What’s in a community? Who put the MM in MMORPG? How important is the social aspect of an MMORPG? In today’s fast-paced world of gaming, where leveling has become a nuisance and instancing and insta-travel have become the norm, the community within the game has become so much more important. With https://expertboosting.com you can rise in the gaming community. As you increase your level and ranking you get more recognition as well. It is really important that you get inside the community. You can chat with other community members to improve your skills and learn more tips so that you can improve your gameplay as well.
The community in a game can often make or break the game, yet developers often overlook this concept. While making sure that they have the latest eye-catching graphics, fastest leveling system, and new and intriguing combat, they often forget the most important feature- the people.
How can a developer forget what is right in front of their face? It is in the title, right? MM does stand for Massively Multi-player? These two words encompass the main idea of the genre. It is this social aspect that has caused people to be addicted to these types of games. It is what keeps them coming back for more. The realism, the whole new world that is full of life, yet so different than everyday living. In fact, gamers will often tire of the actual gameplay of a title but stick around for years because they have formed a bond with other players in the community. They have made friends, long-lasting relationships that they do not wish to part from.
When asked his opinion on the importance of the community within a game, Paul Presley, Editor at MMM Publishing said, ” [It’s] vital. Although as much out of the game as in.” Paul also added, “[Devs] do not forget, per se, but they often, understandably tend to focus on the game first, community second. Most of the time it feels as though they’ll wait for the community to take care of itself at first, hope it’s a success and then start to nurture it.”
This is a good assessment of what happens, but the fact remains that this tactic does not always work out. If you leave it up to the community to create the community, and the community fails at this, the game fails too. The community needs help from the developers. To be successful it needs the gameplay to be social, it also needs the right tools, such as a well-made friend list, guild windows, and chat options, all of which need to be easy to use. Along with all of this, a game needs a great community manager. One who will engage in the community, encourages members to be active, and also one who will answer questions, host events, and be there for the players when they are needed.
The community also needs aspects of the game to promote social activity that is different than normal gameplay. Allow players to have housing that they can decorate, chairs they can sit in emotes galore and casual clothing. With all of this the player can find a place to relax after a hard day of fighting, they can head to a friend’s house and chat it up, or throw a party of their own.
One MMO that hit the nail on the head was Star Wars Galaxies. Most gamers would agree that this game was built around the idea of social ability. There is yet to be another game that allows it’s players to create and build a strong community as this game did. From being able to craft and name their own items, change the colors on housing signs, build houses into stores, host live dance and music events at the Cantina, this game raised the bar on community. In fact, players were even able to create their own custom cities and make that city well known and visited. All doors could be left open as well, so players could just drop on in without the downtime of zoning. It is truly a shame that this game took a wrong turn at the end and more of a shame that other games still have not picked up on the unique qualities that this game offered to promote player friendliness, and activity.
So who did put the MM in MMORPG? Richard Garriott of course! He created the term MMORPG, and the game Ultima Online considered the first successful game in the genre. What separated this game from single-player games? The massive amount of people in this persistent online world! People that were as real as those that gamers interact with every day, except that now in a game, players were able to interact with people on a daily basis in a world that was more fun and stress-free.
Now MMOs are taking a turn for the worse. With the new solo-friendly craze that games have begun, players never have to speak with one another, and can remain solo until the very end, creating a lack of contact with the other players. Where will the genre go from here? What does Richard Garriott think? Who will create the new term for these not so MMORPGs? Perhaps they are now only MMORPGs (Massively Multi-Player Solo Role-Playing Games).
Gamers who love to log into these games to immerse themselves in an exciting virtual world full of intrigue, danger, and good friends can only hope that there is an upcoming game on the horizon that will save the MMORPG, a game that recognizes that community is important, that the social aspect is needed to form a bond to the game, and that the most essential element of the game is the people.