A discussion on MMORPG – what works – what doesn’t work – and suggestions for better. A bit about graphics and player expectations.
First Impressions
Our first impressions upon entering a game goes a long way towards how long and how often we will play. What we encounter first are the visuals or graphics. This is the artist’s concept of the “World” brought to life. They are used to define the time, the place and the technology within the game. In other words they frame the story. Use of lighting and colors can also set a level of tension.
Just a note – I will be picking examples both good and bad to demonstrate my points throughout this series. If I pick on a game it doesn’t mean it’s a “bad” game. It only means I found it wanting and just was not a good match for me.
A Comparison
So let’s consider RIFT. This is a game with it’s opening scenes set in a war zone with low/fantasy level technology. As you can see from the screen shot, they have chosen dark colors, mostly in the browns, greys and red. The lighting is glaring and stark. The problem – there isn’t enough contrast in color use. Everything seems to blend together making it difficult to play and hard upon the eyes.
A screenshot in the MMO RPG Rift
A screenshot in the MMO RPG DragonNest
In contrast DragonNest has build a bright multicolored world and used other elements to set the tension level. It’s a fantasy world with it’s own (sometimes) comical technology. Notice the critters behind Luna pumping the bellows. This is also an excellent example of foreshadowing. We meet these same critters later in game play.
Just like any other entertainment medium, be it novel or movie, games must pack a great deal of information in a short period of time. From the first cut scene through the first levels of play we are plunged into a new world and introduced to new technology, new lifeforms and new story. The tension and pace of play are established. The tools are similar to those of a movie producer. The use and placement of background and color, the props we see and interact with, the quests we do and the beasts we meet – all act to build the world and our expectations of what will be found. Basically, the rules for the world are made and we expect the play to be consistent with those rules. If the game maker decides to change the rules as the game evolves foreshadowing those changes should be done well ahead of time. What the game maker should not do is betray those expectations.
An example
I can give you an example from Runes of Magic. This is a low tech fantasy game with some beautiful graphics.
A Screenshot in the MMO RPG Runes of Magic
I’ve played both human and elf toons. Everything I had met, both in town and in the field, had been consistent and beautifully rendered. Then just over the hill from this camp I run into – I kid you not – the dreaded Evil Balloon Monster. HUH ???
Evil Balloon Monster - Runes of Magic
Ok , I can take a joke. Pulled a few of my own while world building. But this is an example of something that should have been foreshadowed. It could have very easily been seen in a cage at a market or even on an old poster – just somehow, some where so it didn’t seem so completely random and out of place when I encountered it.
Let’s stay with Runes of Magic long enough to peek just over the next hill.
Runestone Guardian Swordsman - Runes of Magic
Here is where the game lost me. It completely betrayed my expectations they themselves had built within the play. I’m not quite sure what to call this. It seems to be part robot, part ghost. The armor isn’t even in the style seen elsewhere so far in the game. Two very random inconsistencies within just a few minutes left me extremely disappointed.
If I built the world…
If I built the world the graphics would be eye candy to behold. When we go to the theater to watch a movie or an animation we may be sitting there for 2, 3 or even 4 hours and we expect to come away without eye strain or a headache. Then why should we not expect the same from our games. I would build a world in which the graphics would be easy and pleasing to the eye. The design would be consistent within it’s own framework and follow it’s own rules. That doesn’t mean boring. Things can be extreme or fantastic within the rules. Just look around at the real world. And that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be surprises. Just not random crap just stuck in.
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