Monday, February 26, 2007
The MMO Bill of Rights
This list is designed specifically for MMO games. Other player rights such as being involved in the game rather than forced to watch an hour of cut scenes still apply. These are based not on any specific MMO but from my experience of a number of games, such as World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars and EVE online. I have tried to give examples that would be applicable to most people’s experiences of MMO games.
1. No character choice should be significantly stronger than others.
If a player chooses to be, for example, a fighter it is reasonable to assume that he will be physically stronger than a caster or healer character. However the make up of the character must balance weakness and strength to avoid the fighter winning every fight. The skill of the player should be the deciding factor in the player’s success.
2. No character class should make another class redundant
If an MMO includes both a healer class, and a fighter class and a hybrid healer/fighter class, it is important that the hybrid will still have something unique to contribute to a party. The hybrid could easily become overlooked if they don’t serve a useful purpose in the presence of one of the other classes.
3. Players should be encouraged towards multiplayer situations, not forced.
MMO games are designed for teams of players, and it is reasonable to expect that there will be content included specifically for teams. However, if a player cannot find a suitable team there should be other avenues open to them to progress. It would be unfair to expect a player to wait indefinitely for a team to get to the next area of the game.
Preferably there should be a mechanism for the player to return to any skipped or missed multiplayer content later.
4. Progress through the game should not require unreasonable grinding.
It is accepted MMO practise to hare rare items dropped occasionally by enemies. This should not impede progression to an unreasonable extent. If a player needs ten Boar tusks to move forward in an important story arc he should be expected to kill a lot of boars to get them, but if the drop rate is 0.1 then the task will become tired and pointless.
5. Lower level players should not be victimised by more experienced players.
First impressions count for a lot, perhaps more so in MMO’s than other games. New players should have time to understand they play mechanics and rules of the game. This learning curve should be protected from higher level players, either through placing the new players in safe zones or imposing a system of penalties on players who choose to persecute lower levels.
6. In game economies need to be monitored and regulated enough to allow players reasonable access to the game’s content.
In-game economies built through auction houses or other means need to be kept in check the same as any other economic system. Allowing players or groups of players, to create monopolies on key items and artificially inflate prices will lead to players leaving the game, not experiencing content or possibly buying in-game currency from internet traders. None of these are desirable for the long term stability of the game.
This list is designed specifically for MMO games. Other player rights such as being involved in the game rather than forced to watch an hour of cut scenes still apply. These are based not on any specific MMO but from my experience of a number of games, such as World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars and EVE online. I have tried to give examples that would be applicable to most people’s experiences of MMO games.
1. No character choice should be significantly stronger than others.
If a player chooses to be, for example, a fighter it is reasonable to assume that he will be physically stronger than a caster or healer character. However the make up of the character must balance weakness and strength to avoid the fighter winning every fight. The skill of the player should be the deciding factor in the player’s success.
2. No character class should make another class redundant
If an MMO includes both a healer class, and a fighter class and a hybrid healer/fighter class, it is important that the hybrid will still have something unique to contribute to a party. The hybrid could easily become overlooked if they don’t serve a useful purpose in the presence of one of the other classes.
3. Players should be encouraged towards multiplayer situations, not forced.
MMO games are designed for teams of players, and it is reasonable to expect that there will be content included specifically for teams. However, if a player cannot find a suitable team there should be other avenues open to them to progress. It would be unfair to expect a player to wait indefinitely for a team to get to the next area of the game.
Preferably there should be a mechanism for the player to return to any skipped or missed multiplayer content later.
4. Progress through the game should not require unreasonable grinding.
It is accepted MMO practise to hare rare items dropped occasionally by enemies. This should not impede progression to an unreasonable extent. If a player needs ten Boar tusks to move forward in an important story arc he should be expected to kill a lot of boars to get them, but if the drop rate is 0.1 then the task will become tired and pointless.
5. Lower level players should not be victimised by more experienced players.
First impressions count for a lot, perhaps more so in MMO’s than other games. New players should have time to understand they play mechanics and rules of the game. This learning curve should be protected from higher level players, either through placing the new players in safe zones or imposing a system of penalties on players who choose to persecute lower levels.
6. In game economies need to be monitored and regulated enough to allow players reasonable access to the game’s content.
In-game economies built through auction houses or other means need to be kept in check the same as any other economic system. Allowing players or groups of players, to create monopolies on key items and artificially inflate prices will lead to players leaving the game, not experiencing content or possibly buying in-game currency from internet traders. None of these are desirable for the long term stability of the game.
# posted by Matt @ 11:09 AM 
