On Rewarding Socialization In MMORPGs

Thanks to Skotos.net for their article discussing how social interaction affects gameplay in MMO titles. The piece suggests: "That the majority of MMORPGs, MUDs, and other multiplayer games ultimately support achiever players over socializers, or even killers, I think begins to outline how poorly we understand - and support - true social interactions in today's multiplayer games." It goes on to discuss freeform socialization ("We slap a chatline into a game. Then we spend as much time making it look nice"), competitive socialization ("the richest form of interaction possible in multiplayer games, yet ironically it's more often been seen as a problem than as a potential virtue"), and co-operative socialization ("One of the few games that has really tried to push this envelope is Asheron's Call with its ideas for feudal structures.")

Comments

Re:Of Course Social Interaction Isn't Well Support

[orthogonal]

Most people play games to get AWAY from life and INTO a world where they can use their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.

Precisely. If MMORG players want social interaction, there's a great simulation of it available 24/7 in the big room with the really high blue ceiling. No modem required.

MMORGs meet other needs.

Re:Of Course Social Interaction Isn't Well Support

[Qzukk]

So why spend time working on a feature that most of the players have little skill in using anyway?

Aside from the "feature" of having brave players trying it out and learning to be social as a side effect, what about the few hundred million other people out there? You know, the kind of people who aren't the loner geek sterotype, and might be interested in a game where they can use their social skills as a "strength"? Might be a large target market out there somewhere, but you won't know until you either do some research or just blindly try it and hope your company folds.

Social ~= Casual; and Casual Hardcore

[*weasel]

There are comparably few people willing to pay monthly for a massmog, just for the pleasure of socializing. (eg The Sims Online)

as such, the return on time spent refining your social tools and rewards is going to peak fairly quickly. compare that to the return on time spent polishing your gameplay (adding special abilities, races, classes, etc) or adding game content (monsters, zones, items). You'd probably get more lipservice in the press for a partical system that took 2 months of dev time, than a social structure that took 8.

for most markets, guild structuring/warring and chat groups is about all the structure the playerbase cares for. EQ doesn't even have guild warring and it continues to set the target for massmog size. Sims Online, UO and AC have the best social tools in the mainstream market, and they're all languishing in relative population counts.

And while they have healthy communities of players, no suit is going to bankroll a massmog if your estimates put the player base at 30-100k after 12 months. they all expect 3-500k.

Social players are more likely casual players. and casual players just aren't paying monthly yet. (and who can blame them. $50 for the box and then $15/mo for a game you get to play for 20hrs/mo max?)

it would take an entirely different game, designed from the ground-up, to sell the casual market, and thereby necessitate better social tools.

imo, the price hook for casual gamers is going to be on the level of pre-paid phone cards. Let them pay hourly, pre-pay at a lower rate for bulk hours, or simply pay a flat monthly fee for unlimited.