Lately with the amount of PvP I have been doing, it feels like my brain is beginning to bleed “learn2play” attitudes. I have caught myself replying to obvious troll bait yells or even doing so myself.

Upon consideration, I feel like one of the root causes of this, which is far less prevalent in a PvE aspect, is because of the way developers tend to design for PvP. There are several reasons, but to start the ball rolling: Developers tend to cater to the defeatist.

In order to appeal to the vast majority of your players, you must ensure that the vast majority are happy. For PvP, the most obvious manner is to reward gear, “exclusive” content and other such knick knacks. This rewards winning, obviously, but at the same time you cannot allow the losers to simply not advance either. Not to do so would result in one side eventually having a greater gear disparity through constant winning that would eventually steamroll the other side. As such, even losers gain a small amount of whatever PvP currency you have to dish out.

What such an insidiously simple concept fosters, however, is the thought that losing is OK. If we win, that`s great. But if we`re losing…

“Oh, the other side is premade.”

“Oh, the other side is better geared.”

“Oh, we lost the first point. There`s no point now.”

“Oh, we’ll get it back next game.”

And then your team gives up, sitting in their respawn box waiting for the timer to tick down. When there is no personal risk of loss to yourself (Unlike, say, Eve Online`s winner-takes-all style of battle) it fosters in your player base a sense that there is no real need to win, either. We`ll get it next round.

A few examples come to mind to help illustrate the point. World of Warcraft`s two “contested” battlegrounds, Wintergrasp and Tol Barad, were notorious for their varied issues. Wintergrasp had issues with uneven teams, while Tol Barad initially awarded the attacking winner team ten times as much rewards. In short, it fostered a “why bother defending?” attitude in its players.

Rift, too, has the same problems. More often than not, whichever side wins the initial scrum will continue to dominate – be it in battlegrounds or an open-world PvP rift. Forcing the other team into their graveyard, unable to exit, is not uncommon. Once the whining sets in, it goes endemic. Teams rarely – if ever – recover. Again, it fosters a “why bother?” mode of thinking that seeps into its player base.

This thinking then leads into the more insidious “Why try at all?” problem. Win or lose, I will gain some form of currency. So why waste my time and effort when I can simply hide in a corner and alt-tab to do something else? If I win, great. If not, oh well. It will just take me a little longer to get to the same gear level. And maybe then I can compete…

I think catering to defeatists is approaching the problem wrongly. However, I also realize that the opposite can be equally un-fun (Allowing only the winners to get the gear) because of gear disparity. One solution that I`ve seen comes from the surprising source of shooters. Global Agenda and Team Fortress 2 offer players who “grind” (aka play for a long time) the option of sidegrades. You could take, for example, a heal gun that grants both you and your ally invulnerability, or one that offers the ally 100% critical hit chances with no invulnerability. Both bring serious strategic choice to the player, without necessarily unbalancing the gameplay. Everything else is then left to player skill. Those 100% crits are horrifyingly scary and potentially team-clearing in the hands of a good Demoman in Team Fortress 2, for example, while invulnerability is fantastic for defending the final cap point.

What are your thoughts on the issue?

Jaradcel

[Rift] Defeating the Defeatist is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

Anyway, while The Lazy Geek’s thoughts were more negative, I couldn’t help but silently applaud Blizzard. They have this sinking ship. It’s sinking slowly and still dredging up tons of gold and oil, yet I have a feeling the captain already sees the end coming. Except, it’s not going to be the end in a sense. Sure, it will be the end of the massive floating ocean liner that engulfs oceans, but the ocean liner could be retro-fitted into something else. Maybe with hats.

I think that Blizzard should start using WoW like how Valve has been using Team Fortress 2 (TF2). Basically as a lab. Conduct experiments that would normally be frowned upon. Stick that golden goose with tons of hypodermic needles that would have scared stockholders spitless in days of yore. Go crazy. Make a $1000 mount. Sell a new class as DLC. Make the next expansion a digital product only. Give new emotes as dungeon awards. Make a hat-based economy. The sky is the limit!

See, I think we are going to hit a node in the pattern soon for the MMO genre, and in my opinion the outcome is going to be that investors are going to be even less adventurous. Yet, if Blizzard is showing that they are doing some crazy things it is possible that the detrimental nodal effects could be mitigated. Ironically it could be that formulaic Blizzard doing out-of-the-box thinking and experiments could save us from any potential MMO dark ages.

–Ravious

WoW Fortress 2 is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

When DDO came out, I wondered why it was not using a module pricing strategy: base game cheap/free, sell the dungeons individually. You could even have a store for player-made, developer-checked dungeons for which players get a cut. Of course, selling the packs piecemeal encourage power creep by the question of whether this pack is worth the $5. Is the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus awesome enough to spend extra money on it? The same power creep/worth it question arises every time Team Fortress 2 puts a new weapon in the store, but at least there you face a near-certainty of getting the weapon as a drop (or crafting it) fairly soon.

