mechanics
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Field Journal: Picking up the pieces of Fallen Earth
I was introduced to Fallen Earth way back in the mists of time, around when I first started reading Massively. It was one of the earliest Choose My Adventures, and I was so impressed that I made my own account and joined in on the fun part of the way through. My character even made a few cameos in the column later on. I have a lot of fond memories of the game, and a significant part of that is due to the crafting system. There are some really good ideas in there, even if the execution has always been a bit flawed. Despite those flaws, I wouldn't trade my early days with the game for anything. Well, other than a better version of the same game.
The Nexus Telegraph: Everyone's got active combat, and so does WildStar
WildStar is launching with active combat, but let's be totally honest about something: The whole telegraph system is not exactly as special now as it might have seemed, say, three years ago. Guild Wars 2 has active combat. Ditto TERA, ditto DC Universe Online. The Secret World makes use of telegraphs all over the place (which kind of feels like a kludge, but so does most of the game's combat system, so there). Even Final Fantasy XIV -- a game I have noted on many occasions as having a much slower and more tactical combat pace -- makes heavy use of telegraph mechanics. And The Elder Scrolls Online is certainly launching with a more active combat system, to boot. There's more to WildStar than telegraph markers, though. So it's time to talk about what the game actually does in terms of combat that's interesting and novel. We've been told that the active combat of the game is a big deal, but is it actually revolutionary, an evolution, or just another thing?
The Daily Grind: How patient are you with explanations?
I run a lot of random dungeons in Final Fantasy XIV. It's not uncommon to wind up grouped with someone who hasn't seen one of the newer dungeons, or even someone who just happened to forget the mechanics in a lower-level fight. That's fine, and I have no problem explaining the fight in detail to people. What gets my goat is trying to re-explain as someone either ignores the directions or does exactly the opposite time and again. Some people are far more patient than I am. I've watched players explain the same mechanics a dozen times without ever showing signs of irritation. And of course, there are people far less patient than I -- people who explain the fight only once in mangled shorthand or even outright refuse to explain anything. So what about you, dear reader? How patient are you with explanations about fights, areas, mechanics, or anything else in your game of choice? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
MMO Mechanics: Kill 10 rats can be fun!
Quests are increasingly an MMO enthusiast's bread and butter, often becoming the staple component of a game's typical serving of progressive content. Over the years, developers have tried to serve up this familiar progression mechanic in many different ways: The modern themepark MMO makes us fetch, carry, explore, and investigate our way to the endgame through countless quest types and story arcs. Among the varieties of quest on offer, kill quests seem to cause the most tears and tantrums amongst picky players. No matter what developers do, there just isn't much love for missions that send characters off with a shopping list of mundane creatures to crush. Kill quests have become so common that plenty of MMOs have cheekily referenced the "10 rats" trope by literally making us smash in some rodent skulls, but killing cute, twitchy-nosed creatures is not the real problem. It's the uninspired kill list mechanic that often incites complaints of developer laziness, an argument that I don't think is justified. Kill quests exist to hone your skills through repetition, but they don't have to feel like an arduous grinding task and are actually a very useful mechanic for game designers. In this week's MMO Mechanics, I stand up for the unloved stepchild of questing; I'll show you that killing a list of creatures can be both contextually engaging and mechanistically interesting, depending on how it's presented.
Storyboard: Working without /random
Two weeks ago, you might recall, I ranted about using random rolls as a mechanic of resolution when roleplaying in MMOs. For those of you who can't be bothered to go back and read the whole thing now (which I totally understand; you probably have holiday games burning a hole in your pocket), the core point was that random rolls don't actually tie to anything for resolution and wind up coming off as an obvious and unfun kludge for the sake of random resolution. "Well, if you're so smart, why don't you come up with alternatives?" And I did. Readers also had some wonderful suggestions and feedback in the comments last week, which make the article even more worth reading, so really, go ahead and take a look at it. This week, I'm taking a look at how you're going to resolve conflicts in roleplaying without relying on what amounts to a coin flip. And as you may have expected, they're all taking tips from tabletop games.
