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Friday, September 18, 2009

AGDC: The Loner

I made one session amidst the day of mind-numbing negotiations, and that was Damion Schubert's "The Loner":
"This talk explores one of the more interesting puzzles of massively multiplayer game design: why do so many people choose to play these games alone? How should designers reach these customers? How important is solo play to games? Should game designers try to entice solo players to enjoy group mechanics like raiding, sieges or PvP? Or are MMOs destined to become 'massively single-player games'?"
I've known Damion (casually) for years, and I'm constantly impressed by his digging into the tougher (and/ or more important) game design challenges, with concrete takeaways. I don't like to summarize his talks, because theres so much rich content there. But I will anyway. Check out is blog, http://www.zenofdesign.com/, for more of wisdom and wittyisms.

This talk was about the shift over the last five years in MMOs toward providing (really, requiring) solo play in addition to the "massive". He identified several types of "Loner" - both legitimate (personality type or good game design) and illegitimate (broken game states). Damion offered a large number of concrete design techniques that could help make great games (and avoid game-killing design mistakes)

Damion made an important observation that the "massive" is the differentiation for MMOs - "We can't compete in any other area". Despite this, it's not even an option to create an MMO without a solo aspect.

He also covered bits of psychology and usability -- like, many people don't want to learn publicly; but even more, they don't want to be embarrassed publicly.

Damion made some important real-world data analogies to MMO design (traffic, bars, casino design) that would serve game designers well to consider.

There are also gradations of solo players. Many people (like me) choose to play socially with friends, but solo if friends aren't online

Sociopaths, at their simplest, don't recognize social norms for the space they're in. But everyone who's new to a given MMO is a sociopath, until the designer explicitly trains them otherwise (you don't know the social norms for the new space until you're taught them, and they're ingrained). People who don't change or don't care need to be retrained, channeled, or booted.

From a game design perspective, being "a Loner" is OK; forced into being lonely is not, and is a borked game state.

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Thursday, September 17, 2009

AGDC: Wizard101 - Lions and Tigers and Ninja Pigs, Oh My!

After a wicked busy (but productive) burst of partner and Customer meetings, I went to the post mortem for licensee KingsIsle's title, Wizard101 - "Wizard101 - Lions and Tigers and Ninja Pigs, Oh My!":
"In this post-mortem, WIZARD101 creator J. Todd Coleman discussed the challenges of making a kid-focused MMO, and the role of iterative design in discovering a games personality. How do you blend family-friendly characters, a cinematic combat system, and a collectible card game into a cohesive virtual world? Find out as the director discusses what worked (and what didn't) in KingsIsle's quest to introduce persistent world gaming to a new generation of gamers."
The game is tween MMO that runs lightweight on a PC, it's an 8 Mb download, and streams.

You might have seen the Game Developers Magazine article on the Wizard101 post mortem, but if you haven't, I encourage you to check it out.

One of the things I found particularly interesting from a planning / pre-production standpoint was their plan to create a game that had 3 areas of focus -- and if some 800-pound gorilla launched during their 3-year cycle, they would shift their focus to 1 or two of the other areas of focus. Very savvy from a risk-mitigation perspective.

What's Unique:
  • Personality (the game's got flavor)
  • Combat (card-based)
  • The World (The "spiral mechanic" - which allows for creation of oddly themed expansion worlds and side quests - is brilliant)
  • The story (At the same time, there is a single narrative thread-- as opposed to the typical MMO trope of multiple mini stories -- that keeps things cohesive
The game is ultimately about saving the world, with stark lines between good and evil, and each player is the hero.

Persistence? Respawning? Who cares? It's all about keeping it fun for the individual kid player.

The names in Wizard101 may be the greatest part of the game (Samoorai? Sherlock Bones? Meowriarty? Awesome.)

Combat is turn-based, cinematic, and uses a card collecting mechanic (the goal was approachable like Toontown, looks like Yu Gi O, plays like older Final Fantasy).

