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

A Tale in the Desert

[beholder77]

.... really encourages socialization to advance.

I've been playing the game for a few weeks now (since a slashdot story mentioned it :), and I've found the game to be very deep and downright difficult to advance without the help of others. The first time you notice this is right on the newbie island where all characters start. Typically there are people trying to achieve one of their leadership tests (having other people build totems to them) on the newbie island acting as mentors. The mentors job is to help the newbies understand the game, and get them past the first challenge, which is to get from the newb island to Egypt mainland. This is the first time I've seen socilization rewarded in a game.

For Tale, it doesn't stop there. Once you are in Egypt, you realize the game is massive and complex. You simply can't build everything you need to advance your skills in the game without trading resources with others. The best way to do this is join a guild (or guilds, it allows multiple). Guilds in Tale are a social structure. Most likely you will join the guild that your mentor belongs to, and it will be your primary. Once you explore the world for a while, you find other people who want you to join their guild and might have resources not available to you in your current location.

I would almost say it's enforced socialization, but it doesn't feel that way when you play. Achievement is so much *easier* with socilization.