MMO Mechanics: MOBAs vs. MMO battlegrounds
It may feel as if MMOs have always existed as a core part of our gaming repertoire, but the genre made its indelible mark on the industry just over a decade ago. MMO titans like World of Warcraft, EVE Online, and City of Heroes shaped the mechanics we now use as markers and basic standards for the quickly growing genre, and those mechanics have been reiterated and reforged by the countless additions to the MMO clan that we know and love today. This new MMO Mechanics column aims to navigate the mechanical minefield that is the modern MMO through in-depth opinion pieces, comparative analysis, and a little bit of Irish wit, starting with a peek at what distinguishes MMO PvP battlegrounds from Massively Online Battle Arenas. If women are from Venus and men are from Mars, MMOs and MOBAs must be from different galaxies altogether. Despite the similarities between MMO PvP arenas and MOBA matches, the two take very different approaches to progression, persistence, and matchmaking. This leads to two very separate yet equally engaging ways to test the mettle of your character against the might of a human opponent.
Storyboard: Breaking game mechanics for the sake of roleplay
Sometimes your max-level character in World of Warcraft is supposed to still be a student. Sometimes your Trooper in Star Wars: The Old Republic is an expert at hand-to-hand combat with a techblade that you can't wield. Sometimes your Final Fantasy XIV is a gunsmith in a world where guns clearly exist but aren't available to players. Sometimes you've found something that the game itself is directly at odds with in your roleplaying. I'm not talking about lore; I'm talking about the game mechanics. And while I've brushed up against this before, I've never actually talked about how to deal with situations that the game mechanics explicitly forbid. You are X, and the game tells you that you cannot be X. So what do you do? I can assume you can get over the point of saying that you're something that's slightly at odds with the game mechanics, but how do you explain the fact that your character should be something that the game won't allow?
Ultra Street Fighter 4 adds 'Ultra Combo Double' and 'Red Focus Attack' mechanics
Capcom's forthcoming flagship fighter update Ultra Street Fighter 4 will introduce two new gameplay mechanics, which add an additional layer of defensive and offensive utility to the game's existing stable of meters and gameplay systems. "Ultra Combo Double," the first new mechanic, allows players to select both of their character's Ultra Combos, rather than one or the other, as has been the case since the original Street Fighter 4. The price paid for this strategic advantage is that each Ultra Combo does less damage than it would under normal circumstances, trading raw power for the added utility of multiple Ultras. Classical, single-Ultra options are still available, of course. "Red Focus Attack," the other new addition, is a modified form of the game's existing Focus Attack system. Whereas regular Focus Attacks can absorb the damage from a single attack, Red Focus Attacks can absorb damage from multiple attacks, at the cost of Super Meter. Beyond the fact that Red Focus Attacks can still be dash cancelled, however, no further information was provided with regards to how a Red Focus Attack is executed, or how much meter the technique costs.
The Secret World explains details on the new Augment system
There's already a lot of flexibility for players in The Secret World's ability system, but there's room for more customization. Sure, you've got your eight active and eight passive abilities, but what if you could have eight more slots to customize your behavior? That's the core idea behind the new Augment system, a marriage of new skills, loot, and abilities that allows you to turn your existing build and fine-tune it even more carefully. Augments come in four categories: Assault, Healing, Support, and Survivability, roughly analogous to the roles currently present in the game. Each active ability can have an Augment slotted into it depending on its type, and each Augment requires the leveling of a skill related to the Augment, the AP necessary to learn the new Augment, and the loot necessary to make one. Take a look at the full rundown for a more detailed explanation on how you can take your gun-wielding punch artist to the next level of mastery.
Tamriel Infinium: Hybrid penalty, Elder Scrolls Online?
The Elder Scrolls Online intends to do some shaking up of the traditional MMO combat system. Other MMOs have done this same thing in the past with varying degrees of success. Class balance, however, seems to be the ever-present issue with any game that has to deal with cooperative or conflictive multiplayer gameplay, even more so if the game attempts to do both like most MMORPGs. With the fast-action, limited ability, skill-based combat system ESO intends to produce, how do the developers at ZeniMax best prevent one of the most dreaded by-products: the hybrid penalty?
