Wednesday, May 26, 2010

MMO Keywords


This is a list of keywords. Make of it what you want. This is a living document at the moment.

Core Gameplay
-> Targeting style (WoW vs. CS)
-> Movement (e.g. strafing, speed, sneaking, running, stamina, ..)
-> Camera perspective (first person, over-the-shoulder, overview, ..)
-> Icons, hotkeys
-> User actions per minute (min, max, average, distribution)
-> Global cooldown
-> Resource mechanics (mana, rage, cooldowns, energy, runes, ..)
-> Group buffs (purpose, magnitude)
->

Developer data collection
-> Number of players
-> Players active at prime time
-> Average player lifetime (death by NPC/PC)
-> Players per region
-> .. this list is literally endless
-> The more you know the better!
-> Careful with statistics, they are tricky!
->

Graphics sytle
-> Cartoon
-> Realistic
->

System requirements
-> High end
-> Typical desktop
-> Laptopable
-> Mobile phone
->

Sound
-> Background music
-> Sound effects
-> Voice output
->

General Polish
-> Frame rate
-> Response time
-> Internet lags, extrapolation
-> Server lags
-> Client-side movement
-> Compatibility with different computer systems
-> Becoming stuck, falling through terrain
-> Clipping errors
-> Database errors (backup systems)
->

GUI
-> Clearly arranged
-> Information per pixel
-> Freely moveable/sizable/fixed windows
-> Full screen display (instead of windows)
-> User addons
-> Looks, feeling
-> Clicks/keystrokes per activity
-> Focus on standard activities (e.g. buy item, retrieve item, store item)
-> Transparency
-> Font (e.g. readability)
-> Scaling with different resolutions
->

Features
-> Mail system
-> Castles
-> Player housing
-> Guild halls
-> Player controlled construction
-> Land estate
-> Farming
-> Classic raids
-> Classic dungeons
-> Classic questing
-> Daily quests
-> World bosses
-> Sandbox opportunities
-> Grouping
-> Chat
-> Restricted Communication
-> Unpredictability
-> Developer-made stories
-> Player-made stories
-> Grinding
-> Achievements
-> Background lore
-> Mounts
-> Vehicle combat
-> Naval combat
-> Space combat
-> Prestige items, titles
-> Instances
-> Movie-like cut scenes
-> Classic talent trees
-> User-written macros
-> Destructible environment
-> Chain of Command
-> War
-> Guerrilla warfare
-> Diplomacy
-> Tracking
-> Smelling
-> Sneaking
-> Scouting
-> Swimming
-> Under-water combat
-> Item weight, inventory size
-> Mob AI
-> Threat
-> Collision control
-> Holy trinity: Tank, healer, dd
-> Narrow dungeons, huge dungeons
-> Infinite dungeons
-> Internet sources (e.g. bosskillers.com)
-> NPC interaction (e.g. dialogue)
-> Dangerous travel
-> Reputation
-> Pets/Companions
-> Locks
-> Traps
->
->

Economy (major feature)
-> Trade
-> Travel and transport
-> Free markets
-> Arbitrage
-> Cash flow inside the game
-> Cash flow into the game / out of the game (inflation/deflation)
-> Property flow into the game / out of the game (inflation/deflation)
-> Different currencies in the game, currency exchange
-> Player owned shops
-> Companies
-> Crafting
-> Financial services
-> Player-run financial services (bank account, shares, debt, ..)
-> Resource extraction (small/large scale)
-> Auctions
-> Decay of 'stuff'
-> "Soulbound"
->

Explicit PvP (major feature)
-> Open world explicit PvP
-> RvR
-> Number of factions
-> Player-created factions
-> Borders
-> Border patrols
-> Battlegrounds
-> Arenas
-> NPCs role
-> Location of players (who may not want to be found)
-> Bounties
->

Making Dollars
-> Flat fee
-> Time dependent
-> Microtransactions
-> Macrotransactions
-> Free
-> Expensive, but high quality
-> Cheap, and still nice
-> In-game trade of subscriptions (EVE)
-> Stance on commercial gold farming and botting
-> Stance on "gold-selling" by third parties
->

Community
-> Socializing incentives
-> Guilds
-> Alliances
-> Server identity
-> Faction identity
-> Anonymity
-> Posing
-> Social network features (friend list, ignore list, see facebook)
-> Access from outside the game (e.g. armory)
-> Family Names
->

