MMOs: One of a Kind Items

[Part of my MMO Design Folder]

"I sell one of a kind items," is something I often heard in World of Warcraft. Too bad it isn't true.

I've spoken before about rarity, but after hearing this line from the vendors in WoW it gave me an idea that would help player circulation throughout an MMO world. Players are like the life blood of the place and most often they are channelled in one direction (up) to more difficult zones and more popular hubs where they clot and eventually die off (from boredom).

What if vendors DID sell one of a kind items? Especially if it was a craft necessity and/or items in the game were prone to perma-decay, people would have to travel back through old areas to acquire said goods. Even better is if the vendors only sold 3 or 4 items randomly chosen from their regular inventory which swapped over every x amount of time (a day minimum). Then you can have vendors with the same stock, but the availability of that gear is still a question mark, making people travel even further to find the item they seek. And that's just the stationary vendors.

There should also be wandering vendors who carry even better stuff (but also few and random) wandering unmarked on the road - encouraging people to go track them down or wait at a settlement that is regularly passed. Their goods change every time they leave a settlement, but they are also prone to getting killed by wandering wild life and have a long respawn time.

It may sound too difficult to then find whatever it is you are looking for, but this is where player interaction comes in. You can help each other, or just resell the goods - either way I think it is better than the current system of having every vendor being a supermarket with everything you need in the one spot.

That one stuck in a rock? Don't worry, I have hundreds more at the store!

They also shouldn't be buying stuff from players that isn't relevant to them. What the heck does a carpenter do with the mangled innards of random critters you've slain? Does he moonlight as a sorcerer or is he just a sadist? Think about the stuff you've sold in game and to who you've sold it to. I think I'd rather not know what goes into the potions I drink in NWO since the potion lady buys *everything*. >_<

Agent of the Enclave

Part of the "Odd Jobs of Neverwinter" journal!
*The writing style in the book is now in a different hand.*

This diary is now property of the Scribes Enclave. While its previous owner is nowhere to be found, we will make use of the many more blank pages to record the plentiful up and coming quests available in and around Neverwinter. This week, our agents tried:

Jump Test @ Vashsama01 (NW-DF7WS108M)
No apparent combat, but our agent found the jumps too difficult and had to abandon the attempt before the first checkpoint.

Monster Hunter Version 1.03 @ 11MIRAGEX (NW-DDSFQ9KSA)
A valley with slowly spawning zombies (literally a zombie farm) that just needed slaying. Our agent found they were slowly becoming a zombie too due to the monotony so they were forced to flee.

A Simple Request @ OoKeNnEThOo (NW-DIC2E7M92)
A very enjoyable quest that our agents ran twice. Good designed encounters, optional flavor text all around and a decent hidden boss battle make this the most memorable one of the week.

Valia's Last Stand @ Lorheith (NW-DHNRM4CR3)
A straight forward and unpolished quest that saw our agent finishing off an undead army in their crumbling castle while rescuing some captives.

Towers and Trolls @ choose4me (NW-DIXHTZ2JH)
A humorous and easy quest involving a table top RPG played in a tavern wherein the players really "get into" the game. Features a difficulty adjuster in the "Stone of Difficulty", should you decide to pick it up during the adventure.

The Chicken Maze @ pegasus666 (NW-DD4KQBB3Y)
Our agent couldn't find the start point, so this quest was quickly dropped.

Part One - Learn the Basics @ xxkamasangelxx (NW-DINUOMOTR)
The first part of the Merlin tale where our agent played as the titular wizard which followed the source material pretty closely (a lot of reading, probably breaks EULA though). Disappearing and reappearing actors and props made for a slightly jarring experience.

An Unmarked Grave @ xTripleshotx (NW_DHOTQVHUK)
A pretty solid quest where our agent helped Elwin the Sage put her father's spirit to rest. With a lot of violence.

Hired Blades @ isojourner (NW-DQN2UP745)
Very simple quest of evil alignment that also seemed broken. Fitting since crime doesn't pay.