On the progression of the battle system, Coleman said they created a physical card game for focus testing with kids (sounds like they did a lot of focus testing throughout pre- and production). Next was a 2D prototype that let them further focus test the gameplay, and the AI. Then they did a canned cinematic to show how it would work together. Then they integrated everything.

What Went Right:
  • Scope - 30 people, and linear play made for needing less assets
  • Prototyping helped refine mechanics
  • Digital download/FTP mechanism for distribution
  • Minimum spec machine - Coleman asserts that kids get the lowest quality machine in a household; interestingly, he said this also enabled them to unexpectedly hit a chunk of the burgeoning netbook market
  • Steady, ongoing launch (as opposed to running up to a launch, getting big numbers, then dropping off sharply)
He showed comparative stats via Compete.com that I'm going to have to dig into a bit more.

What Went Wrong:
  • Modular world building (bland, and the supposed re-use that drove the decision wasn't worth it)
  • Micropayment model (not enough variety at launch, not enough price points at launch)
  • Stats & Metrics ("too much is as bad as too little"; they had to many probes everywhere)
  • Design for growth (technology is scalable, but the design is not; this is due to things like using % for growth rather than absolute numbers, which causes problems when you need to raise your level cap)
Q&A:

There are social differences in a kids MMO - like for kids, everyone is a friend - but it's different (they'll friend you, but they won't socialize).

They offer a family pricing plan (Yay! Console service providers? Can you please do this?)

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AGDC: The Universe Behind World of Warcraft

Day 2 of AGDC started with the Blizzard keynote, "The Universe Behind World of Warcraft":
"Design and implementation is only part of the process in running a massively multiplayer game. Maintaining the player base and achieving sustained growth requires a collective and consistent effort from numerous departments beyond the development team. This discussion will offer an in-depth look at the operational complexities of running a large-scale MMO, including some specific lessons Blizzard Entertainment has learned with World of Warcraft."
This was the third in a 3-year Blizzard series, starting 2 years ago with a design principles, followed up a year ago with the business side, and this year with the development and operational side. I've been at all 3. There should be an achievement for that.

Interestingly, the Warcraft team was working on now-defunct title, Nomad. Ithink I'd heard this before, but seeing the concept art again made me whistful for what might have been.

The talk revolved around detailed descriptions, charts, and numbers of all of the Blizzard WoW teams. While all of that is hugely interesting to me, more interesting is Blizzard's cultural principle of building the organization (and each department, and each team) around the individuals - not just slotting people into rigid org chart slots (no matter how often they may change).

I jotted down a bunch of the numbers and detailed org charts, and might post those later (maybe; that takes work). But the main takeaway is the structuring principle above, along with a recognition of the sheer complexity of the company which requires several discreet business units - which are uniquely organized, and appropriately (numbers-wise) staffed to successfully accomplish their charter.

And this was just about the Warcraft organization, Diablo and Starcraft have equivalent teams. One cool tidbit was the concept of strike teams from other game teams making sure game teams aren't getting too close to their game - at the game's expense.

And despite Blizzcon tickets being sold, the event operates at a significant loss - but to huge marketing gain.

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Saturday, February 16, 2008

New models for MMOs

So, I'm bummed Microsoft and Marvel pulled the plug on the Marvel Universe MMO.

And I'm not just upset because I've Made Mine Marvel for more than two decades. It's not just because I'd like to see a quality, heavy backed version of City of Heroes with 50 years of backstory.

Naw, I'm bummed because the MMO space needs some innovation, and this franchise was a chance to see that happen.

But let's back up -- why cancel the game?

From Microsoft's Shane Kim:
For us we look at our priorities and all of the things we have to do. It’s a tough space. It’s a very competitive space. And it’s a space that’s changing quite a bit. …When we first entered into the development and agreement of the development of ‘Marvel Universe Online,’ we thought we would create another subscription-based MMO. And if you really look at the data there’s basically one that’s successful and everything else wouldn’t meet our level or definition of commercial success. And then you have to look [and say]: ‘Can we change the business model for that? Is that really viable given how far we are in development? And so forth. Does Marvel want to do that?’ There’s a whole bunch of factors.”
Blergh.

