Putting Adventure First - The downside of stats. (April 2005)

Many people, and I assume a lot that would be on this board, yearn for a different mmog experience. They want to enter the world and think of what sort of adventure they want to go on, not about what loot they want to farm or how much experience they can power through. They want to spend a week traveling between two cities with a merchant caravan experience misadventure along the way; to leave their city life behind and live astide the waves of the sea for a month; to ditch their family and guild and more north to a mercenary fort and carve out a new chapter as a hired sword. Basically they want a gameplay experience that is far more akin to something straight out of a Dragonlance or Drizzt Do'urden novel. Right now the gameplay in any current mmog has to be so skewed and glorified to even remotely mirror that.

However, I really think before that's ever possible, the emphasis off stats and numbers has to be reduced. That's a big reason why the game experience in EQ or WoW is about farming and progress. People want that extra 10 strength, 5 DPS, and so forth. Look at SWG, the game never had levels. Your "shown Rank" was fairly simplied too. Soldier, Bounty Hunter, Master Bounty Hunter, and a handful of tiles along the way like Sharpshooter or Investigator. That definitely reduced the emphasis on stats and numbers a lot. People become less concerned of achieving and it let more people worry about adventure. Avenger to Master Bounty Hunter would be like Lv50 to Lv60, but people were far, far more content (and capable) as an Avenger than any Lv50.

Same with content and quests. You can make a quest that has someone protect a caravan, full of story, but until you put that at the forefront, many just won't care. World of Warcraft is a great example. The game is full of lore, thousands of quests each explained by stories. And I'm constantly suprised by how many people skip the story because all the care about is the XP. And I shouldn't be suprised, because that's what the game is all about ultimately. Numbers more than XP since you reach Lv60 fast, but the end-game is all about farming loot to get yourself 'better numbers'.

Basically I think until the game reduces all the emphasis and importance it puts on stats and numbers, many people will never stop concentrating on that, will never stop rushing after them, sacrificing other elements. If you want more people to stop and socialize, hang out at a tavern, or and most importantly take the time to enjoy a quest or experience, you have to make that what the game is about. You have to take 6+ years of numbers-based mmogs and reteach people that the game is about adventure, not stats. And as long as you make the numbers and stats of a game so detailed, specific, expansive, and important, so many people will continue to let that dictate how they play.

As food for thought, look at any MMORPG. Take away levels and stats. Ask yourself, if your only interest was adventure, what you would do in that world. What kind of quest would you want to pursue, life you'd love to live, or adventure you'd like to expreience. That was at the core of the entire RPG genre 2 decades ago. And that's why I wish was at the core of the MMORPG genre too.

Based on the frontpage introduction, it sounds the the Vanguard developers are of similiar mind. But based on a lot of gameplay elements I'm hearing about, many akin to first or secen gen mmogs, I can't help but worry that once again, numbers and stats will become what the game is all about for so many. Just like every major mmog before it. Just like WoW or EQ2, simply evolution, not "Revolution".