What Players Want MMO Design

1
What Players Want - MMO Design

• COSC 418
• Design of Multiplayer Games
• K. Harmeyer

2
From Space War to Star Trek Online

• http//www3.sympatico.ca/maury/games/space/spacewa
  r.html
• http//www.gamasutra.com/features/20060221/pierago
  stini_01.shtml

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Why Do Players Play?

• Players want a challenge
• A great game is a series of interesting decisions
  (Sid Meier).
• Player want to socialize
• Games began as a social experience
• Players want a dynamic solitaire experience
• The computer game fakes the interesting part of
  human interaction without all of the potential
  annoyances
• Players want bragging rights
• Self satisfaction of high scores list.
• Players want an emotional experience
• Adrenaline rush, but why not more?
• Players want to fantasize
• Immersive games and escapism

4
What Do Players Expect?

• Players expect
• a consistent world.
• to understand the worlds bounds.
• reasonable solutions to work.
• direction.
• to accomplish a task incrementally
• to be immersed.
• to fail.
• a fair chance.
• to do, not to watch

5
What Do Players Not Want?

• Players expect to not
• have to repeat themselves
• get hopelessly stuck
• IKIWISI (Ill Know It When I See It)
• Players do not know what they want but will know
  it when they see it.

6
Raph Koster Handout

• Games that are based on PVP skill have
  classically had problems in attracting wider
  audiences than games where mere persistence can
  help you succeed.
• This is because people dislike getting crushed.
  We dont do leagues or handicaps very well yet.
• Why not????

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Credits

• Advice from Richard Rouse III
• Many of the preceding tidbits for design were
  excerpted from Game Design Theory Practice,
  Wordware Publishing 2001.