Natural selection applied to MMOs

by James Egan on Nov 22nd 2008 4:00PM

World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Game mechanics, Guilds, MMO industry, PvP, Endgame, Opinion

There tend to be some fundamental differences between players of World of Warcraft and EVE Online, due in part to the contrast in rules and game mechanics, and the types of personalities each title attracts. This was mentioned in a recent Shut Up. We're Talking. podcast and provided some fuel for further discussion by Syncaine, from the Hardcore Casual blog.

He observes that "EVE players embrace scams, trickery, underhandedness, and generally resent any changes that would 'dumb down' EVE. In WoW that gets you quickly banned, and before that rivers swell from all the tears shed while players scream mommy." There's also a huge divide between the titles in terms of how 'hardcore' or PvP-centric the games are. "EVE is harsh on day one, and stays that way," Syncaine writes. "WoW holds your hand from 1-80, and makes sure you get a cookie regardless if you win or lose. EVE not only takes your cookie, but laughs at you for bringing one in the first place."

In these respects, Syncaine views the rules of an MMO as a type of natural selection. "EVE quickly breeds out the 'weak' MMO players, and only those who can survive in the 'sandbox with mines' stay around and thrive. On the other hand, with its super low barrier of entry, WoW is accessible to anyone with enough brain cells to double click an icon," he writes.

Of course, these are generalizations. Not every EVE player is a podkilling mass murderer who pulls off heists and scams when not raining hell down on his or her fellow pilots. Likewise, there are most assuredly WoW players whose dedication to endgame and other high-level pursuits would certainly label them as being hardcore. However, stereotypes do exist for a reason and there's certainly truth in what Syncaine has written.

What he points out are the social dynamics associated with the sandbox vs. theme park rule disparities between EVE Online and World of Warcraft. Those design choices do tend to attract certain types of players to each respective game. You may want to have a look at Syncaine's "MMO natural selection, and what it means to your game" if his expressed views either strike a chord or strike a nerve.

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Tags: blizzard, ccp-games, eve, eve-online, fantasy, game-mechanics, hardcore, hardcore-casual, mmo-industry, opinion, sandbox, sci-fi, shut-up-were-talking, syncaine, theme-park, world-of-warcraft, wow

Reader Comments (23)

Of COURSE there is a kind of selection at work. People are going to play the game whose style of gameplay they enjoy. Why is this being offered forth as some sort of scintillating revelation?

However, the "natural selection" take is a bit insulting to people who simply dislike sandboxes or no-rules PvP. They don't avoid EVE because they are unfit, but because EVE is not a good fit for THEM.

(And people who like PvP and also like their PvP to have rules, those people are more likely to play WAR than either of the two mentioned in the article.)

I'll second that. I up for any challenge a game can throw at me, but sandbox games play with my ADD way too much for me to have any real fun with them. I just get distracted too easily and then get bored shortly after.

I think EVE is probably one of the coolest ideas I've seen for an MMO, and it's probably the closest to being an MMO in it's truest form that's out, but the game play is about as unappealing as you can get to me without being a straight Korean-style grindfest.

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World of Warcraft = Liberal Demacrat, dont worry we will take care you. When you f-up we will still reward you. Dont worry no will be different from you either, god forbid they be better than you and if they are we will reward you until you are equal.

EVE Online = Republican, work hard and you will be rewarded. When you f-up, learn from your mistake and it will make you smarter and stronger. Everyone will be different in their own right which drives creativity and wealth. Last note, if you cry because you cannot hack it, congrats, you just figured out your a demacrat, go play wow.

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