How to get players immersed into your game

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:16 pm

As I eluded to in my post, "So now you have done everything, why continue paying?" I think that the level of immersion that the game brings to players is key to seeing that the player continues to subscribe to the game. There are a few basic concepts that every MMO brings to its players, and a few more advanced ones that only a few MMOs provide.

World History/Background and Character Customization

Every MMORPG needs a background to provide players. A story to tie in the various cities, nationalities, races, or creatures seen in the game. Generally this is accessible through the official website of the game, and considering the amount of information seen in such background stories, I believe that is the proper course of action. However, the game itself needs to include refrences to the background. Interaction with NPCs will show various preconceptions that the race or nationality has towards others.

This is where a game with a well known Intellectual Property excells at. Star Wars Galaxies, Lord of the Rings Online, World of Warcraft, and others each had a fanbase that already knew the background of those particular IPs. This can free up developer time and resources during the creation of the game, although there are downsides to working with third party IPs.

Another highly seen step towards immersion, and a very valuable one, is the avatar customization during the character generation. The ability to make your avatar suited to your style or to make it unique to others instills a deep feeling of ownership to the avatar.

These are the most common seen steps to bring in players and keeping them playing. The next are uncommon, but I think they are valuable tools.

I'm a level 54 warrior.

The only time I've ever seen someone make such a statement is when they are referring to a character in a game. Now this might just be me, but I think seeing such a comment while playing the game is distracting. For this reason, a skill based system for character advancement is preferred over a level and class based system. Players can more easily identify with skills than levels, and skills offer a larger array of customizing than seen with levels.

Non-Player Characters

NPCs are a very valuable tool to captivate a player's attention in the game. NPCs can enhance the background story, provide missions, and quite a few are offered up as cannon fodder for players with violent tastes. A great system seen in the MMORPG City of Heroes/Villians has NPCs that examine what your character has done and make announcements proclaiming your various achievements.

Community Events

The world has a story, so make use of it. Temporary spawns of tough NPCs attacking a city, a political prisoner that needs rescued, a specific night when vampires roam the streets attacking anyone no matter their faction; all of these things can be set up fairly easily for a temporary excitement in the game. The trick is to provide these events often enough to create the atmosphere needed for the game, while not overdoing it so much that the players become bored with them.

Of course, player sponsered events are even more important. After all, it is the players that know what they want. This brings me to the last, very important point.

Interdependency, the ultimate source of player created content

It is amazing what can be accomplished when players have to rely on each other. In Star Wars Galaxies, ingenious players formed alliances with other players. There was a thriving market for lots to be used for harvesters, multitudes of resource hunters, people hawking items for sale at starports, teams of players conquering tough dungeons (like the Death Watch Bunker and Corvette), the list goes on.

With nearly every change to the system, the market and playerbased adapted far more quickly than anyone could expect. If it wasn't for the loss of hard work that players put into the game when the systems changed, this game might not have earned the reputation that it did.

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:55 pm

Regarding Levels and NPCs

The whole idea that you can know what your quantifiable level is and compare it to your friends and foes definitely ruins immersion. So I am with you that it is very distracting from the game. If I have to think of game mechanics while I am playing, then I am not truly immersed. When you come across NPCs or other MOBs in the game, you should assess them from what you know about them. Which means if you have never seen a particular MOB, you are clueless as to whether it is smart to attack them. I see nothing wrong with a little mystery in the game.

Perhaps there could be other clues, like a spawn of other MOBs nearby that are hostile to the MOB you are considering attacking. If the hostile MOBs avoid your target, then it is likely your target is more powerful than them. Maybe the possession of certain weapons will clue you in on how powerful the MOB is. Maybe if it is a creature it will be bigger or smaller. Size should matter. But, IMO, in no case should a player be able to calculate his fate with mathematical certainty.

Now the only problem with not having a level is that some players like to brag. A substitute could be offered to this type of player. A reputation rating based upon accomplishments. NPCs could also murmur to one another about something you have done in the past like, "That's Kenshu Ani! I don't think we are going to survive this. I heard he took out two Jedi and 4 Stormtroopers at once in the cantina at Tyrena." Or "This dude is real bad! I saw him at the A'akuan Cave and he cleaned it out completely!"

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:50 am

jrscott wrote:

Regarding Levels and NPCs

The whole idea that you can know what your quantifiable level is and compare it to your friends and foes definitely ruins immersion. So I am with you that it is very distracting from the game. If I have to think of game mechanics while I am playing, then I am not truly immersed. When you come across NPCs or other MOBs in the game, you should assess them from what you know about them. Which means if you have never seen a particular MOB, you are clueless as to whether it is smart to attack them. I see nothing wrong with a little mystery in the game.

Perhaps there could be other clues, like a spawn of other MOBs nearby that are hostile to the MOB you are considering attacking. If the hostile MOBs avoid your target, then it is likely your target is more powerful than them. Maybe the possession of certain weapons will clue you in on how powerful the MOB is. Maybe if it is a creature it will be bigger or smaller. Size should matter. But, IMO, in no case should a player be able to calculate his fate with mathematical certainty.

