Game Design is an essential aspect for the development of every game, independently of the genre or whether its online or offline. While MMORPGs require thorough planning of many different aspects such as keeping the game interesting even after the main story is completed, managing a fair skills and levelling system or managing performance one of the most important aspects is enabling controlled communication that doesn’t restrict the players in their interactions with each other. For this reason, this blog entry will take a closer look to what it needs to design a successful MMORPG.
As explained in a previous blog entry, the flow state can be achieved if the player is challenged enough to be entertained without getting frustrated. While the flow state can be achieved in traditional games if certain rules are followed, achieving the flow state in MMORPGs where there is usually no clear path to follow and a major part of the play time is spontaneous interactions with others player, it is more difficult to guide the player to the flow state.
There are three conditions that need to be met in order to achieve the flow state:
- There need to be clear goals defined that the player must know of
- The balance between challenges and skill needs to be so that the player is neither frustrated nor bored
- The progress on the goals need to be made clear to the player in form of feedback
These conditions can be met by clear directions given to the player, but they can also be goals that the player themselves creates. For example, a player can decide to craft a special item that requires a lot of material and experience, for one of their friends. If the players are given options, they will naturally come up with challenges themselves. This way every player type has their own goals:
- Killers: Want to become the best and compete with others
- Socializers: Want to communicate with other players
- Achievers: Want to progress within the game and level up
- Explorers: Want to learn about different systems (e.g., different skill trees) integrated into the game and explore the world
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