Wait -- "there’s basically one that’s successful"? Seriously?

And whether Kim's saying there's one successful financial model or one successful MMO in the
form of World of Warcraft (the interview is a bit vague), both assertions are a crock.

And it shows short-sightedness counter to the "Can we change the business model for that" question.

Companies need to leverage licensed IP to create innovation and revenue streams from the existing fan base, and create a cross-over hit with non-fans. Not just milk it shoddily when a movie based on the franchise launches.

So, how could you leverage a licensed IP -- aside from doing it non-craptastically?

Play to the limitations.

I'm guessing there are a lot of folks that all want to be the Hulk, or Wolverine, or the Punisher, or Spider-Man. But they can't all be Spider-Man (unless you want to do a Clone Saga thing -- and if you tell me you want to, I will find you and rip out your fingernails).

Same problem exists for my proposed Transformers MMORPG (still waiting for that call, Activision). Or the recently announced Hasbro / Electronic Arts G.I. Joe (which, really, you could take all of my Transformers ideas, and reskin them with the Joe equivalent -- with factions galore (COBRA divide among Cobra Commander, Serpentor, Dr. Mindbender, Tomax / Xamot, and Destro).

What if these limitations are a good thing? What if that's how you divide up your worlds? What if servers /farms are load-balanced across a geography (or even worlds) limited to one of each character (that's what, two thousand with Marvel? Rolled out over the course of years?), and you get your friends together and pick who wants to be what in your little click, and it's more accessible for folks who don't want to do massive WoW raids, but it also panders to the MMO hoard whores.

You could do the same with any of the big franchises (Marvel, Transformers, G.I. Joe, Sony's upcoming DC MMO, etc.) -- and this could actually increase your user base.

Say I want to jump into the Marvel MMO and play as Captain America. What, Captain America's taken on existing world servers? Well then, I'll take my shield and go start up my own instance with my friends who lost bets with me and get to tag along as anything from Rick Jones to D-Man.

But here's the big opportunity for IP holders -- Hasbro (and Warner Brothers and Marvel and everyone else who owns large-cast IPs) should be begging to do these games. Not in the craptastic - minimal - dollar - game - budgets - to - create - a - mediocre - game - across - a - billion - platforms - so - they - - can - milk - a - few - more - dollars - from - the - franchise - during - the - movie - tie-in kind of way. But in a market research kind of way.

Do people not get the goldmine a focused online game could bring? Does Marvel not see how they could mine surprising data as to how many people are playing as Frenchie, and how few are playing as Ben Riley? Don't toy manufacturers think -- in much the same way Hasbro in the 80s could introduce a G.I. Joe character as a toy or in the Marvel comic book or on the TV series -- they could now do so as a new playable character (or NPC) in the game, and find out if it floats or sinks with the fanbase? That they could allow for some "character customization" (that is really only a version of the remaining options available from their focus group efforts as they try to figure out whether the Buzzer redesign should be more Mad Max or more Village People)?

Marketing gold people. Marketing. Gold.

I've got other ideas for MMO mechanics, too. Like say you've got a level 35 Hulk, and you jump on a server and Hulk's already taken -- but you can jump into an unused character of the same class (bruiser, say, the ever lovin' blue-eyed Thing), and take a slight "penalty" (say, to level 30), which let's you play as another character, incents you play more (rather than not at all, because your character's not available), and doesn't make you redo the grinding for the class you've chosen.

I personally think there's a lot more to mine from MMOs. We just need to tweak the models and memes -- like adding bits of this and that from other genres, vertical markets, and geographies (take a nod from Korea, for example, with their casual massive online games, or hard-core, constrained worlds games).

Marvel -- bring back Marvel Universe Online -- I know you must be itching to get into the game publisher biz.

Hey, how about a Captain Britain MMO? You could populate that solely with Captain Britains. I bet Alan Moore would love that.

