Further MMO Research
Okay
so I figured the best thing to do would be to talk to people who actually play
MMO's as I am not a big MMO player myself. I thought the best thing I could do
was to ask them a series of questions on their experiences with MMO's and what
keeps them playing and why.
Here are the questions I devised:
Here are the questions I devised:
In your
opinion, what contributes to making good and successful MMO?
What
elements of an MMO keeps players wanting to play them?
How do MMO's
keep their players entertained?
What do you
enjoy most when playing an MMO and why?
Out of all
the MMO's you have played, what sort of "tasks/missions/quests" do
you find most fun and why?
Do you think
a story is important to an MMO?
Is there anything crucial missing from MMO's?
I asked my partner,
Ciaran Fallon, as well as our 2 other friends, Jordie Donachie and James Quinn
these questions as they are all MMO players. Their answers proved very
interesting and helpful when trying to determine the aim of our unique MMO.
Key: Ciaran Fallon Jordie Donachie James Quinn
In your
opinion, what contributes to making good and successful MMO?
Ciaran: Building a thriving
community of players in a world that appears to be alive whilst providing a
deep and interesting character and class building system.
Jordie:
The social
aspect is the most important part in my opinion, but there needs to be a lot of
content to work with as well. Also, great feedback services will go a long way.
James:
I feel like a dedicated fan-base, as
well as an understanding dedicated development team keep an MMO going. This, as
well as a feeling of gradual progression all help the player feel important in
the world, amongst their friends who play alongside them.
What
elements of an MMO keeps players wanting to play them?
Ciaran: Good
looting, good PvP and an endgame.
Jordie:
New content
and a great support service.
James:
I feel like the social side of MMOs keep
long-term players interested at the end game content level. Aside from this,
again, a feeling of progression from weak to powerful is always satisfying.
How do MMO's
keep their players entertained?
Ciaran:
They keep
their players entertained through updating their content regularly. If they
don't, they lose out on players.
Jordie:
An
immersive storyline with roleplaying aspects which can be used in a socialising
way.
James:
Frequent patches, expansions, promises
of rare loot etc. Levelling is also fun when you're with friends or you have a
target you want to meet.
What do you
enjoy most when playing an MMO and why?
Ciaran:
Role
playing in a world that isn't our own - being someone different and interacting
with others as that person.
Jordie:
That
feeling of defeating a challenging opponent with a group of friends or an
entire guild.
James:
I enjoy the social element of playing,
as well as the more compulsive feeling of achievement you get when you level
quickly and your character becomes more powerful. The aesthetic improvements of
a powerful character are cool also.
Out of all
the MMO's you have played, what sort of "tasks/missions/quests" do
you find most fun and why?
Ciaran:
I enjoy
dungeons with awesome loot at the end.
Jordie:
End bosses
with specific strategic solution where you need at least 10 people to defeat
him.
James:
Missions which deviate from the typical
'farming' style quests are always very fun and interesting to play. World of
Warcraft has implicated fun new ways of completing standard boring quests with
aimed challenges, funny stories etc.
Do you think
a story is important to an MMO?
Ciaran:
I think it
is, although it can be hard to concentrate on if you are playing with other
people who have already played through it once.
Jordie:
Yes, but
it's not the most important part. It's a mixture of many things including the
story which is important.
James:
I think story can make or break an MMO.
The announcement of the Mists of Panderia expansion for World of Warcraft was
initially lacklustre. Following some research and finding out that the final
boss was a key character in the last few expansions, my interest peaked again.
This, as well as interesting voice over work as apparent in SWTOR, can keep an
otherwise uninteresting experience going for far longer.
Is there anything crucial missing from MMO's?
Ciaran: I think
decent and varied gameplay is missing - MMOs seems to be based more on what
your character would be able to do as opposed to player skill.
Jordie:
The balance
of good graphics, brand new and exciting content, socialising, gameplay,
support services etc. World of Warcraft suffers in its graphics and the game
play on it feels old. New MMO's like APB have good graphics, alright gameplay
but bad support services.
James:
I feel like player participation isn't
particularly active in MMOs, there seems to be a structure that most MMOs
adhere to, including the recently announced elder scrolls online. World of
Warcraft has set the standard of the most successful MMO, and companies
understandably want to replicate this style. I feel that more free thinking in
relation to this supposed archetypal, most popular game play of an MMO would be
great for the MMO genre. More Action! Less Farming!
From this I plan to go onto create a concept aim for our game. We already
had a rough idea of the gameplay and story so from this research I can try to
put together a more immersive aim and storyline to our MMO.
