MMORPGs and Combat, Part 1
2006/04/25
It's a well-established military maxim that it's better to be on the offense than on the defense.
Well, I don't know about anyone else, but speaking personally, I'm tired of playing defense on the subject of non-combat gameplay design. I'm tired of any gameplay other than killing being treated like it needs to justify its very existence in multiplayer games.
As in real life, cooperative, constructive, creative gameplay has a valid role in MMORPGs. Those of us who value this kind of gameplay have repeatedly explained why we like it, why it's good for online communities, and why current and upcoming MMORPGs need more of it. We have explained multiple times that we want non-combat features not to replace combat gameplay, but to stand alongside it so that they mutually enhance each other for an entertainment experience that's more satisfying to more potential subscribers.
Why do we keep doing this? Why do we keep allowing ourselves to be put on the defensive about a style of gameplay that is at least as valid as competitive, destructive, offensive gameplay, as though refraining from killing everything in sight was somehow abnormal behavior?
Enough. It's time for combat gameplay to justify its existence... if it can.
There's an old story of an experienced engineer who was brought in as a consultant to figure out why a multimillion-dollar pump wasn't working properly. The engineer walked around the pump for a few minutes, rapped it with his knuckles in a few places, then took out a pencil and marked a small spot about halfway up and said, "Put a pressure fitting there."
His bill: $20,000.
When the pump owners protested this fee for a few minutes' worth of his time, the engineer sent them an itemized list of charges:
|
Making a pencil mark: |
$1 |
|
Knowing where to put the mark: |
$19,999 |
They paid the bill.
The point of this story is that practical abilities -- like making pencil marks, or being really good at decapitating orcs -- don't have much value by themselves. They're mostly useful when they are thoughtfully applied based on knowledge and wisdom about a problem space.
So why in the world should being a really good killer in a MMORPG be the highest-valued ability? Why shouldn't the brawn take orders from the brains?
Why shouldn't combat exist as one tool among many for problem-solving, rather than being the primary mode through which "content" can be experienced? Why shouldn't killing be the "alternate advancement" mode that's available for those who are too impatient to solve problems by some other means than brute force?
Why in the world should a MMORPG with serious aspirations of being a AAA title focus most or all of its character classes on combat gameplay? How is that design perspective going to attract the many potential subscribers who are utterly turned off by the design assumption that "fun" == extermination of all life?
Combat-oriented players and combat-obsessed game designers -- you've got a lot of explaining to do.