWTF - Mob Mentality
In this week's MMOWTF, Dan Fortier tackles the issue of monster AI in MMORPGs. Fortier feels that monsters today just don't have the intelligence to pose a real challenge to human players.
Editor's Note: This is an edition of a weekly column by Staff Writer Dan Fortier. The column is called "MMOWTF" and will look at some of the stranger or more frustrating events in MMOs as seen by Mr. Fotier. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of MMORPG.com, its staff or management.
This week is not a tribute to those wonderful MMOers that I love so much. Instead, I decided to drop the hammer on a common gripe of mine: Monster AI. In most theme park PvE MMOs the mobs are designed to have simplistic AI to make it easier for solo players with a lobotomy to kill them. It doesn’t do well to frustrate your unskilled customers with lots of free time and extra cash if you want to run a successful game these days. This week I pay lip service to this tired topic and anything else that comes to mind. Keep a bottle of eye-drops close at hand for this week’s Tour De Ordure!
Most gamers don’t expect much realism when they log into an MMO. Fields of meandering monsters who do nothing but spam the same basic attacks with a few special abilities thrown in at predictable intervals are the most common ding crops for players. Raid bosses and the tougher elite creatures have a few more surprises, but are only dangerous by virtue of their obnoxious stats and henchmen instead of their brilliant use of terrain or tactics. Of course, even the most complex routines can be analyzed and dissected by an observant group repeatedly farming the same area, but with enough dynamic content they would still have to be prepared for a wider variety of opponents.
Ironically, WoW is not at the bottom of the barrel in this category, since their mobs will at least make a run for it if you are spanking them and maybe even grab some help from nearby spawns. Games with much deeper game play like EVE are much worse in terms of mob AI although admittedly PvE is not a major focus for them in most cases. MMOs are obviously not alone in this failing and it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that most developers focus much more on volume of content than on making it challenging or varied. Making things harder is not the solution since a game that is too hard is much worse than a game that is too easy. What could make fighting AI opponents more interesting than carving a soap sculpture?
How about designing more special purpose mobs that are exceptionally good at one or two things and stick them into small to medium groups? This is done already to some degree in most titles, but their abilities should be on par with a player of their level instead of a generic spawn with two proc percentages in a database. Smart players would find creative ways to exploit the weaknesses of each type and therefore the group as a whole. If these kinds of groups were generated in a somewhat dynamic pattern by varying the types and numbers, it could make sizing up AI opponents more interesting than checking the color above its head.
It might also help to take a look at the motivations/needs of mobs along with their interactions with the environment. What if single mobs scouted around the main encampment and sounded an alarm if they spotted enemies or came under attack. Clever players could use stealth to silence the guards before moving in to dispatch the rest of the unsuspecting monsters. It would also make sense to have most intelligent creatures try to flee from an unwinnable fight. Only berserkers or rabid animals would fight to the death against a superior foe. While it makes sense in the real world, it would have to be used carefully or in a game that doesn’t require grinding otherwise it might be a ridiculous chore to get any XP.
There is no magic bullet for how to make AI more interesting without alienating the casual audience, but it’s not impossible. Other genres that have multiplayer capability, like RTS, use the AI for training fodder and are buffed beyond belief to be any resistance to a competent player. A decent portion of the player base of these games can only get their fix in PvP matches. If only balancing an MMO was as simple as creating two sides with a dozen or so units a piece eh?
I’m going to can it for this week and let you guys run roughshod on the topic. Behave yourself and have her back by midnight Y’hear? Next week I’ll serve up another industry flaw topped with a sputtering fuse. Save up some spite till then!
A good read, thank you.
First off, I'd say check out Tabula Rasa.
Mobs don't simply wander around "waiting to be killed" but instead the animals fight each other, the Bane patrol and engage NPC AFS soldiers... they have their own bases, they attack AFS outposts...
And even though it's only just "visual flare" really, the Bane teleport into combat or get dropped in by dropships instead of simply "spawning."
It adds a LOT to the game in terms of immersion and believability.
The AI is pretty good, snipers will stick back and snipe, the bigger Bane will charge forward, they'll try to use cover... when they have a shield Drone they'll huddle around it for protection.. It's much, much better then any other MMO AI I've ever seen.. It really does make running around and killing stuff a lot more fun.
