[MUD-Dev] Ten commandments for the next MMORPG

[Dan Shiovitz]

On Sun, 21 May 2000, Raph Koster wrote:
> A player's post on the EverQuest Gameplay board that has received virtu=
ally
> nothing but praise from follow-up posters. Seemed worth discussing. Ori=
ginal

I'm not surprised it received nothing but praise from players, considerin=
g
the summary is "nothing short of perfection by the administration is
tolerated and the game must cater to every whim of every player". What
player's going to disagree with that?

> thread is at
> http://boards.station.sony.com/everquest/Forum4/HTML/043297.html.
>=20
> start quote--->
> AuntieShaynta
> Station Member  posted 05-19-2000 12:14 AM
>=20
> TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR THE NEXT MMORPG
>=20
> PURPOSE: I know you're out there. Who? People planning to make the "nex=
t"
> big MMORPG. Kindly incline your ear while I make some kindly ... who am=
 I
> kidding. Do all 10 or don't expect me to buy it :)
>=20
> #1: Thou Shalt Not Require Vulnerability to Other Players.
[..]

This one I buy, in general. The problem is there's never any other in-gam=
e
mechanism for arbitration of disputes between players, so without PK=20
twerps get off scot-free.

> #2: Honor Thy Customers and Consider Their Suggestions, for Thy Game is
> **Not** Holy.
>
> Commandment 2 is also known as Business Rule One =96 if you don=92t tak=
e care of
> the customer, somebody else will. Both of the =93headlining=94 MMORPG=92=
s (EQ &
> UO) have suffered from massive customer-relations problems. In both cas=
es,
> those behind the game *refused* to re-examine fundamental game issues
> =93because [problem] is part of the game =96 learn to enjoy it or go pl=
ay Chip=92s
> Challenge,=94 to quote a statement made to me by a representative of Or=
igin.

There will always be players who want all games to have all their favorit=
e
features, because players are stupid and egocentric. 95% of the time,
"fundamental game issues" means either "why doesn't this mud have a bash
skill like game X does?" or "why can't I play the Wizard class the same
way I do a Barbarian?", and "refusing to address those issues" means
"being told to try something a little different".

[..]
> to this; I for one will never purchase an Origins product again, and th=
is is
> coming from someone who has never eaten at KFC because of poor service =
his
> mother received 28 years ago.

I think this pretty much sums up the guy's attitude.=20

[..]
> >Another way to say this: don=92t tell us "Everything is subject to cha=
nge" if
> Everything doesn=92t mean ***Everything**.

This is true, though. It's sloppy to give players an opportunity to whine
about unfair admins (even though they'll do so anyway) by pretending to b=
e
laxer than you are. They won't respect you for it anyway.

> #3: Thou Shalt Use All Means at Thy Disposal to Communicate With Thy
> Customers
>=20
> I find this issue particularly curious. In a genre in which change is t=
he
> norm, Verant hardly ever polls their customers for information =96 yet
> constantly say they know what how the majority of their players feel. P=
osts
> by various Verant personnel on their Official Board seem to indicate th=
ey
> have a low opinion of polling. Granted, the majority is not always righ=
t,
> but here=92s a hint: the majority isn=92t always wrong, either. As a

That's true, but you don't have to be a genius to realize message board
traffic is going to consist pretty much equally of gripes, whines, and
flamewars (oh, and "F1RZT P0ST!!!!1"). It's still a good idea to monitor
them, just so you can tell players in detail what you aren't going to
change, but take the stuff with a grain of salt.

> #4: Thou Shalt Not Lie To Thy Customers =96 And None of that Misreprese=
nting
> the Truth Stuff, Either
>=20
> There=92s no way around this. They can make all the PC =93we were mista=
ken=94, =93we
> had no creative control=94, =93this was pre-release information=94, and=
 =93we are
> not responsible for second-party statements=94 dodges they want =96 bot=
h Origins
> and Verant committed outright lies to their customers on various issues=
. And
[..]

Episode 4, In Which Our Hero Learns The Harsh Truth: Marketing People Lie.

> #5: Thou Shalt Test Thy Product Before Thy Releaseth It or Any Part of =
It
>=20
> Should be assumed, and yet everybody but game manufacturers seems to kn=
ow
> better. Here=92s a clue =96 if it=92s =93your world=94, you bloody bett=
er well be
> willing to sign your name to it. Now granted that the very nature of th=
e
> MMORPG genre is such that updates will be constant, and that any change=
s
> that need to be made can be handled quickly. Nonetheless, there is NO E=
XCUSE
> WHATSOEVER for a game to be out for a year before the people responsibl=
e for
[..]
> recommendation? Absolutely NOTHING in the game should go Live until the
> person most responsible PERSONALLY confirms it is working on a Test Ser=
ver,

There ain't no company in the world who will combine frequent updates and
100% quality control for the prices the players are paying. Get over it.

