So the secret of this column is; there will be no WoW-killer. WoW’s position is unassailable. We live in a time when absolute statements like that sound foolish, I don’t mind sounding foolish. I’d love to see a robust and mature MMO market where several games could be successful. But I don’t think that’s the reality. Whatever else is true, you will not be able to beat WoW’s network.
My good friend Matt has put together a great column on the challenges facing MMO developers today. He argues that Blizzard’s network is really why no MMO has ever or will ever come close to competing. I agree with much of what he’s written, but I’ve decided there is a way to beat WOW.
WIIIIIITCH!
It’s because I think there is something more powerful than the network, something that Valve understands about communities of players that Bungie and Infinifty Ward do not. If you’ve played any Halo game you know that there is a point of normalization where the human interactions live. Team Fortress 2 interactions are very different for a variety of reasons but one key reason is how Valve uses play-testing to gain insight into their players. What they call play-testing actually seems to more closely resemble scientific observation than focus testing. Players are given no direction, asked few questions and Valve observes all of their behavior with maximum neutrality. In doing so, Valve is able to craft the experience and even emotional reactions of players. With Left4Dead, Tutrle Rock and Valve created a game that can very accurately predict actual player interactions as well as emotions. You experience this as a player when the voiceover says “we were lucky to get out of there” at the same moment you mention to your friends “thank god, we made it out”.
This study of player experience and interaction could easily be applied to WOW. Deployed in greater depth and on a huge scale, it would be possible to understand the experiences of individuals and groups that form a matrix of tiny interactions that create a total experience. WOW is arguably a vanilla experience where the users are the sprinkles, the flavor. Armed with tens of thousands of play-testing hours you could evolve those sprinkles, the moments of human interaction, into delicious chunks of candy bar. While at the same time, you could learn where WOW is vanilla and where it is hiding the occasional chocolate chip. Applying this study of experience to an MMO would allow give the player the best opportunities for intelligently designed shared experiences.
So few games try to create moments of human experience but Left4Dead has shown me that it is possible to create genuine moments, even for hours at a time. Apply that to an MMO and you’ve got a game compelling enough to move an entire network. Anyone remember MySpace?
Turn the blog over to read the second part.