Are we OPTIMIZING THE FUN OUT of MMOs

Channel:

Paradox Gaming Network

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15,700

Published on March 9, 2024 2:53:28 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lURrXJ5dos

Game:

EVE Online (2003)

Duration: 16:48

360 views

37

The article “Are we ‘optimizing the fun out’ of MMOs?“ in this video originally appeared at Massively OP at https://massivelyop.com/2024/03/07/massively-overthinking-are-we-optimizing-the-fun-out-of-mmos/

This article ties into what I’ve been talking about for the past week about “Is the MMORPG genre waiting to die?” I think that we are optimizing the fun out of MMOS and we’ve been doing it since the early 2000s. Deadly Boss Mods with World of Warcraft, the most optimal build/fit for ships in Eve Online, DPS meters in pretty much any game that supports them, are all things where we are trying to get the absolutely most efficient use of our time, but we are forgetting that we are playing these games to have fun. Even in Final Fantasy XIV where a PUG dungeon takes on average 14 to 17 minutes, players would sulk because they got matched with a Scholar / Paladin tank instead of a White Mage / Warrior tank because the DPS output was going to be slow much slower that they couldn’t endure the thought of spending 90 seconds more in a dungeon. For the record, no I’m not kidding, the difference was really about 90 seconds.

For years I was against the idea of grinding in MMORPGs. It was something we did in yesteryear because there was no other content to do. Now, as I’ve spent the last seven months thinking about video games and MMORPGs, I think the grind is what made us make friends with people. If I’m going to sit here for the next 3 hours grinding on mobs with this group of people, I might as well jump on voice comms with them. Some of my life long friendships in the MMORPG gaming space are from random times I’ve jumped in voice comms for a grind session. Then you’d get the guys who would totally flip out when they would discover an officer in their guild was “OMG A GIRL”.

I think what we continue to do is morph MMORPGs to lobby style instant match, instant gratification games. Someone earlier today said we need to call them MMOPW - Massive Multiple Online Persistent Worlds. Then we can have different sub-genres inside them, that differ between say lobby match making games (Destiny, Warframe) and Themepark vs Sandbox RPGs.

The idea of shaking up the Meta was also discussed, and that is almost a discussion all its own, one that I have talked about many times when it comes to balance, and how balance is done, and why balance is done, and so on. But the meta does need to be shaken up from time to time to keep the game fun.

00:00 - Video Start
01:32 - Optimizing gameplay loops (and removing the social interaction)
02:35 - Grinding is good?!?
03:52 - META builds and gatekeeping plus Deadly Boss Mods
08:45 - Disrupting the META
10:43 - How to Nerf
11:59 - Do minimaps or group finders kill fun?
14:09 - Don't design for the 1%

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