Yesterday I was thinking about why I log in – in any MMORPG. What is the exact reason? I came up with these things:
Exploration, but not just the exploration of a landscape. The focus of nowadays MMORPGs is your character and it shows with me. The most powerful reason for me to log into a game is curiosity. You could also call it learning. I like to find out how it feels to be able to do a blast wave, or a mortal strike, or what it is like to fly a battle-cruiser. As long as there is something interesting to explore, I am almost guaranteed to log in. During the hot phase in the beginning of a MMORPG, exploration is what drives me.
It is a good idea for a game to not offer content too fast. As long as there is still something to do that feels remotely reasonable (achievements do not, titles sometimes work, gaining abilities is a classic), there is a high chance that I am going to try.
Exploration is also the reason why I might like to grind for many, many hours. And, yes, I occasionally like that.
Meeting friends is an obvious reason. Once a game has managed to integrate me into a nice community it is a winner.
Gated content, like dailies or managing my learning queue. This is the kind of reason to log in that is a trade-off for the game. It works for a time, and it gives the other motivations an opportunity to enthuse me. But it also makes me feel stressed and pushed - and I might end up associating these feelings with the game.
Idealism. I play MMORPGs for long enough by now to have very strong emotions about some features. If you make a game that is great in (my) theory, I will try really hard to like it. This one doesn't work with new players, obviously.
Competition, to show others how damn good I am. This is honestly not something that works all the time. But sometimes it can be quite encouraging.
To kill time with something that matters. This is actually pretty damn important. Of course, MMORPGs don't really matter, do they? You play them for fun, just like having dinner with your wife or watching that soccer match.
There is a difference between fun and fun. I am easily bored by games that feel like I am not creating something meaningful. When I am bored I sometimes play a game of chess against the computer or do a round of Civilization. These are fun games, but I always feel like wasting my time. I am not in it for the long run. It is 'just a game' to me. This is the deciding difference between MMORPGs and single player games.
Can you come up with other reasons?
I'm of the opinion the primary hook of MMOs (or, at least, WoW) is ego gratification. It has to be something primal and strong to explain the intense addictiveness.
ReplyDeleteNeowolf2, can you elaborate on this a bit? I'm not sure I understand the process of "ego gratification" in WoW.
ReplyDeleteDo you think players feel heroic when they kill mobs in solo-PvE or when they team up to kill 'bosses' ?
"To kill time with something that matters"
ReplyDeleteThis. I can't get into playing single player games anymore, they feel too contrived and pointless. Heck I could never enjoy board games or card games so it doesn't come as a surprise that single-player games would follow suit (although I think the conversion of single-player games into pathetic cinematic movie-wannabes has something to do with it). I think it all comes back to the point you made: I don't want to just be wasting my time.
MMOs are populated with real people, I PROGRESS in them (they aren't one-off matches for wasting time), I inhabit a world that stands on its own without me, and the open social aspect makes things so much more engrossing, meaningful, and spontaneous.
I love exploring worlds, and I actually think that this is a major reason why many players enjoy the genre. Sometimes I'll make a random character on a random game and just see how far I can run, what I can see.
It's amazing how many games diminish this aspect, and it's unfortunate that games designers set up strongly gated areas in many games as if it is their responsibility to make things linear and contrived (WoW became frustrating for me with all of the agros making sure that taking a few steps into a zone that you weren't supposed to be in yet would get you killed).
Careful not to do something and then make up reasons why you did it AFTER having done it. Clearly those weren't the reasons you did it for, because the reason came AFTER the act, not before.
ReplyDeleteThe best you can do is consider whether you will keep doing the activity - are there reasons on top of whatever impulse sent you there?
To really think about these things, it's best not to assume by default one had a rational reason for doing it to begin with. If you start your thinking from the idea you had a rational reason...well, if you didn't, you can see how that would go (if it were the case)
@Callan S.
ReplyDeleteI think when he says "log in" he's referring to "logging back into" a game.
If he is "logging back into" a game then of course he can have specific reasons (that he's well aware of) as to why he's returning and what's keeping him interested.
As for the validity of his points, I can tell you right now, as someone who tries many many games on a whim, this is basically a checklist for the aspects that a game needs to have if I'm going to be returning to it (willingly).
Callan S., thanks for the advice. You are right in that one easily falls victim to many fallacies by trying to reason about such things after they happened.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I started to watch myself carefully about a year ago whenever I started to do something in a MMORPG. I added the 'idealism' paragraph above to recognize that it does play a role.
The collection of points in this post may not be perfect. But that's why I ask for your help: Have you ever watched yourself playing MMORPGs and can tell me your specific reasons at a specific time when you were logging in?
Does your specific reason fall into one of these categories or is it a new one?
I log in to tackle difficult content within my time restriction.
ReplyDeleteIn WoW, this strictly means playing 2 or 3 times a week to 2- or 3-man level appropriate instances with my wife and/or a friend.
