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Unintended Consequences of Game-Design in MMOs

"It's a game which believes suffering is good for you, in all its forms. At its best, this lends the struggles of the game a real intensity. At its worst, it renders the game tedious or openly nonsensical due to the unforeseen implications of the rules." (Kieron Gillen, Eurogamer)

No, this is not yet another email about the Darkfall/Eurogamer-Review hullabaloo. I’ve been following this matter with some interest (as I’m sympathetic to both sides), so I couldn’t help but read the re-review of Darkfall, which I found extremely entertaining and witty. I never player Darkfall myself, so I can’t comment on the game, but Kieron Gillen points to a general problem of MMOs—unintended consequences of game-design:

“Playing in the small clan I joined, I found myself defending against an interloper. Running back from my adventuring in armour, I glanced at my fellows and felt terribly over-dressed. Because - y’know - I was dressed. Everyone else had stripped down to their underpants.“

What the f?, was my first thought, when I read this paragraph, but the underlying logic of the unintended consequence here becomes clear immediately:

“It’s logical enough. It’s a relatively meaningless battle. As such, going into battle and risking someone dying and taking stuff you’ve carefully collected - or, even worse, actually crafted - would be foolish. Why risk taking a random shot, falling, the opponent nabbing it and legging off? Better not to risk anything other than your default, infinitely-respawnable weapons… This is a world where, if you’re expecting trouble, it’s reasonable to strip down to your pants. This is stupid beyond all mortal belief.“

I wonder if the Darkfall-development team had this in mind when they designed the looting-system. Frankly, pondering about and pruning out corruptive gameplay-features for an MMO is (at least to me) both the most interesting and most annoying part of the job. In this aspect, designing of a MMO is more like creating a perpetual ecosystem than a game. Or, as Kieron puts it:

“Because, as always, MMO worlds are shaped by their mechanics as surely as the rules of physics and economics shape ours. A designer’s intent matters nothing compared to the shuffling of thousands of players trying to work out the most efficient way to progress. In a more World of Warcraft-derived MMO, you see fun quests being abandoned in favour of grinding out the one with the optimum XP payout. Ironically, single-player games often have more believable worlds, because competition with your fellows don’t force you into such nonsense.“

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