Wednesday 18 March 2015

MMO Design: Getting Players back in the Game

[Part of my MMO Design folder.]

What does your MMO offer as enticements for long absent players to return?

In Vindictus (Australian server anyway), the answer is a "Tour of Duty Box" and a "Redeployment Pack", both are non-tradable, character bound items that can only be obtained by not logging in for x amount of time (I think 30-90 days?). The Tour of Duty Box contains random consumables like precious healing potions or time-restricted performance / XP boosters. They also come with another Tour of Duty Box you can unlock as you level up. This is pretty neat but I think can also be found in some other MMO titles.

The Redeployment Pack however is new to me. It comes with full sets (armor and weapons) of near end game equipment, enabling you to curb stomp your way quickly up the levels. All this gear is also zero weight and costs mere pennies to repair. The catch? You can only use them for 30 days at which point they vanish. That incentive of a 30 day curb stomp rampage is a pretty decent one for me, and one I haven't really come across elsewhere.

I'm just wondering what your previous MMO's offer you to come back after a long absence?

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