Finding a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) that is vast, immersive, and ever-evolving can sometimes be a challenge within itself. When you factor in finding quality players to play with, especially with MMORPGs varying in the number of required players for specific content, finding the right game and adequate players can feel even more challenging. That’s why, this week, we’re going to take a look at an aspect of MMORPGs that often comes under scrutiny – What is the ideal group size? More aptly, the question that piqued my interest in this topic was "Is there a perfect group size?" and it turns out, that’s a more complicated question than I anticipated.
There’s a Wide Spectrum of Group Sizes
MMORPGs feature an array of group sizes, from smaller trios in games like the upcoming MMORPG-lite Wayfinder, to the more common five-member dungeon parties in games like New World. We even have cases of far larger group sizes like 10- 40 person raids in World of Warcraft. That doesn’t even broach the subject of multi-group organizations like Squads in Guild Wars 2 that can have 50 players following a commander. Each group size has its own set of advantages and challenges, which we'll discuss, but it’s clear that developers have often used group sizes to dictate the type of content they’re pushing players towards. Unfortunately, that also makes some sizes and types of groups just, unwieldly, and in my personal opinion, rarely fun.
The Case for Smaller Groups
Smaller group sizes, such as Wayfinder's upcoming three-member parties that we were able to test in the previous beta tests, have their own set of unique benefits. First and foremost, they make it easier to find and form groups, cutting down on wait times and getting players into the action faster. Smaller groups also lend themselves to finding more natural synergies between the three primary archetypes: tank, damage dealers, and support. Additionally, designing and balancing encounters for smaller groups is simpler, as developers can tailor content specifically for the expected group composition.
When you pump the group numbers, it becomes far more unwieldly if you just don’t have the right composition. It’s far easier to know the specifics of what a dungeon is expecting, rather than attempting to figure out whether you should trust aggro to just one tank in a 5 person group, and if so, would you need multiple healers to compensate?
However, there are drawbacks to this smaller group size. The overall experience may not feel as "massive" or as challenging, as we’ve noted when we tested Wayfinder. Smaller groups can potentially detract from the sense of an epic adventure that MMORPGs are known for.
The Case for Larger Groups
On the other hand, larger group sizes, such as those seen in raids, present their own set of benefits and problems. On the negative end, the time it takes to find and form a group of the appropriate size and composition can be daunting, and the increased difficulty of encounters may ostracize a portion of the player base. Many times, I forego attempting raids at all, simply because it can take forever to find a raid group, and then if the raid fails due to poor team composition or a group’s limited knowledge of the encounter, it just feels bad. A whole evening can be wasted on finding a good group.
Large groups do have some benefits though. For example, it’s far easier to lean on stronger players when you’re in a big group. In fact, when you’re well versed in an encounter, it’s much easier to train newer players when there’s a large group and other gamers can pick up the slack while you or your friends are still learning. In a small group encounter, if the difficulty is even nominally above an “average player” threshold, each team member will need to pull their weight. Luckily smaller groups take much less time to throw together if they fail, but still, a bad PUG in a 3 perso
Is There a “Perfect Group Size”?
One approach to determining the perfect group size is to consider building groups specifically by the archetypes the game is built around. In most cases, where balance is determined by group composition instead of individuals, that would put the most logical group sizes in multiples of three, based on the three primary archetypes. Of course, this logic is more applicable to MMORPGs with clearly defined roles, such as tank, DPS, and support, however, games like Guild Wars 2, which deviate from this traditional structure, complicate this argument. In that case, every class can perform some aspect of each archetype, allowing for greater flexibility in group composition.
Unfortunately, even in those cases, things can get complicated when you take into consideration that simply doubling the tank, DPS, and support will somehow balance an encounter any better. This is explained simply by the premise of the tank archetype. Their main function is to hold aggro, and splitting aggro between two tanks can often cause more headaches than they cure.
Finding a Balance
Ultimately, the ideal group size in MMORPGs depends on the specific game, its mechanics, and the preferences of its player base. Developers must strike a balance between the benefits of smaller groups and the challenges of larger ones. They should consider the design and difficulty of content, as well as the amount of time and effort required to form groups. It's also important to accommodate diverse playstyles, offering content for both casual and hardcore gamers. With all that said, I still feel that the most efficient maximum group size would be that of 6 players for most dungeon specific content.
While the 5-person group has become somewhat standard in many MMORPGs, I’d love to see more small-team mechanics built into larger group dungeons. Of course, the obvious answer is simply, scale content to the specific group size attempting the encounter, which in my opinion, is kind of a cop-out. There is something to be said for scaling group content to single and co-op play, but it also diminishes the challenge, and who doesn’t want at least a little challenge in their MMO’s?
Group Your Thoughts
Perhaps the perfect group size doesn’t exist. Maybe public questing and organic groups need to evolve into more dungeon-like content, allowing encounters to scale as players jump in and out of what was previously closed, instance content. Or maybe we just need to forget the idea of a perfect group size, or the premise of a perfect group composition, and instead, rely on the developers to create content that can be completed by anyone, or any group, of any size?
Either way, it’s time for you to weigh in. Do you have an idea for what the perfect group size would be? Group up with us in the comments and let us know your thoughts.
