Key takeaways:
The online gaming world is evolving, and new technologies will change how massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) work. In a recent podcast hosted by Christopher Caen, Strategic Growth Marketer, Rashid Mansoor, CEO of MetaGravity, and Mark Jacobs, President and Creative Director at City State Entertainment, they discussed new developments in MMO technology and game design.
MMO players have always wanted big online worlds with thousands of other players. But technical issues have made this challenging. Mark Jacobs, who created well-known MMOs like Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online, says:
"When you talk to a lot of the publishers, or you talk to VCs, they would be the ones who said, 'Oh no, nobody wants any more than this number.' But then you talk to the players, and they'd be, 'What? No, wait, of course we want more people. Of course we want more non-playable characters (NPCs), because that's fun.'"
This gap between player desires and technological capabilities has long been a hurdle. However, at MetaGravity, we’re actively addressing this, pioneering gaming experiences previously deemed impossible. This shift instils a sense of optimism, as it signals a future where technical limitations no longer dictate the design and scope of online gaming.
However, before discussing the technology, it is worth exploring organisation principles in MMOs.
As virtual worlds accommodate more and more people, how do we keep them organised? One promising emergent solution is digital feudalism. Mansoor explains:
"Feudalism is a great inspiration. It gets down to first principles of self-organisation. Historically, feudalism emerged worldwide, whether it was feudal Japan, feudal India, or feudalism in Europe. These patterns keep re-emerging due to the intrinsics of the human psyche. It makes sense to embrace that to build a devolution of power, a devolution of structure, and social organisation. If it works in the real world for psychological reasons, there’s probably a good reason to emulate that in the digital world."
This method of designing games examines how people naturally form groups. By using these patterns, game makers can create online communities that feel more real. This idea opens up new ways for players to have different roles and for the game world to have its own economy and social structure.
Ultimately, making everyone feel an integral part of a larger community is vital.
As online worlds get bigger, ensuring each player feels like they matter is complicated. Jacobs describes this problem:
"You must be careful as you scale up power and encounters because you don't want people feeling like nothing matters if they leave. That's challenging."
The answer is to make games with many different activities for players so everyone can find something personally meaningful. This could be big battles, making things, playing politics, or gathering resources. This player-centric approach ensures every player feels valued and integral to the gaming experience.
Thinking about player importance creates new ways to tell stories and build experiences. In a world where thousands of players can interact at once, the story isn't just what the game makers write but what all the players do together.
Environments that change based on players' actions open new possibilities for evolving narratives and freedom of expression in online gaming.
Player agency is another significant aspect of these expansive online worlds. Mansoor emphasised the importance of allowing players to shape their experiences:
"Creating space in that game for more casual players can be hard. Sometimes, the fun bit is to farm somewhere in some corner and not need to be part of the world’s politics. That’s a fascinating aspect of it. When you start to build these large open worlds, it’s about choice, which comes down to having the freedom to be a king, a lord, a knight, or a peasant. Some players genuinely want to be that."
Giving players lots of choices in these big worlds also brings new challenges. How do you make a world where players can do almost anything but keep the game fun and fair for everyone? This is one of the big questions new MMO designers need to answer.
While the technology for these big online worlds is improving quickly, significant challenges remain. Having thousands of people interacting simultaneously, keeping the game fair when there are so many players, and making enough exciting things for players to do in these big worlds are just some of the vital considerations. Mansoor elaborates on the current limitations:
“That’s the problem today. You have game and server tech that can get you a hundred players in a game. But how do you build communities within worlds? How do you build player-driven economies? How do you build feudalism or siege warfare like the sort you see in movies? That’s not really possible today.”
New approaches to game world design that could address these challenges involve advanced server technologies and innovative game design principles, enabling a more seamless, immersive experience with larger player populations and dynamic interactions. Mansoor adds:
"We need to lower the bar in terms of adoption, learning curve, productivity, and cost of operation sufficiently to allow broad-based exploration of all the uses of the technology. No single person or company, however large, can work out all of that alone."
New technologies for supporting massive, persistent online worlds don't just affect the technical side - they change how games are designed and made. Jacobs explains:
"When you have engines that can do what we want them to do, it gives freedom for all sorts of things. It's the freedom for designers and the freedom for publishers, who also fear MMOs because they're expensive and fail a lot. In this age, the timing could be quite good for those who can help de-risk a project and allow designers to do something unique rather than just adding another sequel to a well-known franchise."
For example, having thousands of players in one connected world makes it possible to create game economies and political systems truly controlled by players. Imagine a virtual world where what players do can change whole nations, where massive battles with thousands of players can decide the fate of continents, and where cities built by players can grow into huge metropolises.
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As gaming technology evolves, the future of MMOs looks promising. With the ability to support more players than ever in connected, persistent worlds, we're entering a time when the line between the virtual and real might blur. Jacobs hints at this future while acknowledging the current limits:
"Could you have millions of players in an Eve Online-like game? Absolutely, because they're playing a different type of game. Could we do that with our type of action-based MMO? Technically, yes, but it wouldn't work the same way. You can't have a game master saying, 'Everyone, go to this location and fight.' You can't render a million players all at once, no matter what engine you're using, at least not up close and personal."
Despite the challenges, there is enormous potential. We can see far more engaging and immersive experiences because players want more, and developers are willing and able to deliver. Mansoor envisions a broader impact:
"This tech isn't just for games. Imagine using it for city planning or running complex scientific simulations. We could model entire ecosystems, test social theories, you name it. The possibilities are mind-boggling."
Conclusion
As we move into this new gaming era, it's evident that the most ambitious adventures are still to come. These technologies could create extensive simulations for city planning, scientific research, or social experiments. Creating and managing massive, complex digital environments could change how we understand and interact with the world around us. Jacobs concludes with an optimistic note:
The future of online gaming is not just about scale but about creating rich, dynamic experiences that push the boundaries of what's possible in virtual worlds.
So, at MetaGravity, we aim to shape how we interact with digital spaces and each other. Partnering with us enables gaming studios and virtual world builders to realise the full potential of the 3D internet.
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