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Music to Slash By

Sound and Music in MMOs

by Mercurie

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Those of us who have
been around for a while remember a time when the most sound one might
get out of a video game or computer game was a few chirps or beeps. As
time passed, more sounds came to video games--special effects
(explosions and whatnot), music, and snatches of dialog. These days I
dare say it is impossible to find any sort of video or computer game
that doesn't come with a wide array of sounds.



Taking place in virtual worlds, sound is an integral part of massively
multi-player online role playing games (MMORPGs or MMOs). After all,
the sounds add another layer of reality to MMOs. Fight scenes come with
their own peculiar sounds (metal clashing, the thud of wooden clubs, et
al). In crowds there is sometimes the murmur of conversation. In many
MMOs, when one's character stands near a river, he or she can actually
hear the running water.



In MMOs, sound serves much the same purpose as graphics; it helps
create the illusion of a real world. I don't think many of us stop to
think about it, but the real world is filled with sound. Indeed, there
is a stereotype that life in the country is relatively quiet, but
having grown up on a farm I can tell you it is downright noisy--even
when there are no cars driving by or tractors running, there is always
the chirping of birds, the sound of the wind, and other sounds
associated with nature. It is only natural, then, that the virtual
worlds in which our characters live should also be filled with sound.



Of course, in real life one does not hear music everywhere one goes (at
least not if one does not travel with his or her iPod everywhere). But
music is a part of most MMOs. I would suppose the reason for this is
simple. Music serves much the same purpose in MMOs that it does in
movies and even other video games and computers games. It helps give
the games their ambience and set the player in the proper mood.



Indeed, though we take the music in MMOs for granted, composers are
actually hired to write the music for them. And there is actually a
good deal that goes into the music in an MMO. Not only will most MMOs
have their own theme, but there are often themes for specific character
races (say, a theme for elves, a theme for dwarves, and so on), themes
for classes, certain regions of the virtual world, and so on.



To demonstrate the importance of music to MMOs, I'll point out that
Sony hired composer Laura Karpman to write the music for EverQuest II.
You may have never heard of her, but she is an Emmy winning composer
with a long career in television. Among other things, she has written
music for such things as Taken and Fathers and Sons. She has also
written scores for a few films, including the animated short A
Monkey’s Tale and the upcoming Man in the Chair.



For Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, composer Todd Masten has been hired to
write music. Masten has written music for many video and computer games
including Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Spider-Man, and Crash Nitrokart.
One thing that will set Vanguard apart from other games is that
developer Sigil’s plan is to add new music with each new
expansion and even with patches. Indeed, the plan for Vanguard is to
set a new high point for music in MMOs. It is hoped that the music will
stand out in players' minds and even be memorable. I am sure there are
those out there who have played MMOs in which they could not recall the
music at all.



Sound plays an important role in MMOs. To a large degree it helps
define the virtual worlds in which we play and make them more real than
they might be otherwise. Music in MMOs helps set the tone for the game
and can even place the player in the proper mood for playing. As
someone whose speakers went out recently I can testify to how important
sound can be. Somehow playing in a silent MMO world just isn't the same.

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Do
you play with your speakers turned off or cranked up?

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