[MUD-Dev] Instancing (was: MMORPG Cancellations...)

[Douglas Goodall]

Dana V. Baldwin wrote:
> Douglas Goodall

>> Color me wierd, but I thought AO had one of the best communities
>> for an on-line game, at least prior to the release of Shadowlands.

> Nothing weird about that. AO had by far the most involved
> role-players of any MMO that I have played for any period of
> time. The socializing was a refreshing break from anything that
> had come before. Hours spent in cantinas, Live365 DJs playing
> music etc, all without skills required. I still remember the dev
> hosted in game, in character, meetings where all of us founding
> guild leaders would come to secret meetings to plan the war
> against the clans. Community, in AO, was abundant when I played.

> I am still unable to connect haow instanced content, whose primary
> goal should be to provide a group with the feeling that they are
> the hero, and not just another group going through the fun house,
> is incompatible with community.  Rather I should say, I am missing
> how instancing affects the community at all.

There is a Theory common among game designers that timesinks,
confrontation, and competition help build community. I have Strong
Feelings about this theory as its implementation in Shadowlands
ruined the community in AO.

Look at it this way...

Is a good community more like to form based on people socializing
for it's own sake? Or from being *forced* to socialize in teams,
raids, and other stressful situations? Is it better to let players
spend their time as they choose? Or to force them to chat during
timesinks? Or to force them to watch an amateur song and dance
performance every three hours? How do players treat each other when
there are plenty of (instanced) mobs for everyone? How do they treat
each other when they are forced to compete for extremely scarce
resources? Basically, is it a good idea to force players to
interact? Or should interaction be an option?

In my limited experience, fun and friendly communities are more
likely to form from voluntary associations. Give players taverns or
nightclubs, but don't force them to go there (as is done in SWG or,
apparently, WoW). Let players form teams, but don't make teams the
only viable playstyle (solo play in most MMORPGs ranges from
unrewarding to impossible). Let players form guilds, but don't
require guild membership for most content (in most MMORPGs, not only
do you have to belong to a guild, you have to belong to an "uber
guild" to even see the end game content). Etc.

Anarchy Online seemed to stumble accidentally on the correct
formula. Socialization was voluntary, not forced. Most classes could
get decent XP solo. The community created raidbots to avoid guild
monopolization of end game resources (though a faster, more random
spawn system would certainly help). Additionally, AO went further
than any other large MMORPG in trying to make players feel as if
they were making a difference. Items get named after (in)famous
characters and guilds, the ARKs and GMs host player events, and have
even changed the world in response to player actions...

And then Shadowlands added EQ-like features that ruined all of
this. Timesinks forced people to sit and chat, but the chat was
mostly complaints. Soloing after level 200 is difficult and
unrewarding. There are only a few good places to get Shadowknowledge
(the new XP), which are not instanced, and can be accessed by only
about 100 players at once per server. Level locked content split up
social guilds in favor of "achiever" guilds. Most of the high-end
content is now monopolized by a small minority of players. Many old
players who were the key organizers of roleplaying and events have
left the game (mostly for CoH). ARK lost alot of members, too, and
was too busy to run as many events...

But maybe it was the right thing to do from a financial
perspective. Based on subscription numbers, most players want a rude
and juvenile community.
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