[..]
> #6: Thou Shalt Remember That This is a Game, and is Supposed to be Fun
[..]
> an almost instant answer. Here=92s a clue =96 players play games to hav=
e Fun. It
> is the role of those running the game to give them as many different wa=
ys to
> have Fun as possible. Is that really so hard to figure out? Here=92s an=
other
> clue: anything that represents a lengthy =93do nothing=94 time (the boa=
ts in EQ
> being a hideous example) is bad for Fun and therefore bad for the Playe=
r =96
> and what is bad for the Player is bad for the Game. By the same token, =
what
> is Fun for the Player is good for the Game.

Translation: "I should be able to get whatever I want, whenever I want it=
"
Yeah, that's Fun all right, for about Five Minutes and then the players
start Whining about being Bored.=20

There are many ways to amuse the players. You can spend all your time
doing five-minute hacks that'll bring a smile to somebody's face once or
twice, or you can rewrite the combat system and define the game from that
point on. You're the game designer; which do you pick?

> #7: What Thou Expecteth Players to Have, Players Should Expect to Obtai=
n
>=20
> Go ahead and call this the Casual Commandment if want. Or, to quote the
> Ogre, =93Camping Bad!=94 If =93Crafted isn=92t 50th level gear=94, 50th=
 level players
> should be able to obtain 50th level gear **REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY C=
AN
> PLAY 1 HOUR A WEEK OR 50**. In a Non PvP environment, there is NO reaso=
n for
> a player not to have the gear they are =93expected=94 to have at a cert=
ain
> level. This is not to say that the player who can play 50 hours a week
> shouldn=92t have better gear =96 quite the contrary, the 50-hour player
> **deserves** better equipment. The problem is that the 1-hour a week
> character shouldn=92t still be carrying a basic Long Sword at 25th leve=
l (don=92
> t laugh, I=92ve seen it). There are several methods around this (viable=
 trade

Welcome to level 50! -more-
A welcome nymph appears -more-
"Here is your mithril plate mail -more-
and your +100 Longsword of Slaying -more-
and your +500 Shield of Defense. -more-
Do you want me to just play the game for you, -more-
or can you handle it?"

>=20
> #8: Problems, Not Puzzles
>=20
> This is an old roleplaying GM rule I=92ve followed for years when I run
> campaigns. The fact I heard a lead designer for the upcoming Deux Ex ga=
me
> say this in an interview is one of the reasons I *will* be buying that =
game.
> What it means is this: do not create situations that can only be solved=
 one
> way. Create *problems*, and then create multiple ways to solve this pro=
blem.
> Reward players for using less-obvious methods. If the only way to get a
> treasure out of a room is to kill the monsters guarding it, what you ha=
ve is
> a war game, not role-playing.

Of course what happens in pracice is the game designer puts a dragon
room with the treasure, gives it a backstory, responses to conversation
and attempts to bribe it, lets you negotiate with it or trap it or trick
it, blah blah blah, then a player comes in. One of two things happen:
 "Die, dragon! *hack* *slash* *hack* Yay, I get the treasure!"

or else

 "Hey, I can't kill the dragon! This game must not be balanced! It sux!!!=
"

> #9: If Thou Must Have Classes, Balance Them in *Quantifiable* Ways >=20
> Or, to quote the Ogre, =93Me kan=92t eben spel cum-bel-ink, let alone p=
lay it.=94
> Another nice little sound bite: the Compelling Reason to play every cla=
ss
> should be known, and should outweigh the Compelling Reason *not* to pla=
y the
> class

Sure, if only because players are too lazy to try and figure it out for
themselves.

> #10: If Thou Must Have [Whatever], Have [Whatever].
>=20
> Or, to quote that near-complete idiot I once had as a boss, =93Swimming=
 is not
> putting your feet in the water.=94 Is there Tinkering in EQ? Technicall=
y. Can
> enchanters make magic items in the game? Technically. Can rogues use po=
ison?
> Technically. Are there religions in EQ? Technically. Are there quests i=
n EQ?
> Technically. See where I=92m going with this? First person to answer
> =93Technically=94 is gonna be the next victim of my Kerran Fishingpole.

This I'll grant. It's always a loss to do stuff to try and keep up with
the mud next door because -- as prominently displayed here -- players
won't appreciate it anyway.

--=20
Dan Shiovitz :: dbs at cs.wisc.edu :: http://www.drizzle.com/~dans
"He settled down to dictate a letter to the Consolidated Nailfile and
Eyebrow Tweezer Corporation of Scranton, Pa., which would make them
realize that life is stern and earnest and Nailfile and Eyebrow Tweezer
Corporations are not put in this world for pleasure alone." -PGW




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