Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Massively's Black Prophecy Q&A: Mission Systems]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/01/massivelys-black-prophecy-qanda-mission-systems/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/01/massivelys-black-prophecy-qanda-mission-systems/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/01/massivelys-black-prophecy-qanda-mission-systems/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,


Massively has been following the development of the sci-fi MMO Black Prophecy very closely, and was pleased that the title's developer Reakktor Media wanted to do a series of focused Q&As with us on several aspects of the game. Our last such Q&A started at the beginning with character creation, but in our second installment of the Black Prophecy interview series we discussed the game's mission design. To that end, we posed some questions to Lorenz Dames, the Lead Game Designer on Black Prophecy.

Lorenz explained a great deal about how Reakktor is approaching solo content vs. group-oriented gameplay. He also told us how Reakktor Media is merging the completion of mission objectives with dogfighting your fellow players through PvP missions, where other players will try to counter your efforts to complete goals. Our interview should provide Black Prophecy fans with a solid overview of the game's mission design, which will be an essential aspect of the sci-fi MMO's gameplay.

Gallery: Black Prophecy

Continue reading Massively's Black Prophecy Q&A: Mission Systems

MassivelyMassively's Black Prophecy Q&A: Mission Systems originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The EVE Online-focused podcast MicroWarpCast returned this week, hosted by our friend CrazyKinux with guest Noah Ward (aka CCP Hammerhead), who is a Lead Game Designer at CCP Games. We mentioned a while back that the winner of a contest CrazyKinux was running would get to interview an EVE developer on the podcast. People entered by writing an article on planetary control and how this could be implemented in EVE Online. The winner was Xiphos83 from the EVE blog "A Misguided Adventurer" who wrote about about a siege system that could be used in planetary conquest. As the contest winner, Xiphos83 posed questions to Noah about some of the current or controversial issues in the game.

This led to Noah explaining CCP's reasons for limiting the use of the directional scanner with a timer -- a major issue cited by many players who either hunt others or want to evade attackers -- due in part to player macroing of directional scans. The directional scan will never go back to how it was since that system was too easily exploitable, but he asserted that the devs have tried to balance performance for the players with server demands.

Continue reading MicroWarpCast interviews EVE lead game designer Noah Ward

MassivelyMicroWarpCast interviews EVE lead game designer Noah Ward originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mistakes of World of Warcraft

Kaplan was quick to note that Warcraft was far from perfect, and he wanted to highlight some of his own mistakes inside of the design.

The first mistake was the idea of the "Christmas tree effect," otherwise known as having so many quests in a quest hub that the minimap lights up with exclamation points like a Christmas tree. While players enjoy this, Kaplan wanted to say that the developer loses call control over the player at these points, as the player will not read any quest text in their clicking frenzy. There's no control over what quest leads into what or which order the player will do the quests in.

The second was the internet adage of "too long, didn't read." Quest designers don't need to write a book to get their point across with the quests. He brought up that video games had a type of "medium envy," where sometimes they get too preachy with their topics. Games should be fun first, story second.

Mystery also falls in this category. The story can provide mystery, but the quest log should never have any mystery to it. The quest log should always point where to go and what to do, but the overall story of those quests may provide some solution to some mystery.

Also avoid poorly placed quest chains, like the Chains of Myzrael questline in Arathi Highlands. The Myzrael line was hard to find, ended up spanning 14 levels, and ended with killing an elite mob that was level 44. This quest line was a "brick wall" according to Kaplan, because most players never stuck with it.

It's good to have quest chains that span content, but quest chains like this break down trust the player has with the developer. When the player runs into a chain that he can't finish with a monster he can't kill, the player loses trust in the developer's sense of guiding them to fun.

He also emphasized to avoid inserting "gimmick quests." His example here was part of the Oculus dungeon where players ride on dragons. These types of quests center around doing something the client may not be able to properly handle. Warcraft was not designed to accommodate vehicles. When developers resort to putting in parts of the game that center around a gimmick, it can detract from the fun of the rest of the game.

The horror of collection quests

Kaplan's speech ended with an analysis of why people hate collection quests so much, and a few tips on how to make collection quests into a better experience.

