AGDC08: Exploring the Endgame

The words on the first slide of the first talk at AGDC are evocative enough. "Damion Schubert, Lead Combat Designer, BioWare." Damion is a well known commentator on the MMO industry, a prolific writer and an entertaining blogger at the Zen of Design site. Last year his 'Casual vs. Hardcore' talk was one of the highlights of the event. This year he's returned to discuss the challenges and design decisions that go into making the final challenges in a Massively Multiplayer game.

Endgame gameplay, elder gameplay, is a mandatory and compelling part of the genre's equation. In fact, in Damion's opinion complex elder gameplay exemplifies what makes the massive genre what it is. Read on for notes from his engaging talk, with ... possibly ... some hints about what might be coming from the minds at BioWare.

"Comparing the learning curve of an MMO to a single-player game is ludicrous; MMOs are like 'popping bubble-wrap' in comparison."

There's a lot of cool stuff going on at the high end of MMOs, but it's very challenging to understand the endgame experience of more than one title. Schubert encourages developers to share their experiences with the endgame experience, to improve the industry experience as a whole. The endgame is the pinnacle of a players' experience, the apex of the character's heroic arc. He references the deep and rich requirements required to get to Mount Hyjal, and notes that this depth is often something that's easy for developers to 'skip'.

In reality, says Schubert, MMOs are generally really easy to play. Comparing the learning curve of an MMO to a single-player game is ludicrous; MMOs are like 'popping bubble-wrap' in comparison. This is because of the challenge of tuning leveling to every class and every build. The result is an experience that's fairly mundane. The real challenge, the 'worthy experience' is the endgame encounter.

While endgame may seem like a strange or meaningless thing, it's actually really important for every player. Even low level players are aware of powerful guilds and raid progression. Damion references the cutscene that happens when Kael is killed and a quest is turned in; this feels, truly, as though the world is advancing and changing. That's vital for a vibrant community.

The most thing about elder gameplay is that is one of the few things that is actually massive. Massive gameplay is the one thing that this genre of games has to offer. When running 5-mans, they're basically competing with Diablo. "What if you could play a game where you fight in a battle with hundreds of ships against hundreds of ships, with capital ships that take months to build?"

"Why do the WoW and EQ2 teams keep making expansions for high-level servers? Because those are the players that are out of content."

Why do the WoW and EQ2 teams keep making expansions for high-level servers? Because those are the players that are out of content. On a given character, Damion estimates that high level characters only spend 1/7th of their /played time actually leveling up. The rest is all time spent in the endgame areas, proving that fundamentally players want to *exist* in the online space.

Endgame gameplay can come in several different 'flavours'. Damion runs through analysis of two of these types:

Territorial Control:

• Cheaper, because the content comes 'from the players'.
• Affiliations are important; clearly defined teams are required, whether they are pre-baked or chosen in-game.
• Objectives. Players have to have something to fight over, preferably multiple objectives to spread them out.
• Respawn and Attrition. How fast can players get into the fight? How often can they respawn? One of the most crucial parts of balancing the game; make sure they're having fun and not just running around.
• Negotiation of Combat. This is really important if players build their own structures, less so if players are defending stuff the developers created. As strange as it seems to 'schedule a battle', it is important.
• Political Map. It's not required to show who is in control, "but if you don't it's stupid." Gives players a sense that events are occurring.
• Challenges. PvP endgames are dangerous; you have to take PvP very seriously to do this. If players decide at low levels that PvP is not for them, they won't participate in the endgame. Fairness is a big issue; the appearance of fairness is critical.
• Don't let the Zerg always win.
• People won't pay $15 a month to be the losers.
• Make sure that at some point a winner is declared, because otherwise players get bored The 'Risk Deadlock'.
  

Raid Encounters:

• Raids are PvE endgames with 10+ players, a pacing mechanism (trash), punctuated by Boss fights. Boss fights are the reasons Raiders show up.
• Many many many people raid. More than a million US characters have a piece of Karazahan loot.
• Raiding brings every spoke on the Bartle hub together, bringing the whole guild together.
• Mostly people raid because winning as a team is awesome. The 'gatorade moment'.
• Raiding bosses are 'Mario bosses only with 25 people'. Raid encounters are challenging to make because characters all have very different abilities.
• Most raids require tactics. IE: they are not 'tank and spank'.
• As a result most raids make use of elements all players have. Players have to manage: movement, health, aggro, item use, etc.
• Positioning is very common in modern games. Every WoW boss guide has a pretty graph to show players where to go.
• Endurance raids are just boring. "The Sleeper" is the most famous.
• Random events. "The Prince" is Damion's example, with the possibility of the no-win situation.
• Raids should require roles beyond the tank and healer. If it doesn't it's just a 'tank and spank'. WoW is getting incredibly complicated at this. The 'Vashj Stider Tank' element is Damion's example here.
• The ultimate question is "how tolerant is the raid to failure?" Is it approachable and easy to get into? If the raid fight is frail, then you're disincentives from teaching new players how to take on the challenge. Archimonde is his example here, with the 'cascading wave of death' possibility.
• Challenges. Raids are more content heavy than a PvP endgame. It's essentially a race between the developers and the players. You need a bigger pool (both within the guild and in the game) than is strictly required to ensure that these events can go off. Overpowered classes can result in 'required' raid makeups.
  

"The ultimate question: does the elder game have to be at the end? Do players have to grind to get there? And do they have to do it multiple times?

General challenges were the cap to Damion's talk. Whether it is a PvP or PvE experience, there are certain common elements that need to be considered. Can the client and server even handle what you want them to do? Do you have the time and capability to adequately test your content? How fragile is the content? Can a guild survive if one or a handful of individuals leave the game?

The ultimate question: does the elder game have to be at the end? Do players have to grind to get there? And do they have to do it multiple times?

MMOs do need elder games, in his estimation, they're important, and they really highlight the Massive part of the MMO genre. Getting a bunch of players together in one space is the point of these titles.