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Sunday, January 06, 2008

The Games of 2008: Q3, Q4, and TBD

See also:

Lotta good games coming in 2008. Quarter three's typically the slow one of the year as publisher's lose their audience to summer, and feel out where they fall in the holiday onslaught.

Quarter four is tough to predict with any accuracy, and a lot of the "to be scheduled" games get shunted into the last two quarters as placeholders for fiscal forecasting.

So I'm lumping the two quarters and uncommitted titles together.

Happy Tree Friends False Alarm -- Cutesy crude IP, of which I'm already a fan. I'm in.

Battlefield: Bad Company -- Interest in the Battlefield franchise for a lot of folks is like interest in the Victoria's Secret network fashion show -- it's their if you happen to stumble upon it. This iteration will add a single-player campaign and deepens the online component, and hopefully removes some of the concessions they've made to enable massive online play in the FPS space.

Ninja Gaiden II -- Itagaki-san has a rock star mentality, and that entertains me. Ninja Gaiden made me curse. I play it to make me think I can handle "games made for gamers".

Fable 2 -- Action RPG from the master of video game visionary promises. As long as the dog makes it in, I'm playing.

Halo Wars -- The CGI trailer has nothing to do with the gameplay, and I don't like RTS games. But the gameplay footage (available via Xbox Live) does look compelling, and may get me into the genre. Plus, it's Halo, so it'll print money.

Too Human -- I can't wait for this thing to get out of the fog of game engine heartburn. I think this has the potential to be a brilliant take on my Norse mythology love.

Fallout 3 -- I'm Fallout fiend (maybe just a Fallout fan; or just an alliteration amateur). I suspect this'll be a fun, immersive, time-suck of an RPG.

Brutal Legend -- Jack Black marries Tim Schafer and they birth a spiritual success to KISS's under-rated Psycho Circus. Tell me why you won't be playing this gem.

Alan Wake -- I'm trying to stay interested in this survival horror title. Knock off the delays and keep this thing funded on the publisher front.

Saboteur -- I think this stealth game with an innovative colorization game mechanic looks amazing. Can't wait, though I'm torn that I may be rescuing France.

LEGO Batman -- Have you played LEGO Star Wars? Have you seen the LEGO Batman toys? I am going to own this game, and my be-otches will play LEGO Robin online by my side.

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Videogame -- See above. Minus Robin.

LEGO Universe -- A LEGO MMO. A. LEGO. MMO.

Borderlands -- Hundreds of gun combos. Everything else is gravy, but I'm expecting a lot of gravy.

Fracture -- Real-time terrain deformation as a gameplay (and multi-play) mechanic. From LucasArts.

Mushroom Men -- I miss the Oddworld franchise. Mushroom Men looks to be that foot that bill. Again, from publisher Gamecock.

Dead Space -- Electronic Arts bucks behind a team that wants to create a survival horror title, inspired by the likes of Alien. A potential brown trouser excursion.

Ghostbusters The Video Game -- This game wants to be Ghosbusters 3. If they pull it off, it should rock. I hate Slimer.

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The Games of 2008: Q1

2007 is now a distant memory, and while I've still got to finish The Orange Box, Assassin's Creed, and Mass Effect (and, um, Viva Piñata), I'm already looking to the games of 2008.

So what's up for the next year of gaming after arguably the most prolific and quality-high year in the industry? Did the industry peak in 2007? Does life after Halo 3 and Portal seem a letdown?

Here are my picks -- and don't get your Underoos in a knot if your favorite game isn't here. I'm a PC and 360 gamer, so those titles are a priority for me, as are those titles on other platforms that look compelling for artistic or commercial reasons.

So "your" game may not be here, I may have forgotten some, dates may change, the game may suck, blah blah blah, wah wah wah.

Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (X360) -- Hey, an action RPG brawler retake on an action RTS mainstay, playable co-op over Xbox Live? I'm in (even if the demo was less than accessible).

Pirates of the Burning Sea (PC) -- An MMO that's not orcs 'n' elves?Let's see how it does. I probably won't play until the ninja community mod expansion pack kicks in.