His problems with the quests stemmed from three areas -- dense creature population, too few of a creature to kill, and having a wide variety of items required for the quest. Having a dense creature population can put off people, especially when there's a lack of the monster required for the quest. If someone has to kill four lions for every one raptor required for the quest, then there's a problem.

His other point was that collection quests shouldn't require an insane amount of items. To everyone's amusement, he brought up the Green Hills of Stranglethorn quest chain (a chain he wrote) as the exact thing a designer should never do. Collection quests should be an easily obtainable number of items, and not such a long grind fest with the hope that your required item might drop.

Lastly, never have the player question why they're collecting the item required -- it should be clear from the onset. Kaplan brought up the infamous gnoll paw collecting quests, in which gnolls may or may not drop paws upon death, where obviously a gnoll has four paws and not a number between 0 and 1 (which everyone applauded at loudly). Quests should make sense and not become a gimmick in their own right. This causes the player to once again, lose trust.

Most of these points that Kaplan has brought up pertain to Warcraft, but can easily be applied to any game on the market. With all of this in mind, perhaps we'll get to see some better design in our MMOs from other developers, now that we're all on the same page... of the Green Hills of Stranglethorn.

MassivelyGDC09: Spending time with the cruise director of Azeroth pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At GDC09, we got to talk with many people and listened to a variety of panels on all aspects of game design. But there was little doubt as to which panel attracted loads of attention -- the Jeff Kaplan panel on quest design in World of Warcraft.

Warcraft has come extremely far in terms of their UI design and quest implementation since the game launched back in 2004. Just between 2007 and 2009, Kaplan revealed that over 8,570,222,436 quests have been completed, while the daily average was 16,641,409. With those numbers in place, it's safe to say that World of Warcraft players are driven by their questing.

Kaplan's panel revealed a few tricks of the trade, as well as his beliefs regarding questing, so without further adieu let's get into the meat of his panel.

Gallery: GDC09: Spending time with the cruise director of Azeroth

Continue reading GDC09: Spending time with the cruise director of Azeroth

MassivelyGDC09: Spending time with the cruise director of Azeroth originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We don't know about you, but we can feel the era of post-apocalyptic and sci-fi MMOs fast approaching. Definitely on our 'ones to watch' list is Fallen Earth, currently in development at Fallen Earth LLC (formerly known as Icarus Studios). We mentioned the other day that the Fallen Earth devs would participate in a live Stratics 'House of Commons' dev chat, and among the five Fallen Earth team members on-hand was lead game designer Lee Hammock.

The Fallen Earth devs responded to a blitz of questions from the game's future players in the Stratics dev chat, ranging from the benefits of capturing 'conflict towns' in PvP to mounted combat on horses and vehicles. In addition, Lee Hammock stated that game play videos should be released at some point in the next few weeks, and more info about the game will be coming out in tandem with this month's Game Developers Conference.

Be sure to check out the Stratics House of Commons chat transcript for more on the kind of game Fallen Earth is shaping up to be.

MassivelyFallen Earth dev chat answers barrage of player questions originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There's been no shortage of player-driven drama in EVE Online over the past few months. The things players can do within the game is a testament to EVE's sandbox design, but also to the developers who allow the players accomplish whatever their devious little hearts desire. It's true that most who play the game don't embezzle virtual currency from player-run banks, engage in spycraft or turn double agent, much less publicly assassinate another player during a PvP tournament, but all players in the game benefit from the risk these activities inject into the game. It all becomes part of the game's setting and ultimately makes New Eden a gritter place.

This is a topic of discussion over at MTV Multiplayer this week. EVE Online's lead game designer Noah Ward (aka CCP Hammerhead) sat down with MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John, to discuss some of the potential within the EVE sandbox. The interview focuses on CCP Games' hands-off approach to what the players are doing in the game. As long as players aren't spouting racial epithets or making real-life threats against one another, EVE's gamers can basically do whatever they choose on an individual or collective level.

Continue reading EVE Online developer Noah Ward on player drama in the sandbox

MassivelyEVE Online developer Noah Ward on player drama in the sandbox originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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