Immersion
-> Credibility
-> Consistency
-> Story for grown ups
-> Elite versions of mobs vs. different mobs?
-> Commercial spam (gold sellers)
->

Accessibility
-> Convenience
-> Instant fun
-> Teleports
-> Forced breaks (regging, automated travel, ..)
-> Time scale of activities
->

Character progression
-> Collecting stuff
-> Addiction
-> Gaining abilities
-> Time scale
-> Dependence on time investment (e.g. EVE)
-> Speed of progression
-> Average character modification rate (e.g. gaining a new item)
-> Skill-based
-> Level-based
-> Inter-player balance
-> Interaction of players who are at different states of progression
->

Content
-> The amount of what a player can do; player-dependent
-> Player generated content
-> Replayability
-> Procedural content generation
-> Size of the world
->

Challenge
-> Death penalty
-> Repeated wiping
-> Strategy
-> Tactics
-> Twitch skills
-> Easy to learn, hard to master
-> Casual vs. hardcore
-> Excel sheets
-> Retrieving data
-> Testing hypotheses
-> Mathematical models
-> Numerical optimization
-> Open/Closed policy concerning game mechanics
->

Player Mentality
-> Aggressive PvP
-> Immersive PvP
-> No PvP
-> Instant fun
-> Time investment
-> Just raidin'
-> Pre-release hype
-> Inter-player rivalry
-> Distraction after work
-> Role playing (in any form)
-> "I want big bosses"
-> Solo play
-> Playing with real life friends
-> Getting to know other players
-> "I am the hero" (Frodo)
-> "I am part of something bigger" (Sam)
-> "I am a stranger who muddles through" (early Aragorn)
-> Player attitude / exspectations at joining the game.
-> Advertisement
->

Setting
-> High fantasy
-> Low fantasy
-> Totally fictional
-> Sci-fi
-> Current western world
-> Middle-ages
-> Wild west
-> Samurai
-> Holy Crusade
-> Colonization
-> Third world
-> Developing world
-> Old Rome
-> Old Greece
-> Third Reich
-> Cold War
-> Vikings
-> Ruthless capitalism
-> Ruthless oppressor(s)
-> Magic/Technology dualism
-> Religion/Gods/Corporations
-> Eternal war (devils, demons, Warhammer-like, ..)
-> Dark
-> Melancholic
-> Light
-> Cute
-> Bloody
-> Aggressive
-> Subliminal horror
->

Remaining Memories
-> Memorable characters
-> Memorable items
-> Memorable stories
-> Memorable events
-> Potential to cause nostalgia
->

4 comments:

  1. Graphics:

    Should there be a "graphics quality" and "graphics style" categories, or just mix both into "graphics?"

    Alternative to "graphics quality" there could be a "system requirements" list. 'high-end graphics system,' 'typical desktop,' 'laptopable,' 'mobile phone,' and finally, 'you could probably run this on your commodore 64.'

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  2. Thanks! I added this and also added a cathegory for developer data collection, which is very important for a developer to know what is actually going on.

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  3. Wow, this post alone would be enough to keep me coming back just to see what might get added.

    One suggestion though, the first section headed Core Gameplay, should be retitled something about combat issues. In MMOs core gameplay could and I hope should include: Combat, Diplomacy, Economics, Crafting, Exploration, and Socialization.


    Some things I would like to see added to Features: Reputation, Pets/Companions, Locks/Traps, Magic/Technology (depending on setting), Religion/Gods/Corporations (again, depends on setting).

    Under community I'd like to see Family Names added. I believe EQ II had the option of inviting players to share your last name and it gave access to a common channel for it.

    Anyway, excellent source post for ideas and discussion. Hopefullly we'll see parts of it come up in later posts!

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  4. Thanks, Bann. I added your suggestions. The post will always be unfinished, I fear ;)

    But I am very willing to add anything suggested.

    Magic/Technology and Religion/Gods/Corporations have been added to settings, btw.

    I define the Core Gameplay as the repetetive core of what you do in the game. For WoW that is generally moving your character and the general act of combat.

    I have added Diplomacy as a feature. Economics and crafting already were in the list as (major) features.

    Exploration, and Socialization should probably be added under a new category. Something like: "Major features".

    There is a reason that I just made a list of keywords: Structure is difficult and not always well-defined.

    I will use this post in a lot of comeing posts about the 1 mio Dollar question ;)

    Unfortunately my job is relatively time consuming right now, but that will eventually change.

    ReplyDelete