: Zubon

DLC Is the New Expansion Pack is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

Edit: let’s see what happens if we add in enemies that do the same, some of which may mirror heroes.

Engineer class turret/sentry:

• Borderlands, Crimson Lance Engineer
• Brink
• City of Heroes, Malta Operations Engineer
• Guild Wars 2
• Hellgate: London
• Mass Effect 2
• Quake Team Fortress
• Star Trek Online
• Team Fortress Classic
• Team Fortress 2
• Warhammer Online
• World of Warcraft (trade skill)

Engineer class without turret/sentry:

• Anarchy Online (or are those robots turrets? haven’t played)
• Battlefield FPS series
• Bloodline Champions
• Eden Eternal
• Hellgate: Global (mobile robots)
• Mass Effect
• Torchlight 2

Non-Engineer class that builds a turret/sentry (“close-enough” names starred):

• **Asheron’s Call 2, Lugian Tactician
• Borderlands, Roland the Soldier, although he is canonically a former Crimson Lance Engineer
• **Champions Online, Inventor
• City of Heroes, Blasters and Corruptors with Devices (was Auto-Turret, now Gun Drone)
• DC Universe Online, Gadgets
• **Dungeon Fighter Online, Mechanic
• **Global Agenda, Robotics
• **League of Legends, Heimerdinger the Revered Inventor

Obvious turret analogue, but not “built”:

• Dark Age of Camelot, Hibernian Animist
• Guild Wars, Ritualist
• Warhammer Online, Chaos Magus
• World of Warcraft, Shaman

“Deploys” turrets s/he did not build:

• Diablo 2, Assassin
• StarCraft, Raven
• TitanQuest, Rogue
• Torchlight, Vanquisher (Arbiter tree)

Rejected, pending argument: engineer units from RTS/turn-based strategy games like Civilization.
Heard of but unknown to Zubon: Alpha Protocol, Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

Engi Census is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

: Zubon

Engineers Have Turrets Syndrome is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

Stemming from the thoughts on micro-transactions and the use of freemium, I thought I would offer my thoughts on the parallels from another game that has recently gone freemium – Team Fortress 2 (“TF2”).

At first blush, the game does not have anything to do with Kill Ten Rats – It’s a hat-collecting sim/FPS after all. But what it is doing mirrors closely the models that Turbine are using on Lord of the Rings Online (“LotRO”) and Dungeons and Dragons Online (“DDO”), and which other companies like SOE and NCSoft are also moving into as well. That is, turning a pay product into a free model to attract new revenue via a cash shop. And TF2 does so by scratching the same itch that MMO cash shop users have – the need to have it all and look pretty besides.

TF2`s promise is that players now do not have to pay a cent in order to get the most out of the game. This is arguably true, as the various weapons, hats and other knick knacks that riddle it are there to offer different styles of gameplay, rather than an actual advantage. But similar to MMO`s, you’ll be reminded constantly of your free status. Hey, how did he get that huge axe for his melee weapon? Where did that damned Spy get that knife that lets him disguise instantly? How do I get these items and options faster?

Hypothetically, a bit of luck and crafting will get you most of these items anyway, right? Much like players don’t really need a 10% EXP potion from a cash shop, you don’t need these additional weapons (and especially not cosmetic hats) in order to frag. Except in reality it isn’t. A quick glance at TF2`s free-to-play FAQ page shows some differences between people who’ve put a little cash in and those who haven’t. Free players can receive items, but can’t trade anything away. They have limited backpack space. 50 sounds like a lot, until you realize there are nearly that many weapons alone already in the game. They can’t wear or own rare or cosmetic items. They can’t craft everything, either. Yes, you get the base experience, but like all free-to-play titles, you’re mostly crippling yourself if you do.

This leads back to the curse of every MMO player, the loot grind. Want that shiny epic sword? Be prepared to hit the same dungeon day in, day out, until it drops. Want that cool crocodile hat the Sniper can wear? Pray it drops. But the cash shop is dangling its tantalizing promises all the time as you play. Why wait? Why remain free, when you can get so much more by plonking just a little bit of cash in? Buy now!

If that doesn’t sound like enough of a parallel, consider this next addition: Another way Valve tempts players to spend money is by dropping locked crates in the game. Players can only unlock them by buying a key from the store, which costs USD$2.49. Its contents range from new weapons, to paint, to rare items with glowy effects. The newest crates are series 19 through 21, and depart from normal by being class-specific in their contents. 19 will reveal only Demoman weapons, with Soldier and Heavy in the next two. The twist is that alongside the new weapons to be found for that class, these crates also drop each class’s base, starter weapon as well.

One would think players were getting a bum deal out of such a chance, except these base weapons have been modified. They now track your kills with the weapon. Kill enough, and it ranks up, announcing to all your friends its new rank. Your kill count also shows up in kill cam shots. While all it does right now is stroke ego, it cannot be denied that one good reason cash shops thrive is because people want to show off whatever they bought. That’s why we buy hats that do nearly nothing in TF2 already. And it opens up the possibility in the future of leveled-up weapons ala LotRO.

