Don’t Forget the Brag
When you design socialization and long-term gameplay elements into your game, you’ve got to keep the “bragging rights” elements in the design. You simply must let people brag and show off when they become a Master Blacksmith and do something useful, or be have a fantastic season as a Space Merchant or decorate a fabulous hall for your Guild. These “bragging rights” elements need to be clearly defined for each role within your game and then those brags need to be jealously protected against future design. (MMOs have a tendency to get design erosion if documentation of “why” things were done is not crystal clear to future teams.)
And remember, there are many kinds of brags. Some people brag about hitting the same key over and over again for hours (the “I have more endurance than you do” brag). Some folks think shooting fish in a barrel is bragworthy. (The “I ganked 150 newbs just outside town today!” brag.) But most brags are really only worth the breath you’re putting into them if other types of players respect your accomplishment. For example, nobody cares if you become a Grandmaster Armorsmith if no one needs the armor you can now create. Very few care how cool your spaceship is decorated if it doesn’t do something useful for other players at the same time. It’s up to the game design to provide lures and hooks that are more than just one-time achievements, but instead dynamic goals that constantly evolve and keep people pursuing mastery.
All of this extra work outside your core is critical to the long-term health of your game, because without those “supporting” players, you don’t get a world of player-created activities surrounding your core game and your game can start to feel stale. When your players get bored, they leave. The bulk of them don’t come back once they’ve left. It’s really that simple.
Add UGC elements everywhere that it makes sense to add them. The players that get involved will endlessly surprise you, and the variety that’s created is great for your game and its community.
)
Lord Business
Okay, you’ve done the right things so far. You’ve designed a great core and all the systems to make it a long-term world. But have you decided how you’re going to make money yet?
Stop what you’re doing and figure it out. Don’t start building beyond your core until you figure out a great model that has a high probability of success for your game. Figure out how those systems are going to work with the game you want to build and do some projection modeling. See if your game can make money and support itself after launch.
If it can’t make a model that you believe in, then something has to change before you move forward. But remember this: If you change your core game to make your monetization work better, then you deserve the ugly future fate that’s coming to you when players are repulsed by your Frankenstein’s monster. Monetization has to bend to work with the game, not the other way around. However, that being said, if you can’t make money, then you are definitely going to fail.
So don’t screw up your game in order to make money, but at the same time, don’t make a game without a plan for success.
There is no “best” business model for online games. Free-to-play attracts the most players to your game but requires constant monetization juggling going forward. So it’s a headache, but critical mass is enormously desirable. A pay wall is easiest to implement and is no headache at all for the dev team, but…well…it’s a pay wall and many players never climb over it to try your game.
But regardless, you have to make your decisions so that you can build the right systems within your game to support the design.
No, There is too Much. Let me Sum Up.
There’s a lot that I’m not covering in this article, of course, and what I did cover is general in nature. But the theories here are sound and if you can keep this outline in mind, then you’ve got the skeleton of what you need to take your virtual world idea and turn it into a successful business that entertains many, many players.
All of this comes from hindsight, of course. Hopefully this article helps someone avoid the landmines I found with my feet.
So share and enjoy! Even if you never use this info, I hope it makes your mind tick over a bit. Making a better game is my favorite of all games. Welcome to my world!