Champions Online sheds some light on how powers get designed
Superhero games are kind of into powers. It's their entire schtick. But how does a new powerset go from a vague concept to an actual set of abilities? Champions Online takes a look at this with a new development blog looking at how the Telepathy and Laser Sword mini-sets came into existence, straight from the hand of developer Chris Meyer. Meyer explains how Telepathy's revamps came about as a result of the set needing more cool stuff to do, while Laser Sword was meant as a thematic complement to a story arc. Both sets were intended to reward players for taking multiple powers out of the same set without explicitly forcing that behavior, creating cross-power synergy and positive interactions. This also led to certain design issues, such as the initial Laser Sword design feeling clunky and not having enough options for players in terms of passive powers, something that required a reworking of the set's focus and the addition of passive powers that work with other sets as well. If this sounds fascinating to you, you can find more of the hard design details in the official blog.
EverQuest Next's producer letter asks for more community feedback
The development of EverQuest Next isn't meant to be sterile. Just as the game is meant to draw in players with a hankering for creative play patterns and original ideas, the development team wants to draw upon community involvement to help shape the path of both Landmark and the core game. So the first video producer's letter from senior producer Terry Michaels is as much about asking for more community interaction as it is talking up plans for development. Michaels states that the team will be discussing two major parts of Landmark in the near future: globetrotting and item creation (which he refers to as "break it, take it, make it"). The core game will also be expanded with the addition of a new lore story homing in on one of the new areas found in EverQuest Next. On both points, the need for community input and feedback is stressed. But you don't need to take our word for it -- view the full video just past the break. [Thanks to Tony for the tip!]
WildStar locks you down for a look at crowd control
Whether it's made up of stuns, knockdowns, sleeps, or disarms, there's a whole part of MMO gameplay dedicated to making sure your opponents don't get to do anything. The latest WildStar Dev Speak video notes that this is an important gameplay aspect that's also very challenging to manage from a design perspective. After all, having the ability to disable others adds a lot of strategic depth... but absolutely nobody enjoys being beaten on by multiple opponents without being able to do anything. So what's the WildStar solution? Simple: Make sure that even crowd-controlled players have something to do. If you're stunned, you can mash on a key to try and break out early as in many fighting games. Knocked down? Use a roll to get back on your feet quickly. Disarmed? Run over and grab your weapon! You can see several forms of crowd control in the video below, and while the changes might not prevent you from being stunlocked by seven people, you can at least react with something other than patience. [Source: Carbine Studios press release]
SOE Live 2013: EverQuest Next's mechanics and more
Anyone who attended SOE Live this year heard quite a bit about EverQuest Next. Even if the upcoming sandbox was not the reason you came, you couldn't help but learn a thing or two. And for those who braved the crowds to attend multiple panels focused on the game, chances are you are still trying to sort through all the information and remember everything that was said! That's where we come in. After attending all the panels and sitting down with multiple devs, we've complied and summarized as much information as we can for you. Today's focus is on various mechanics (such as armor, combat, and classes) as well as a few other odds and ends we tossed in. So why are you still here? All that good stuff is after the break!
Pathfinder Online asks what's in your backpack
Are you the sort of player whose inventory is forever overflowing with items of indeterminate source? You'll want to break that habit before Pathfinder Online is released, because you'll have more to worry about than just the upper limit on items in your inventory. The latest development blog on the official site explains the Encumbrance system, another limit on how many items you can carry due to a combination of size and weight. Hauling around a lot of large and awkward items is going to mean less ability to carry everything else, while lots of little things like herbs will be more easily carried up to the inventory limit. The blog also has more details on what happens to your inventory when you die -- some of your items are instantly destroyed, and only those items specifically bound to you will be exempt from looting. The game is also implementing an item decay system, ensuring that nothing you have is all that permanent, although with the encumbrance system in place that might be something of a blessing in disguise at times.
