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How are MMO games really designed?
Waterlily
Member UncommonPosts: 3,105
Alright, I've asked myself this a few times. How do big companies really design gameplay?
I'm talking about Blizzard / NCsoft etc, not small B titles. I mean AAA titles.
Everyone seems to think they can design gameplay. You know, they make a list of what they want, bla bla, have never studied game design, etc.
But I know a college near by has a degree in it. It's called 'Interactive Entertainment' or something. But it's a 4 year degree!
Do you think Blizzard and the bigger MMO companies take these thing way more serious than most think they do? Wouldn't they use real educated people, psychologists, people with degrees, people who understand human interaction, body language, etc?
Before you ask, I'm not interested in getting a degree, I'm just wondering how serious big companies take this. There has to be tons more things psychologists and people that study for 4 years know than some of the B title games use.
Anyone has an opinion on this?
Comments
This is something I have wondered myself. Just because you have a degree in graphic design, programming, or whatever doesn't make you ANY good at game design. A psychologist would probably be better at game design then some of the designers we see today. I mean MMOs really couldn't get much worse at this point anyway.
MMOS are built from recycled pieces of other games. And now you know!
I also think they designed a F2P first then extract stuffs from there to polish in P2P.
MMO today is similar to DIY a computer. You can login to their database and find different components to assembling an instant F2P.
That's difference between F2P and P2P, one is raw material, another required debug and balance every month.
I would think those would be the worst people to pick to make a fun game, so yes blizzard probably does use psychologists to figure out how to get people to do the same thing over and over again.
If I was in charge id hire an ECONOMIST.
Own, Mine, Defend, Attack, 24/7
Actually, they are people like you. Game fans who want to make a better more fun game, and have decided to really do it, so have put years of hard work into learning coding, design, etc.
"When people don't know much about something, they tend to fill in the blanks the way they want them to be filled in. They are almost always disappointed." - Will Wright
Basically the backend is merely a text MUD with a plush interface - even WoW is like that. The text is so that data is quickly transferred between servers and client while player sees the glory of particles and blood and gore.
If you compare the functionality of a MUD with WoW (or most MMOs) the combat system (or quest system etc) hasnt changed nor evolved. Its a an old formula that just gets a gfx and content rehaul.
And people are getting TIRED of this formula (since everyone and their cat thinks they can make a successful MMO with the me-too formula). And failures like AoC are starting to show the new trend that players are BORED with dishwatered formulas and are seeking NEW and creative ideas now.
PS. And yes, I did code MUDs once.
This. And don't forget that the guy who makes the decision in the end isn't someone with a degree in game design and sometimes doesn't even play games. Business majors who don't actually know how to really do anything FTL.
http://mmo-hell.blogspot.com/
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/rejad
Simple. You copy EQ, then add some stuff to make it look like it's more than just an EQ clone.
Vanguard, for example, added "diplomacy".
AoC added clickety click combat.
WoW added cartoon graphics, and quest grinding.
I just think that many people today lack real life experience. No traumas, intersting events, near life (near death) experiences.
Many just study and have no innovative, new or personal felings. They get spoon fed with the same ideas from everyone. Thats the main reason why older MMOs are much more interesting gameplay wise. They had to get programmers and "know how", whatever how and were they got thier knowledge.
As we see right now, only WoW clones..because thats the only way to do it.
It depends who's at the helm really.
If let's say a project manager who's also a gamer for sandbox games, then most likely the design would follow the manager's idea of game design more (since he has the final say in dictating the direction of the project.)
If a project manager who's a gamer of ____ (name your favorite MMO here...), you get designs similar to the said MMO, if the manager is a gamer of ___ (name your favorite FPS here...), you get designs similar to that of an FPS games...
Not to mention other fields (Philosopher, Psychologists, etc...) also are gamers, so their ideas and design would tend to be bias toward the game they play...
All developers are influenced by some previous genre of games and titles, and their work will reflect such... So, they design game-play to be WHAT THEY LIKE FIRST, then they will see what the customers want... and then balance between the two and see how far off they are... Some developers may represent a large number of gamers out there, others may not, so some games' mechanics would attract large numbers, others not so much...
