Six Design Decisions That Could Make or Break an MMO

Written by: Adele Caelia • Edited by: Michael Hartman
Published Jul 17, 2009 • Related Guides: RPG

Game developers have to make decisions that will in the end determine the outcome of the game. Many of the basic elements that are found in MMOs are thought to be unnecessary and are pushed back to be added later, however, these few elements have more sway than the developers may realize.

Player Housing

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Many developers think that player housing is not needed.This simply is not true. Players love to have a place to call home. Many consider the world within the game, a home away from home. Games that have player housing also have trophies, clothing, and other awards that can be displayed within. This adds a sense of nostalgia as players grow. Viewing past items that were gained over a few years gives a sense of accomplishment, and a feeling of “Wow, look at how much I’ve done”. Players also need a place to kick back and relax after a hard week of saving the world. Their home gives them the perfect place to do so. This goes for guildhalls as well. Games that have guildhalls always have player created events and extravaganzas. Player housing adds to the realism of the game, and ups the immersion. The level of immersion in an MMO can make or break the game.

Art (not Graphics) and Character Creation

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Why the distinction between graphics and art? When people talk about a game having great graphics, that often refers to technical aspects. The number of polygons, fancy graphical effects, etc. These are nice, but what really matters most is the quality of art within whatever medium or engine is being used. In a text MMO, the medium is the written word. So the writing must be good. In a graphical game, the quality of art must be good, regardless of how advanced the actual graphical engine might be. This is one reason why cartoony style graphics have performed better (on the whole) that games that go for a realistic style. It is a lot harder to get realism "right" that it is to get stylized, cartoonish, or anime style graphics.

Good Character Creation

And let's not forget character creation. Give players plenty of options to create a unique character before they log in. Scroll through faces are frowned upon, and while many developers think it doesn’t matter because no one gets close enough to ever see the detail on another face, it does matter. The players will look at their characters, they will know, and they will feel pride in what they created. Many players spend the first hour or more of a game using the character creation tool.

Character creation is the first impression players get of a game. It has to be interesting and it has to provide enough variety that players feel they can make a distinct character in the world.

Emotes and Jumping

Emotes and jumping, like player housing, add immersion. Immersion is key to an MMO. It is after all the RPG in the MMO. The first action many players attempt when logging into a game is to jump. Don’t laugh. Don’t deny it. Everyone hits the spacebar and tries to jump straight away. If the player cannot jump, the game loses something. It becomes claustrophobic. Who wants to be stuck to the ground their entire life? To lose points so quickly after a player has logged in is deadly. This includes emotes that happen on their own, and emotes that occur when a player types in a phrase are equally important, such as the dance emote. This creates a world that feels real. It adds life in the same way that the wind blowing back a cloak or bending the grass in a field does. Emotes add fun, they make players smile, and bring players together.

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Six Design Decisions That Could Make or Break an MMO

Player Housing

Art (not Graphics) and Character Creation

Good Character Creation

Emotes and Jumping

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