Finally, several games in the past few years have utilized a cross-promotion with TF2 to pump up hype. Off the top of my head: Left 4 Dead 2, Sam and Max, Portal 2, Killing Floor, Monday Night Combat, Homefront, Rift, Shogun 2 and Poker Night at the Inventory. Players who pick up the Steam version of the game get some doodad in TF2 as well, mostly hats. Additionally, Rift, Shogun and Poker Night all offered in-game weapons. It’s almost as if Valve is saying, “If you’re going to buy the game anyway, why not buy it from us? Here, have a hat.” A similar thought can be linked to LotRO`s recent announcement. Lifetime and premium players were going to get the expansion anyway, but if you pre-order, you could get more free stuff, so why wait?

Free-to-play models make their nickels and dimes by showing off the have’s against the have-not’s. Alongside LotRO, DDO and City of Heroes, TF2 definitely has some interesting parallels to watch for as Valve continues to tinker with their store concept.

Jaradcel

You Paid How Much? is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

NCSoft has donated over 6,000,000 USD directly to Japan, which overshadowed every other Korean corporation donation at the time it was made (including Samsung and LG). It even outshadowed Japanese corporations donations like Nintendo and Sony. Now it is likely that Japanese corporations are “donating” with paid-time off and other ways to help employees and their communities, but it does put a point on NCSoft’s significant generosity.

US-based Trion Worlds with the shiny-new MMO Rift is taking a more personal route. They are finding their Japanese customers and giving them a free month of play. It’s not necessarily as humanitarian as donating money to aid, but it adds yet another showing that Trion Worlds values its customers. I have recently been a little critical of the mid-level zones and fuzzy edges of the dynamic content engine, yet as I noted in my last Rift post, they are keeping me a happy customer.

Prayers and thoughts continue to go to the island gaming nation. Also, one can never have too many hats.

–Ravious

MMO Love to Japan is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

City of Heroes does this. Global Agenda does this. Team Fortress 2 does this. Rift does this with rift loot. LotRO skirmishes are half-way there with most rewards appearing in your barter wallet as a quest reward mechanic.

The downside is the question of limited inventory space. What do we do when inventory is full? When we click on bodies, the loot is just there, waiting for us to open some inventory slots. Do we just miss out on loot if we are full? My immediate notions would be:

• Yes, so watch for the big red FULL alert and the continued red text on your screen.
• Stop limiting inventory space. That might be a really bad idea in a game with lots of trash loot, which leads to the next step of stop with the trash loot. Alternately, have some sort of genericized system that takes less (server) storage space rather than having dozens of things to remember per item.
• Have a loot overflow holding area. It would be a buffer that lasts for as long as you are logged on, kind of like buyback at the NPC merchants. As long as you stay online (plus time x, to deal with connection isseus?), your bag is infinitely large, but make sure you decide which items you are keeping/selling before logging off. If your connection is lousy, you will want to check that more often, but then you would have the same issue about corpses de-spawning with your loot still inside, and you would still be checking your inventory just as often with the question, “Which of these am I keeping or trashing?” Be sure to move the epic loot to permanent storage after the boss fight.

Any version would be purely a gameplay abstraction that makes no sense even after the best stories I concocted justifying it in-world, but we already accept inventory mechanics in which 100 metal ingots take up as much space as a ring, bears sometimes carry swords and multiple hides but have only a 50% chance to have one leg or tooth on each corpse, gold bars are worth less than gold coins, and gold coins take up no space. Of course, I usually use ranged attacks. I can already imagine sniping one target in a dangerous group and running, where now I would need to go in if I want the loot from that kill.

: Zubon

Looting is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

I am wondering how the new Sniper suit has affected the latter. The set bonus takes away your headshots but lets you survive any headshot. Newb snipers kill aim-botters in traded shots, while the new suit is useless for aim-botters. When I get repeatedly, uselessly head-shot as a Sniper, I wonder if the opposing Sniper is really good but has not adjusted to the new items, or if Valve added something specifically to watch aim-botters lose.

: Zubon

Improving TF2 Servers is a post from: Kill Ten Rats

One of these recently reminded me of someone from my Asheron’s Call monarchy who was a bit of an annoying kid. He was earnest, enthusiastic about leveling, eager for attention, and very much attached to me after I went out of my way to help him one evening. Nothing wrong with him, I just did not have the energy to care for a puppy. I met another puppy in LotRO, and fending off the attentions of extroverted adolescents is much more important when they have access to built-in voice chat.

I say this not because I am shaking my cane at the kids on my lawn. I say this because I just realized that the “annoying kid” has probably graduated from college by now. He might have a kid or two of his own. The current batch of adolescents had not yet started school when I met him. I am old old old.

: Zubon

Old is a post from: Kill Ten Rats