The Marked Queen - Part 1 @ rph4ze (NW-DBVWAZNU)
Combat heavy quest with many challenging fights for a solo quester. Frustratingly, there is also no reward chest to be found after our agent slaughtered the Marked Queen and her army. In short, a big waste of time.

Prueba01 @ currolordofcaos (NW-DD6YF8RF3)
Our agent couldn't find the start point, so this quest was quickly dropped.

Against the Red Wizards @ GuitarZan698 (NW-DEX75VHLQ)
Part two of "the Vulgar Unicorn" campaign, it makes use of interesting map conservation methods and is on the light-moderate side when it comes to combat. Unfortunately it is plagued with flashing/rendering pieces that gave our agent a minor headache while playing through it.

Shadowfell Disciples @ orangefire (NW-DEBISCCCR)
A fantastic quest that quickly grows from a simple "hunt the goblins" mission with excellent custom made maps. Highly recommended especially as it's the first one of a campaign.

Crimson Descent @ mymecoleon (NW-DRWNLMGYV)
A deeply lore based mission where our agent was assisting another mercenary group against some Thayans with a lot of extra reading for those who look for it. It also features a highly custom map and is very combat heavy.

Kolde Acres: Grandmother @ koldelegacy (NW-DDKURMXWQ)
A story based exploration quest through expansive custom maps with extra side missions for those who chase after it. The first mission our agent has encountered that actually has some ingenious cutscene mechanics.

Question time: The Stuff you Build (UGC)

Now that I'm really getting back into the Neverwinter Foundry a question has popped into my head in regards to other user generated content, specifically for the EQN Landmark people. After you build your house or statue or castle, do you hope that people come to visit? Do you hope that whatever you built will be ported into Everquest Next and used as part of the world even if say it is set on fire, destroyed, and maybe inhabited by evil creatures?

Just curious.

In NWO I'm finding that the biggest challenge from before is still there - getting people to play my maps. As I thought, making a shorter quest really helps the number of plays. My first quest which has been out for months and goes for one hour has a total of nine plays. My second quest which runs for around 17 minutes and has been out a week or so is up to 30+ plays and is eligible for the daily foundry mission reward.

It's not surprising then that there are "farm" quests that become so popular. Quests with literally no story, just a premade or blank map and a truck load of enemies to kill for the EXP or loot. I'm really thinking of doing a crusade against these (ranking them low or reporting for TOS violations) as they push down the better designed, more story orientated user content.

MMOs: Voice Actors

[Part of my MMO Design Folder]

I think most voice acting should be removed from MMOs.

"NO! You're Crazy!" I hear you say. Well let's think about it first. There have been so many MMO's that have managed to do without a single bit of voice acting in game. You can probably think of a few if you put your mind to it. Sure a few battle grunts and yells are ok, and maybe a generic welcoming "hello" or two but fully scripted dialogue? How often do you actually sit and listen to everything a voiced NPC has to say, without skipping because you've read the text faster than the voice actor? Do you also listen to it in its entirety if you have to see it again, or maybe with an alternate character?

Voice acting can be one of the big money drains on an MMO. This is even more pronounced if the player character has a voice since you then need one of each gender or each race, with additional lines for all each expansion. Ask Guildwars 2, they're feeling that design flaw now with their Living Story which is why there are no more cut scenes outside the base main story where your protagonist speaks audibly. And that's just in one language.

What about cut scenes? Those need voices right? Maybe. Firstly, you can tell a story without voice. Secondly, do you watch every cut scene fully each time one plays, even if you have seen it before? Just something to think about. I know I for one often skip repetition - and on days where I want to "play" instead of "watch", I skip right past most of the talky bits too because I simply read the text faster than it is voiced for me. 

Buffy's Hush episode was awesome.

