MMO Weekly Page 3

21 Jul 2009 at 12:11:55 by Jeff Hollis

Instead of finding new ways to get players to grind away at content, what if the developers had expended their efforts implementing a system for user-generated content?  City of Heroes recently did something similar and it was, by all accounts, an amazing success.  While some of the thousands – yes, thousands – of player-created 'arcs' were certainly sloppy, amateurish, or subject to exploitation, many others were simply outstanding.  This kind of content is, obviously, chock full of creativity and variety.  What's more, it's is a lot of fun for the players. 

Randomised Instances

A select number of randomized dungeons, similar to the dungeons found in the Diablo series, offer players a varied, interesting, endgame option.  Every dungeon, certainly, should not be randomised, including those in the above two examples.  But a number of randomised dungeons could be implemented into the game, and these would, by their nature, remain fresh for a long, long time.  If done well – something Blizzard has already proven they are very capable of - these randomised crawls will have the obvious effect of keeping players coming back for more. 

Randomised Gear

The issue of loot drops is a big one when considering the endgame.  The current system holds a carrot out in front of players endlessly, tempting them with better weapons, armor, and other doodads.  How can something similar be done in a non-DICCish endgame?

There are options.  First, developers can simply add more and more items into the game, much like they do now.  Very powerful items would be rare drops off select bosses, while more mundane items would drop anywhere.  The odds of superior gear dropping, of course, increases according to the difficulty of the instance.  This system is, of course, very similar to the one we have in instanced content now.  As in the above examples, developers would be freed from creating DICCish content.  As a result, they'd have time to devote to creating an ever larger pool of interesting, varied, and desirable items to be found in instances.  

There is also a slightly more exotic option.  What if the developers had allowed some weapons and armor to be randomly generated?  Beyond that, gear could be heavily customized, beyond what is currently implemented in WoW.  This has been done in other RPGs and MMOs, including the previously mentioned Diablo I and II (and the upcoming DIII); obviously, it can be done successfully without unbalancing the game.  For all its faults, Hellgate:London was an MMO that had a loot system which was both heavily randomized, and also allowed players to customise this random gear significantly.  Of course, a lot of loot drops were just junk (the equivalent of bracers with cooking bonuses and arcane resistance...weirdly worthless!),but the occasional drop was just right for my personal tastes and character design. 

The effect of this on WoW would be profound, as the randomisation and customisation combination allows for the creation of some gear with exotic stats.  The hope of these kinds of drops will keep players interested, and the randomized stats on items allow for more exotic character builds than pre-designed gear allows. 

Prestige Items for the Hardcore Elite Crowd

What if the devs developed a *limited* amount of DICC content (raids, grind quests, etc) that rewarded players for their time commitments, but simultaneously didn't make these players uber-powerful compared to the average player?  This, too, can be done if the rewards for accomplishing the artificially difficult content were *prestige* awards, and not ones that had a significant effect on combat.  For example, what about a raid instance that predominantly yielded statistically equivalent gear compared to normal instances.  However, the significant drops consisted of unusual mounts, dye kits, customizing options, unlocked emotes, and unusual looking (but not unusually powerful) armor and weapons.  This kind of content allows the hardcore elite players to obtain items they want and (most importantly) show off their 'leetness'.  However, these coveted but non-powerful drops don't unbalance the game in favor of the hardcores, nor do they make the normal players feel impotent or second rate.       

If this is done on a limited basis, it doesn't unduly drain developer resources away from fun content.  Further, it never makes the normal player feel unheroic, or like a second class citizen in the game.

SUMMARY

Clearly, these are not the only MMO endgame options.  Many other possibilities exist, but they remain unexplored due to WoW's (and the overall MMO industry's) commitment to providing  modern endgame drudgery.  However, the above examples illustrate a possible, alternate endgame for WoW; one that is full of endlessly new content.  If even the paltry few suggestions, above, were followed, the current state of WoW's endgame would be full of new instances to explore, new dungeons to delve, new areas to conquer, and new loot to lust after.  It would even allow the 'hardcore elites' a way to show off their 'leetness. 

Is it too late for WoW?  Is the game inevitably doomed, once the  next great MMO comes along?  If the game continues in its present direction, it remains vulnerable.  However, the Blizz devs have shown a willingness to experiment with their endgame content.  Thus far, these experiments have been variants on repetitive, grind-heavy, work-oriented DICC, but you never know.  They may just try something different, and inject some much needed fun and adventure back into the endgame.

And that's all I have for this week.  Next week, we'll explore some very different aspects of virtual space, in all its geeky glory.  For now, ciao!

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