Devil May Cry 4 (X360, PS3)-- I'm a franchise fan, and even if it's more of the same (but bigger, faster, more insane), it being available out of the gate on the 360 makes it a grabber for me.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) -- If I can get a Wii, this and Super Mario Galaxy are the two boxed titles I'm likely to buy.

Lost Odyssey (X360) -- This may be the JRPG that gets me into JRPGs (sorry, Blue Dragon). Yeah, it's Mistwalker Studios, but it's from Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator of the original Final Fantasy series), composed by FF music creator Nobuo Uematsu, art by manga creator Takehiko Inoue, and written by Japanese novelist Kiyoshi Shigematsu.

The Club (PC, PS3, X360) -- Take a top-notch racing game developer and throw them at a stylistic, Running Man-esqu thinking man's FPS? I'm in.

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (PC, PS3, X360) -- An FPS in alternative 1950s America where the Nazis won? Of course it's on my list.

Insecticide (DS, PC) -- "Insecticide is a film noir action adventure game set in a decaying world run by bugs. " Plus it's published by Gamecock Media. Who are in Austin, TX, and make me laugh.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot (X360, PS3) -- The first Condemned is one of the strongest launch games on the 360, and it still stands up. Add a more polished version of one of my favorite other vertical game engines (Lithtech) and multiplayer, and I'm ready for another "brown trouser" excursion (thank you, Brits, for that expression).

Bully: Scholarship Edition (X360, Wii) -- Bully for Rockstar for doing something different with this game. Sure, it came out the PS2 a while ago, but this version will have new classes, new content, and achievements (on the 360). Plus, the 360 version is being built using Emergent Game Technologies's Gamebryo game engine.

Viking: Battle for Asgard (PS3, X360) -- I'm a big fan of Norse mythology, action brawlers, and SEGA. It's a lock.

Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon (PS3, X360) -- I know the writer for this, so I would suck if I didn't list it. Plus the franchise genuinely rocks on all fronts.

Haze (PS3) -- Free Radical has my eternal love for the TimeSplitters franchise (bring me TS 4!). Haze looks smart and subversive. Just bring it to 360, kids -- I'd hate to see a sales shortfall for the potential franchise by limiting yourselves to a PS3 SKU.

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Wednesday, August 08, 2007

38 Studios

Why are there not stories six ways to Sunday about 38 Studios?

Formerly Green Monster Games, the smartly renamed game studio that had been unfairly simplified as "the house that Curt Schilling built". (If you don't know who Curt is, go away, become wise in the ways of history, and return.)

The Maynard, MA-headquartered game development studio is a machine of creativity and proven-ticket-producing industry folks.

There's Brett Close as President and CEO (probably so he doesn't get bored), who helped build the Midway Austin studio (and has done it at least a couple of other times, with EA-LA and VR1).

There's Todd McFarlane as the Creative Art Director and Concept Artist. Todd's a self-espoused "pop-culture machine", and I'll totally give him that.

There's R.A. "I killed Chewbacca and gave you Drizzt Do'Urden" Salvatore as Director of Creative Content / Storywriter (sorry about the Drizzt spoiler).

There are also super respected games industry folks like Scott Cuthbertson, Chaz Sutherland, Brian Jones, Steve Danuser, and on and on.

They're working on an MMORPG (yeah, so's my grandma).

But they're going to make it big. They're going to make it good. They say they're keeping the basic formula simple (Toddy actually said that; that's saying something for Toddy; wonder if he hates being called "Toddy").

They'll also be looking at media intersection with wireless and comic books and other media. I'm sure they'll be looking at licensing (pfft, it's McFarlane -- are you surprised? Dude just opened a McFarlane store in AZ).

I'm excited to see what they produce. I know of these guys, and know a few of them (a little).

They're in my family's stomping grounds back East. They know their stuff. Brett knows the importance of running a studio without burning out everyone in the studio.

Good times.

Check out their Website. Look at the handful of carefully timed news stories (IGN.com even has videos of 'em). Feed your cursor the green monster on the site (I'm thinking of turning it into a drinking game).

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