Now the only problem with not having a level is that some players like to brag. A substitute could be offered to this type of player. A reputation rating based upon accomplishments. NPCs could also murmur to one another about something you have done in the past like, "That's Kenshu Ani! I don't think we are going to survive this. I heard he took out two Jedi and 4 Stormtroopers at once in the cantina at Tyrena." Or "This dude is real bad! I saw him at the A'akuan Cave and he cleaned it out completely!"

It's even worse when they dumb it down to Grey, Green, Blue, White, Yellow, Orange, Red and Purple.

And lots of games are doing just that.

Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:46 pm

Delzo wrote:

jrscott wrote:

Regarding Levels and NPCs

The whole idea that you can know what your quantifiable level is and compare it to your friends and foes definitely ruins immersion. So I am with you that it is very distracting from the game. If I have to think of game mechanics while I am playing, then I am not truly immersed. When you come across NPCs or other MOBs in the game, you should assess them from what you know about them. Which means if you have never seen a particular MOB, you are clueless as to whether it is smart to attack them. I see nothing wrong with a little mystery in the game.

Perhaps there could be other clues, like a spawn of other MOBs nearby that are hostile to the MOB you are considering attacking. If the hostile MOBs avoid your target, then it is likely your target is more powerful than them. Maybe the possession of certain weapons will clue you in on how powerful the MOB is. Maybe if it is a creature it will be bigger or smaller. Size should matter. But, IMO, in no case should a player be able to calculate his fate with mathematical certainty.

Now the only problem with not having a level is that some players like to brag. A substitute could be offered to this type of player. A reputation rating based upon accomplishments. NPCs could also murmur to one another about something you have done in the past like, "That's Kenshu Ani! I don't think we are going to survive this. I heard he took out two Jedi and 4 Stormtroopers at once in the cantina at Tyrena." Or "This dude is real bad! I saw him at the A'akuan Cave and he cleaned it out completely!"

It's even worse when they dumb it down to Grey, Green, Blue, White, Yellow, Orange, Red and Purple.

And lots of games are doing just that.

I'm one of those poor schmoes that is colorblind so I HATE color coded systems. My particular problem is seeing Red/Green. So I have a distint problem with the above mentioned layout. Not only do I have a hard time seeing red and green (if I remember correctly the red is supposed to show mobs that are a few levels higher than you while green is lower) but I also have a hard time with blue and purple, and to some extent yellow and orange.

For the NGE, if it wasn't for the fact that they all displayed a level, I'd have no clue as to which mob to avoid. Of course, the saddest part was when I discovered that it didn't really matter and I could easily solo a mob 20 levels higher than myself.

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:23 am

levels are the single most immersian breaking thing a MMO can have in my opinion.

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:49 am

cpl_fisher wrote:

levels are the single most immersian breaking thing a MMO can have in my opinion.

I remember days out of SWG beta where i get on my walk from Coronet to Bela Vistal. I started on my way there, but slowly watching for every little animal that i crossed path of, thinking of "will it attack me or not?". About on half of way i just passed hill, and saw few white plastic guys got scared shit that they will attack me. I crossed that hill, and got so gorgeous view on (to find the name later) of "Stronghold". I did a greeeat radius around that place and proceded to my destination. And all this on foot.

If i would see a Lvl on each of these animals and/or stormtroopers, i would know, that i can pass over these, or to avoid them. Back then not knowing what will attack me, was such a good felling of imersion into the game.

G.

Posts: 46 Great Posts: 0 Joined: 02 Nov 2006

[quote="Delzo"]

jrscott wrote:

Regarding Levels and NPCs
It's even worse when they dumb it down to Grey, Green, Blue, White, Yellow, Orange, Red and Purple.

And lots of games are doing just that.

Yeah I know what ya mean. I havnt had a gaming home since SWG took a nose dive into the abyss. I have been playing Lineage II and the creatures are color coded there as well. The funny thing though in this game is that you can usually take on a Red con creature and do alright if you have the right gear and buffs but the developers added another feature on some of the mobs that was kind of interesting. Depending on what the creature is and you attack it, it could morph into about 5-6 high lvl creatures and eat you for lunch. The game is pretty boring at times, its just mindless killing and always looking over your shoulder for a red (chaotic) PKer.

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:43 pm

I would so much rather see mob killability based on acquired knowledge.

For example, let's say I run into a big mean spider. If I face it straight on, instant death. But maybe if I come after it with my special armor or my magic sword of spider whacking, or feed it a mushroom from the valley of insecticide or some such, I can make short work of it and be on my way. Heroes should spend more time outsmarting their foes than constantly reliving the same fight scene.

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 3:57 am

EasterDurni's remark adds a bullet item to the OP. To keep players immersed, it would be helpful to engage them intellectually by allowing them to outwit opponents and solve puzzles instead of with grinding and kill/loot gameplay.