World of MMOcraft

By Ralsu

I've said it before: It's impossible to discuss massively-multiplayer games (MMOs) today without addressing Blizzard's insanely successful World of Warcraft (WoW). Today on the Ten Ton Hammer network, our Community Managers are reflecting on how WoW has impacted the development of our favorite MMOs. Be sure to check out our WoW site to see a special perspective on how WoW has changed the gaming industry and ways in which WoW can still cause new change.

The affect of WoW on Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) begins before DDO launched. Turbine's developers had heard the complaints that WoW made MMOs too mainstream, and they knew that the average person interested in Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) likely wasn't the average gamer at all. Turbine saw the market is primed by the mass appeal of WoW and looked to rake in those gamers who would say, "A D&D MMO is just what I've been waiting for!" Thus, Turbine set out to make a very different MMOs. They intentionally ignored design facets of WoW that made the game popular because they understood these aspects also brought about heavy negatives.

Active Combat

Turbine wanted to bring gamers combat that was more exciting than what they had experience in WoW, and they succeeded. They achieved this goal through the use Active Combat. Active Combat forces players to remain alert, react to changing combat circumstances, and respond to the needs of the party quickly. DDO doesn't feature monsters that "beeline" right for you and stand toe-to-toe pounding away until one of you drops dead. Enemies in DDO move around: they dodge, tumble, and run whenever it gives them an advantage.

The combat in DDO, while sometimes too fast for my declining reflexes brings a sense of immediacy lost on me in WoW combat. My foes in WoW have a very predictable timing that doesn't really require movement on my part. I just press a key. And then another. And then another--until the monster is dead. I can do it with one hand while holding my television remote in the other. Hell, I can even write a macro for it and do it with no hands.

Macros Off

The issue of macros raises another of the problems people encountered in the standard system used by WoW. It was entirely possible for lazy players and especially gold farmers to "bot" their way through the game. Macros allowed people to do minimal work and reap maximum reward. So it was that Turbine decided, "Thou shalt not have macros do thy bidding." Players in DDO have to perform their actions personally. No amount of jury-rigging or programming can get us out of combat. If we want gold, we have to go hunt for treasure and sell it. If we want experience, we have to complete the quests ourselves and earn it.

Quest XP

The method by which we earn XP in DDO further prevents cheap methods of leveling. I've explored this topic in a DDO Poll before, and I have to say it is one of the defining features of DDO. Skilled players and good macro writer can find a way to kill the same monster or monsters repeatedly while away from the keyboard (AFK) in WoW. DDO makes AFK XP impossible through a variety of methods. Active Combat and the lack of Macros is just the tip of the iceberg. DDO players gain XP exclusively through quests.

DDO's Quest require players to navigate through dungeons and landscapes, loot specific chests or materials, kill a given number of monsters, and (sometimes) to do it all in an allotted time. Quest XP in DDO ensures that players earn their way to the level cap. With no AFK XP possible, you can know every person in your party has been at the keyboard for all of his levels.

Tagged Loot

When you're in a DDO party, you never have to worry that some punk will ninja loot (loot with the speed and stealth of a ninja something not exclusively for herself) the best gear of monsters. In fact, monsters don't even drop gear in DDO. All loot comes from chests, and each chest contains something exclusively for every member in a party.

The loot system in DDO reduces bickering over drops and makes everyone feel as if he gets a good haul on quests. Even if you take into account that DDO's loot system sometimes generates stupid loot (greatswords for wizards), it's very easy to trade the stupid loot to a party member who can use it because everybody gets something.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Wile Turbine made a concerted effort to differentiate itself from WoW, DDO copies many WoW mechanics. Some of these mechanics went into the game from the word go; others came later because of consumer expectations. Turbine knew early on that it wanted fully instanced dungeons for DDO. I've opined about that issue in an editorial, too. This decision aimed at reducing kill-stealing and squabbling over raid monsters.

A very WoW-like feature that Turbine added based on customer demand was the solo option on many quests. If anything, WoW created an expectation among gamers that the average busy parent or student should be able to play her favorite MMO in short bursts and make consistent progress on her character. Turbine Executive Producer for DDO James Jones noted the need for solo content as the biggest deviation from the original vision for DDO in his interview with me in September 2006.

Another thing gamers desired and considered standard fare for most MMOs is the inclusion of player vs. player (PvP) combat. Turbine added PvP with the release of Module 3, bringing DDO more in line with mainstream MMOs like WoW. Like it or hate it, Turbine surely saw a potential for customer retention or increase through the addition of PvP or it wouldn't be there.

Parting Thoughts

WoW isn't finished influencing DDO. Blizzard is set to release a WoW expansion pack in January 2007. That's a mere two months before the projected release of DDO's first expansion, Forsaken Lands. As long as WoW remains the subscription juggernaut that it is, every developer in gaming must consider how many customer it can pull from WoW and how many it will lose to WoW.

From my standpoint, DDO is easily different enough that it sets itself apart from the mainstream experience that WoW brings. At the same time DDO has many of the familiar and comfortable features that I've come to expect from the market. Turbine certainly won't need to worry about losing me to the WoW expansion.

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