3DS MMOG Design

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:

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.