The Daily Grind: What does it take to keep your interest?
Every MMO wants you to play forever. The longer you play, the longer you give the company money, which is sort of how companies operate. The troublesome element is that developing features that will keep one person playing for a long period of time might very well mean ignoring other groups of players. There are only so many hours in the day and only so many developers working on new features, after all. So today we're coming at this from the obvious angle -- what does it take to keep your interest? Is it a question of update speed, whether you prefer rapid updates like Guild Wars 2 or big expansions a la World of Warcraft? Is it a question of fundamental mechanics, such that you prefer a wide-open sandbox like EVE Online or a directed experience in Star Wars: The Old Republic? Is it a matter of feel and lore that keeps you invested in Star Trek Online or Final Fantasy XIV? What does it take to keep your interest? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Darkfall patches in new boats, a new dungeon, and other improvements
Maybe you've already been on a boat in Darkfall Unholy Wars, but you haven't been on the newest boats. You couldn't have been. They've just been patched in today, allowing players new ways to be unstoppable due to their aquatic mode of transportation. But that's just the least of what's been changed in the latest patch being deployed today. In addition to having new boats, the patch features a new dungeon known as Svartvann as well as the new Darkbrood family, infesting Svartvann as well as Aldan Enak and Grivendale. There are also some noteworthy changes to Primalist spell functionality as well as a new skill meant to disable perpetual blocking. And you can have a new ship module if you can't get enough of aquatic antics. If none of the above strikes your fancy, you can at least enjoy the requisite bug fixes and UI updates that should make the game more fun to play for everyone. [Thanks to LanMandragon for the tip!]
Some Assembly Required: On MMOs and loss aversion
I've been reading a book called Scorecasting lately. It's basically an academic exercise in statistics and human behavioral analysis as it relates to the decisions made in both individual and team sports. One of the chapters touches on a theory called loss aversion, which is a psychological phenomenon first attributed to Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. The theory is generally understood to mean that humans fear potential losses much more than they enjoy actual gains, and thus they often act in statistically irrational fashion to avoid said losses. We can also see principles of loss aversion at work in MMOs. In fact, I'd go so far as to posit that loss aversion is a large, if indirect, reason why many people play MMOs in the first place. It's also a major reason why sandboxes, virtual worlds, and games that feature some sort of tangible risk/reward mechanic have been in such dire straits since MMOs went mainstream. Follow me past the cut and see if you agree.
Storyboard: Both sides of roleplaying
I don't mind disagreeing with someone, but I really like to know why because the why usually leads to more interesting conclusions. You won't be surprised to know that I spend a good portion of my time thinking about how the divide in roleplaying has happened. It's definitely there, and it often gets painted as a divide between newer and older players. There are people who point to Star Wars Galaxies as one of the greatest games for RP of all time, and there are those who look at it and just don't see what the big deal was. It's too much to come down purely to difference in taste. The idea has been rolling around in my head for a while, but a few discussions on the topic finally pushed me into the conclusion that what we're looking at is a split between ramblers and orienteers. We're treating two distinct hobbies as the same thing because they've got a lot of overlap, but despite what we think, that overlap is narrower than it seems at a glance.
PlanetSide 2 is letting players make the missions
The world of PlanetSide 2 is a battlefield, one that is constantly evolving and changing. Sometimes you need a commander who can come up with some off-the-wall strategies, a desperate flank, an ambush for a pursuing force, something like that. So the developers at Sony Online Entertainment are giving players a tool to make that happen via player generated missions. Anyone with the required command certifications can start creating missions at the relevant location visible to the entire faction. The missions are meant to be short-term bursts of activity, with major experience bonuses for a limited series of objectives. So someone on the ground might put out a call for an air strike, offering big bonuses to flyers who divert and take out hardened ground targets. It's a fascinating idea that can offer mechanical bonuses for improved leadership and placement, something that players will have more reason to practice once the system gets rolled out later this summer.