And the odd 4- or 5-mage instance. Bandages for the win!
Nils, I would say unforfilled inertia. Simply heading toward something (that's what inertia is) with product prompts to increase inertia when it begins to flag, but to never actually forfiling it.
ReplyDeleteIronically I think the mmorpgs which actually forfil what you came for probably do worse in long term population. Ie, You've had your fun and if you don't go back - well, there's no wistful desire to finish what you started because you already finished/got your fun. And yet other mmorpgs which rely on non forfilment simply remind one, constantly, of the first mmorpg that didn't forfil you. Which tends to mean the mmorpg the most people had first contact with becomes the only one who can really effectively use non forfilment techniques.
@Callan S.
ReplyDeletePart of what you're saying is an argument for the "carrot and the stick" design. The post does not focus on implementation, it does not focus on retention, it talks about what is required to make the author invested enough to log in at all.
This is a list of aspects that make a game better by giving the experience more depth, which in turn makes the game fulfilling enough to warrant logging in.
This isn't a list of things that can really be completed (like achievements or something), the list is not about the implementation (which is where the longevity of the experience itself would come into play), so I don't really see your point about how a game that fosters exploration, friendship, competition, etc would lack longevity.
As I said, the post doesn't seem to be about longevity per se. It's more about what makes a player invested in the experience (which in-turn may relate to longevity).
Another point of what you're saying sounds a bit like a piece Bartle wrote about how players will desire the "old ways" of the games that they are familiar with. Bartle's point deals specifically with game features and mechanics. This post is not dealing with specific mechanics: what you're talking about seems to be along the lines of implementation. Bartle never said that positive *aspects* of a new game (like exploration and friendship) would not benefit the game if they were not previously in the player's first game.
Hugmenot, that is an interesting motivation. I've done similar things myself from time to time and with the right group it always is a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteYet, it is hard to argue that it is the challenge alone that attracts you. Isn't it is a more a combination of the group you are in and the fact that a MMORPG allows you to have fun in a challenging multiplayer fantasy setting?
Could you tell me whether 'immersion' into the fatansy setting is important to you and your group?
Gilded, I really appreciate your comments. I have but one concern. Your comments create a semblance of fanboyism. .. [It took me some 5 minutes trying to write this in a diplomatic manner. I think, I didn't really succeed].
From experience, I know that even constructive criticizm is much harder if other commenters seem to 'defend' the original poster.
I don't want to draw conclusions. I would just ask you to try to appear less like you were 'defending' my post. The important word being 'appear'.
You are very welcome to say your mind, of course. Also, if you want to post an answer to this, please do so at NilsMMOBlog@hotmail.com.
Callan S., I don't feel like I completely understand your point. What is 'forfilment'? Do you mean fulfilment? Even then I don't really understabnnd, I fear.
What you call 'inertia' plays a role. Especially during the first few months of playing the first MMORPG. My guess is that the 'meaning' that a persistent world offers, makes many new players fall in love with it. The rules of MMORPGs force even traditional gameplay-heavy corporations to be a bit more like The Elder Scrolls. However, subsequent MMORPGs cannot offer this feeling, as it would not be new anymore.
But my post is not about newbies. I wanted to answer the question 'why I log in'. And I am long past being a newbie. (As is a majority of the market!)
Still, I logged into various MMORPGs last year and the year before and the year before ..
Each time I did have fun for a while. It may not have been the 24 hour addiction of the first three months playing an MMORPG, but it still was a lot of fun. There were things I did when I logged in and this post tries to find out (1) what these were, (2) assumes that they were the reason for logging in, and (3) tries to categorize them.
You write
And yet other mmorpgs which rely on non forfilment simply remind one, constantly, of the first mmorpg that didn't forfil you.
.. I don't understand this. Do you want to elaborate?
An Rpg adds two main things (that I can think of offhand) over say a shooter:
ReplyDelete- Character development.
- Aquisition disease.
These are central to how we evolved in hunter/gatherer societies. We are genetically directed to strive for success in the future at the expense of relaxing in the present and to aquire the things that are the currency of respect in the society we are in. Such things were/are important to reproductive success in the societies in which we evolved. For many, status in the game is so important that they are prepared to lie and cheat (e.g. power levelling, gold buying etc.) to achieve it, little realizing that the fun to be had in a game is in the journey and that when you reach the zenith there is little else to do. So players actively conspire to avoid enjoying a game in order to reach illusory goals.
I've always thought that games companies should hire a psychologist and maybe perhaps an anthropologist, since they continue to make the most basic mistakes in social dynamics often, for instance, putting players in the prisoner's dilemma with mechanisms such as need/greed looting etc. and destroying the latent tendency that players have for reciprocal altruism, a much worthier and more fulfilling sentiment in a group, I think, than need that is really greed.
MMOs only really differ from single player games in that they establish a peer group which makes the attainment of high rank in the game even more important than in an RPG, where it's all in the imagination.