Current MMO: FFXIV:ARR
Past MMO: Way too many (P2P and F2P)
Real games are designed by game designers. It's not something you can study in school, it's an art. There is usually one lead designer on a game. BioWare has been using the same guy from the beginning. He has been lead designer on all of their games.
I have been an amateur game designer for 20 years and this is what I did:
1. Write down every game you have ever played, board – card – computer – all of them, even sports. For each one fill out the following: why is this a game, what kind of game is it, why is it fun. Get very detailed with each of those.
2. Get the creative flow going. Game design is a creative process, creativity begets creativity, so start making stuff, anything really it doesn’t matter. Spend some time each day making something.
3. Creative input, related to number two, improve your creative input, music and books is a good start.
4. Make some games – start simple – board or card or something non-computer.
5. Momentum – momentum is important – start with a small project that you can take all the way in a short amount of time, get the feel of accomplishment.
They are designed using the finest sugar and caffeine.
I play for the fun of it.
Yeah, some of you are really hard on designers. They put a lot of time and effort into their designs, and a lot of the time it pays off. Look at Warcraft. While it is easy to hate on it, the designs they went for lead to very easy to create content - OK, so it might be cookie cutter content, but content is the bread and buttor of mmo's. Easy to create content, with a solid simple design that's easy for people to understand, lead to a TON of content, and the players flocked to that in droves.
Most games these days are "lets do such and such game, but better", and the better just doesn't pan out for whatever reason. NOT going this route and trying to be too original is very risky. If a game doesn't pan out, you can't rely on the possibility that sales will continue for a few years, if even at a trickle. If you don't make enough money to run the servers and support the game, you will have to take it off the market and close down. All the development money goes completely down the drain. It's no wonder devs are so safe, the way money has entered the equation. It costs so much to succeed, and success is fleeting. Even if you succeed for the first few months, you can quickly lose it all as subscribers leave.
The designers put a lot of effort into age of conan I'm sure. Most of it's flaws are technical, and maybe the design was too ambitious, but I don't think the design should be blamed too harshly. I can't be certain, but I think the instancing which puts people off is more of a reflex to a technical problem than an initial idea of "lets make a game where only 5 people can be on screen at once."
Most games do have one or a small team of lead designers, but game development is so fluid (and it has to be) that the design is usually changed many times throughout development. Most of the changes in design relate to either overly ambitious designs, technical problems that muddy things up, or finding out that a design that sounds great on paper just isn't fun when it's developed. These changes in design push back the release date, result in things having to be redone, and can often cause major problems if the team is unable to push the release date back far enough.
The more successful teams either are able to push the deadline back as far as they want (blizzard) or know their team well enough to be able to initially create a design that is doable and doesn't result in too many do-overs.
Also most game developers do not hire game designers (at least not entry level). Few game designers have a design degree. Instead they generally train up people from within the company, or hire an experienced designer (several successful games already) who is on the market. To train, they will give the designer control over a fairly risk-free property, and if that works out they can do something bigger. It varies from team to team of course. Smaller teams are most likely to have a designer who has been with the company since the beginning and has an actual stake in the company.
Game designers have to understand gameplay, art, programming, and have as much life experience as possible. That is not to say they have to be programmers or artists, but they need to have some grasp of what can be done and what cannot, and what kinds of effects on the game a decision will make beyond just gameplay. It's a very challenging job, so I've heard
I make it up as I go along - has worked for me so far...
A certain amount is down to 'feel', the rest is all statistics.
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Nope, no design.
Just random ideas put together. No vision, no design, no path, no goal. This is the only way we could have end-up with perfect clones of each other. Oh, game A does that, we must as well...and so on.
BioWare are bringing the first designers into the industry. I can't wait to see the results. *tease evilly*
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I didn't mention how I design. It's a mix of programming and planning. I usually have some idea in my head of what I want to do, and I start seeing the code structures of how to do it, so I start with the code. Eventually, I will get to a part where I am stuck - not sure what to do next. At this point I take a step back and try to look at the game's bigger picture. This usually can point me back in a direction and it's off to the code again. This continues until I get an idea for a better game, where I scrap everything and start over. Although I've been working on a game for a few years now, so I think I am going to stick with it at this point.