While studying television and media at the university I discover more and more elements that are common (or should be) even to mmorpgs. There are a few of these that found popular success, in particular for programs that must hold and increase the interest in the long run. Technical terms that sadly I don’t know how to translate but that would be also useful to analyze and describe core mechanics of mmorpgs.

One of the laws is to avoid anxiety-inducing and “wrong footing” mechanics. The large public wants a catharsis and wants to know what to expect. Paradoxically the public rewards the lack of surprises. The most popular (on all levels) programs are those that are more similar to a “ritual”, a repetition of always the same structure that all the spectators know already and are able to anticipate. Obvious is the example of comic spectacles based on gags that the public repeats aloud as they are being acted. Or movies where you definitely know how it will end, but still you feel worried and “live and feel” the characters along the story. Famous is the example of Kenny in South Park where this mechanic is openly exploited.

While these are for sure mechanics specific of the television, since its use is concretely different in the fruition and target, I believe that the discussion is still interesting. Even for mmorpgs the attitude could be more effective and popular, with World of Warcraft again as an example.

When you want to hook a bigger public not only you deal with the casual player, but you deal with a lot of elements tied to that aspect. One well-known is the possibility to join easily and play with your friends and this brings directly to the problem of level-gaps that begin to separate and put impassable lines between these players. These are fundamental aspects, the design should focus on this. Another element is that most players would like to relax, accomplish something, maybe even playing something dumb that doesn’t require a full, nonstop attention for two hours pressing frenetically keys in a highly challenging environment. It’s stressful, it’s tiring. It works for brief playsessions but it requires an attitude and predisposition. So it’s not recommended to a mmorpg that is expected to target the largest public and keep the players interested in the long term. It doesn’t “please”.

The same happens for the wrong-footing mechanic. Not long ago I touched the topic about a “too balanced” game. If it’s true, like Raph says, that the main activity in a game is about pattern-matching, the appeal of the game will depend directly on this. In a “too balanced” system it’s hard to distinguish the optimal path because they seem all equal. There’s no choice, everything is even, levelled. At the same time most of these games (like DAoC or SWG) have obscure mechanics filled with exceptions to rules. You cannot “expect” something. If these games are at the core “formal systems”, the main goal for the player (on the meta-level) is to understand the shape of that system, figure out its rules and define the optimal pattern. So it’s founded about the possibility to observe, deduce, understand and forecast results. If the mechanics are obscure or if the game keeps “wrong footing” the player the result is frustration.

Of course there aren’t defined and “safe” answers to these problems. There’s the problem of the target that you choose as aim (I saved a message from Raph about this here). But the problem is still crucial and always present. I believe understimated or even not considered at all when the development is shaken by too many production problems that make appear the few points I described here absolutely superficial.