MMO Weekly: STO's Klingon Game

26 Jan 2010 at 00:00:00 by Jeff Hollis

Hey there, my fellow sojourners into virtual geekspace, and welcome to this week's edition of MMO Weekly.  In this week's write-up, we'll explore the concept of “monster play”.  For those of you not familiar with the topic, well, don't go getting all excited.  Apparently (much to my surprise) the term “monster play” isn't widely known among gamers, and conjures up vaguely naughty images of people dressing up in costumes and dry-humping one another.  Allow me to reassure you, what you are thinking of is “furplay”.  (Although furries argue about the use of that term a lot).  Furplay is something for consenting (and very weird) adults only.  Monster play has nothing to do with furries, or how they “play”, so get your mind out of the gutter.  

For those that are unaware, monster play is a form of PvP used in some MMOs.  The term was coined by LOTRO, who were the first to introduce the concept.  In LOTRO, all the characters are on the same side – the side of the Free Peoples.  Despite this, the devs at Turbine wanted to include PvP into the game, especially as part of the endgame.  But how do you get the good guys to fight amongst themselves, when it brutally violates the story line?

They had two choices: 1) somehow make up some crazy scenarios where elves, hobbits, and dwarves are fighting one another, or 2) have some players play the enemy side during PvP.  They went with option number 2.  The overly simplified explanation of monster play mechanics is this:  when queuing up for some PvP, players can select to be on the evil side.  In LOTRO, they're orcs, worgs, or spiders – the enemy monsters of LOTRO.  (Hence the term “monster play”.) 

These monster characters exist solely for PvP.  They cannot enter the game world itself, just the PvP battles.  The devs did not design any content for these characters, so they cannot do any PvE.  However, there is an experience and rewards system put into the game that allows your monster character to improve his skills and abilities over time.  In a very quirky, and very innovative game mechanic, your monsters and player characters *share* some of the experience you gain, no matter what side you're playing.  I'm oversimplifying things a bit, but basically if you play a monster, you get experience for both your monster character, and your main toon simultaneously.  Simply put, the devs wanted some true PvP in the game, and put a little encouragement into the game for players to play the dark side. 

Does this system work?  Yes, quite well.  Many players feel that monster play is a diversion from the main game, and enjoy it simply for that reason  (It's like playing a very ugly alt).  Others like the challenge of playing the enemy side, though these 'creep' characters start out weaker than player characters.  The fact that, no matter what side you play, you are gaining something for your main character helps players enjoy monster play a lot more, too.

Variants of monster play have appeared in other online games.  It's not a bad system at all.  In fact, most players enjoy the experience, as long as they are gaining from it.   

However, there's a variation of monster play that may not quite be living up to its billing.  Of course, I'm referring to the mildly controversial aspect of playing a Klingon in Star Trek Online. 

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