The Persist Online team is discussing their approach to balance, transparency, and community involvement.
In building an MMORPG that aims to have something for a variety of players, balance is going to be an ongoing process. They note that the intention is that it will continue to evolve, with community feedback and according to the needs of the game as they develop it and as it grows. They start off by talking about their goals, including offering a balanced experience that is rewarding for different kinds of players.
The full blog dives into their goals and who they’re making the zombie survival MMO for. For a new venture from one of the first MMORPG devs around.
They want everyone to feel like their skills and strategies are what matters most in Persist Online. CipSoft wants to foster healthy competition while making everyone feel welcome. “When you feel that your efforts are rewarded appropriately, you’re more likely to continue playing and contributing to our vibrant community.”
On the technical side, this means data analysis, keeping an eye on gameplay metrics like deaths, skill usage, and loot, as well as performance indicators and player behavior. Then the team analyzes all that data and shares observations and discusses what it means in order to figure out what to adjust, how much, and whether something needs addressing at all or maybe needs a little time to observe first.
The role of the community is also important, including surveys and polls, and active Discord community, and of course, playtesting. These are basic details, but it is all part of a transparency discussion with their community as they build Persist Online.
Since Persist Online is an MMORPG, balance doesn’t end. The work they need to do might simply be ‘the game has been out for a while and people have gotten really good at it’, so we have to stay ahead and add more challenges and require different strategies to keep things fun and interesting. Of course, there is the usual job of protecting against exploits and always adding new content on an ongoing basis and keeping changes from introducing wild swings in balance.