Roq, thanks for this very thoughtful post.
ReplyDeleteI really hope that the big companies employ psychologists. On the other hand, I agree: it sometimes looks as if they do not. Your example is spot on.
You write
MMOs only really differ from single player games in that they establish a peer group which makes the attainment of high rank in the game even more important than in an RPG, where it's all in the imagination.
I disagree with that. While I tend to socialize later on, I often play weeks or even months in a new MMORPG before I do. The size of the world and the openess of the world, that games like WoW offer, is due to they being an MMORPG. But I sure love to play in this world as a solo player.
Also, the fact that I cannot quickload/quicksave adds a lot to my enjoyment. From Blizzards focus on single player content during leveling, I'd guess that their statistics prove my point. (They just drew the wrong conclusions from the statistics - a different topic).
Also, don't forget the indirect player interaction, like the economy (auction house).
I think these aspects, in combination with the persistence and long grind, play a large role in how a MMORPG differs from a sinlge player RPG. Peer group mechanics play a role, too. But not until players have settled down and became part of some community.
No worry Nils, I may be a fan of your posts but it doesn't mean that I side with you by default (trust me).
ReplyDeleteI was commenting because I know where Calan S.' comments stem from, they are theoretical discussions about MMORPG game design that are not directly related to what this article is about. My comments were criticizing the clarity of purpose that the comments had, since they are basically ignoring the substance of the post in favor of listing predetermined conclusions discussed in other literature on the *general* subject (what makes a game successful).
I get a bit restless when I see arguments made that use predetermined conclusions and "rules" instead of logic directly relevant to the discussion. I did not mean for the posts to come across as defensive of your work so much as dismissive of a criticism that was out of context.
Hi Nils
ReplyDelete"While I tend to socialize later on, I often play weeks or even months in a new MMORPG before I do. The size of the world and the openess of the world, that games like WoW offer, is due to they being an MMORPG. But I sure love to play in this world as a solo player."
That's the same with me and one has to ask why? But, it wasn't always the case - in the early days of vanilla WoW, I remember an infectious sense of community that seems to have completely disapeared from all current MMOs.
What's clear is that Rift's public events aren't going to solve social problems in MMOs. So far I haven't *failed* to close a single rift, regardless of the number of participants - it hardly makes a difference and I don't really even notice the other guys (noone's very distinguishable in Rift anyway) as I'm too busy spamming my attacks in order to maximize participation and try and get the purple shard... Communities can not easily form when there's no necessity to share risk.
I wonder if ANet have some magic bullet for GW2 that will make events draw people together, but absolute scaling is surely not the answer as Rift seems to show - it just sucks all the tension out of encounters.
Yes, I meant fulfilment, sorry.
ReplyDeleteWell, you asked if I had watched myself log in (eg "Have you ever watched yourself playing MMORPGs and can tell me your specific reasons at a specific time when you were logging in?") and why so - my answer is unfulfilled inertia.
In terms of what Gilded said about context, I guess I just don't see any meaning or reason for play in the classic mmorpg structure. It's just another type of recreational drug.
I'll give an hypothetical mmorpg that's counter to my statement there - say a mmorpg where when players play, donations are sent to a RL charity. With that I'd say there is meaning in that mmorpg, or reason(s) behind logging in.
Roq, I agree completely.
ReplyDelete---
Callan S., is going on vacation with friends also a recreational drug? What about watching a soccer match? Or having dinner with your wife?
I think one has to be careful here. A mistake that is often committed is to treat virtual and 'real' life differently. When, in fact, any virtual life is part of real life, just like 'vacational life' is part of real life.
Anyway, when talking about game design the important thing is not so much whether an activity is meaningful, but rather whether and why it feels meaningful.
Callan S., is going on vacation with friends also a recreational drug? What about watching a soccer match? Or having dinner with your wife?
ReplyDeleteI think one has to be careful here. A mistake that is often committed is to treat virtual and 'real' life differently. When, in fact, any virtual life is part of real life, just like 'vacational life' is part of real life.
If these happened to just involve lit pixels and altering the magnetic state of a small patch of a spinning disk, yes, they're just recreational drugs.
I was reading this the other day and thought the idea of losing the capacity to differentiate between reality and virtual representation of reality was a bit unlikely. But...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendent_Man_%28film%29
Anyway, when talking about game design the important thing is not so much whether an activity is meaningful, but rather whether and why it feels meaningful.
I don't think you can really discuss this without acknowledging that a trick is being played on the persons senses. Can't control the hallucination until you acknowledge it as a halucination. Given early forms of mmorpg were called MUSH's (multi user shared halucinations) I don't seem to be cutting a new trend in calling it a hallucination. Though I may be reviving an old trend.
Anyway, the approach of acknowledging the trick and calling it unforfilled inertia - that just comes naturally to me, so that's why I brought it up rather than a desire to bring some sideways thing in. If that approach doesn't fit, no worries, I'll cease with applying it.