Other than having a smaller download size for the game (as audio files can get pretty huge) having less voice would hopefully encourage people to read more, and increase their literacy level at the same time! What do you think? Would knowing there is or is no voice acting affect your choice in playing an MMO?

TiS: Battle Bards! :)

I don't usually win stuff in real life, especially luck related things but today I found out I won something courtesy of the Battle Bards! Thanks Syp, Syl and Steph (or... Stef?)! That certainly made my day. :)

MMOs: Rewarding the Ordinary

[Part of my MMO Design Folder]

"What we need in MMOs is content and systems that endorse, encourage and reward the choice to be an ordinary Joe or Jill, someone just doing their best to help their friends, their family, their neighbors, their community in difficult circumstances." -Bhagpuss

In a previous post, Bhagpuss disagreed with my notion of needing more Heroes and less Soldiers. While we still don't see eye to eye on that matter, the quote above got me thinking about how a game would encourage and reward the "ordinary". My initial thoughts were something along the lines of "WTF? I defeated the enemy army solo and got the same reward that farmer who stayed in his field planting crops got? Well that's unfair."

Then I thought more about it. More about this term... this label, "ordinary". What separates the "ordinary" from "heroes"? The answer I came up eventually was: nothing. No one is just ordinary. Everyone has the potential to be a hero. They just need the will, the means and the opportunity to do so.

Heroes come in all forms after all.

Translating all that into an MMO, the best solution I could come up with is still the individual skill levels, which increase as you use them and degrade as you neglect them. In this way people can shine in the actions they prefer to take. Maybe I can slay dragons solo with ease but when it comes to building defences for a village I'm as useful as a bucket, while the master builder who would rather not fight dragons at all could build a wall in no time, and the farmer can harvest food and herbs quickly, and the alchemist can make the best potions with those herbs, and so on and so forth.

There's even room for a jack of all trades who can help out each specialist better than those with no knowledge in the specific field, but alone he's simply not as good at dragon slaying as the hunter, or building walls as the master builder, and in turn will find it harder getting the varied rewards for each task. Maybe the builder gets a better hammer while the slayer gets a better weapon. So yes, while I would like a system where you can be anything you want - it should be left up to you where you want to shine the most and that way everyone can be rewarded for how they would like to play.

47 Ronin vs Bunraku

This odd match up has come about simply because I watched them within a day of each other. Also, both have samurai. That's about as far as the similarities go! :P

BE WARNED - SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!

I'll see your Neo...

47 Ronin is set in the past, when samurai were lawful stupid and the people of Japan spoke Engrish. Keanu Reaves speaks it better than the rest, having been taught by the demons of the woods which makes him an outcast. Still, he longs for the day he can become a samurai and gets his chance sometime after a "hey I'm a bad guy" bad guy shows up and ruins the day with his shape shifting witch ally. There are some all too short fights and very good CG critters along the way but I feel the movie is let down by the main lead girls - especially the "good-sided" one with poor/over acting.

Note: It's very rare that I dislike someone's acting ability (I'm a fan of Steven Seagal), so that says something about the previous line. Also the last part of the movie sucks, regardless if it is based on history. Not the sort of thing I'd like to promote anyway.

...and raise you a Gackt.

Bunraku is set in the future, after an Armageddon has seen the human race throw away all firearms and build cities out of well-designed cardboard. It tells the tale of how a brawler (Josh Hartnet) and a samurai (Gackt) meet up under the guidance of a bartender (Woody Harrelson) to take down the most powerful warrior (Ron Perlman) and his gang of killers that control the odd looking city. This is a very artsy film, but it also has a lot of good fights. There's less CG here and actually more Japanese is spoken in this film (still not a lot) than in 47 Ronin. If you can get over the style of the whole piece and can set aside some disbelief then you are in for a fun ride.

The winner: Bunraku. Easily. It's a pretty good, low thinking, high action film and worth a watch if like me, you enjoy the strange combination of combat and art. If the "art style" has you worried then here's the opening part so you can get a feel for the movie before borrowing it. :)