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Lessons GMs Can Learn from World of Warcraft
Martin Ralya writes "As a tabletop RPG gamemaster, I've been thinking about what GMs can learn from World of Warcraft ever since I first logged in. After close to 200 hours of WoW time, I've come up with 9 lessons GMs can learn from World of Warcraft."
1. Everything should be fun
Agreed. However, grinding X number of monsters because you were told to for a reward instead of grinding X number of monsters for the XP and drops does not make it fun.
2. Details matter
Generalities of gameplay matter more. The group or die mentality of the end-game is a hold over from a lame scramble to cover lack of content in early EQ that should have been designed around a long time ago rather than perpetuated like pointless mazes in text adventure games.
3. Travel should be easy
Travel should be interesting. They only have to make it easy because the travel in between is boring. It would help if they didn't purposely put each part of a quest in different areas just so the travel in between makes it longer and seem more "epic." Rather than have you travel the same routes hundreds of times give players interesting things to do along the way.
4. Item management should be simple
Item management should be non-existent. I shouldn't be spending *any* time manipulating items around as it has nothing to do with gameplay. And if you do want to put it in as some sort of limiting factor, how about taking size into account? You can't carry 10 more flowers, but hey, you can carrying that dragon's head no problem.
5. Every class should have lots of things to do
Agreed. Clearly written by someone that has not gone on raids where every class gets to do one thing. Over. And over. And over. If anything it should be written as "Every class should have unique things to do" but that doesn't hold true in WoW for all classes either.
6. Style should shine through
Gameplay should shine through more.
7. Everyone should leave every session jazzed about the game
You clearly do not constitute everyone. Ending a session after giving up with a 2 hours wait in queue for battlegrounds or looking for a pickup raid or getting tired of said pickup raid after the 8th wipe does not constitute jazzed.
8. It's okay to make changes after the campaign begins
It's better to do it right the first time.
9. Err on the side of being over-the-top
Especially when it comes to bandwidth and server capacity. Doh! Or better yet, how about don't err. Or at least don't make err's that other companies have made in the past.
Anonymous to avoid karma like the plague.
Oh, 9+ characters lvls 6-60. And done. See you in the next game that is fun until it is played out.