I made a blog post some time ago about whether or not player's felt "heroic." Pretty much, what I was getting at, is that the modern "pull one mob, kill it, pull a second mob, kill it. Rinse and repeat" crap just HAD to go.
It'd be so much more heroic if you engaged entire enemy formations at once, groups of enemies each with different roles. Enemy groups with tanks and ranged damage and melee dps etc. etc.
Save the one-on-one fights for the big stuff, bosses and/or heroic/legendary mobs, etc.
I'd rather feel like a hero! Cutting through a sea of enemies on a murderous path to glory!
Funny thing is...much of the behavior you asked for I've seen before, in DAOC. They had scouting mobs that would sound an alarm so they had to be killed quickly and well away from the others.
There were also mobs that ran once the chips were down (usually humanoids, animals fought to the death) and of course, many that had no problem bringing a friend (BAFing).
It was really rather clever in its day.... and you had to have a firm grip on your crowd control sometimes to accomplish the pulls. (or kite like crazy)
While EVE hasn't done much with their PVE...its always a surprise and annoyance when you find yourself warp scrambled or sensor damped by the AI and having to outfight it...the tactics aren't that bad....although so predictable you can easily counter it.
I like what I'm hearing about TR's AI...sounds like mobs are really getting a bit smarter...which is a good thing....
One word
Tabula Rasa
For now!
Just wait for AoC, the A.I. described for mobs sounds awesome if it works when the game launches.
Dev Diary #4.Video.
The Mobs clearly have a "need":
"those wolves weren't just spawned there and performing animations of eating that deer.. the wolves were out HUNTING .. the A.I. , is programmed with "Need " intelligence... the wolves roamed as a pack.. they "needed" food so they killed that deer.
( you're not going to find the same pack of wolves and the same dead deer in the same place ever it seems..)
in that clip is the end result of that hunt. as far as they described it in this and past interviews related to the A.I. , all the NPC's humanoid AND beast included all have the "Need" programming... they function on the principles of what they need most..
if it's night, they'll "Need" to find fire wood, or "Need" to Build a fire, or "Need" to have a change of the guard.
That's why in the last minute of the thread the DEV said that if you attack a camp the wrong way.. the humanoid NPC's fulfill thier "Need" programming by :
-"Need" to call reinforcements
-"Need" to sound alarm
-"Need" to defend and destroy
etc.etc.etc.
game play and dynamics is going to be incredible and unlike anything we as gamers have ever seen to date."
Lets hope it comes out like that, would be a nice refreshing change.
I personally think spawning monsters at x,y cords for no apparent reason is getting VERY old and should only be used as little as possible. Developers really need to open up their games and create seamless, zoneless worlds. If wolves aren't regularly purged from the near by mountains, they might move into the near by foothills and activate new quests in surrounding settlements to get rid of them. Certain mobs move out from their dens/lairs at night to hunt or drink from a near by creek. I just hate seeing people sit at EXACTLY the same spot waiting for Mob 1 to spawn at X 23, Y145. I mean even if their freakin' rabbits, have them hop around at least a small area and hide in some thick foliage when they see an adventurer.
I'm thankful that games like Tabula Rasa and Age of Conan are finally enacting random mob attacks on towns. Fighting for a town is a whole lot more fun then fighting for XP.
MMO AI has always been one of the things I've hated most about the genre. But I am really glad to see games like TR and apparently AoC working to fix that. There's no reason MMO AI has to be so much worse than the AI in other games, and I'm glad that developers are finally recognizing that.
Isn't that two words?
On a more serious note, from what I'm hearing, pve actually sounds interesting in TR.
D.
Indeed awesome
If Funcom pulls the AI - The AOC will be MMO that i will play ...wait a minute ! AOC will be the MMO i will play anyway
Some of the best AI I ever saw was in Saga of Ryzom.
Yet another column that makes me wonder how much experience the MMORPG.com staff really has with MMORPGs.
"whine about a problem in the few games I've actually played, make false generalizations about the genre as a whole, offer no solution that hasn't already been done ... see ya next time!"
I'm all for it - Better MMO AI = More to "Immersive World"