This is something I will probably rewrite and fine-tune more times than I will care to count but, for now, I’ll go with the rough draft. The long version is after this paragraph but the short version is I want to play an MMORPG that focuses more on social dynamics and more of a living-breathing world and there are times I feel like the only way I’ll be able to play that game is to create it.
Now for the longer version…
The Labyrinth is the concept for an MMORPG that I started back when we were entertaining the idea of creating a “Shadowbane 2”, taking many of the lessons learned in the original and doing it better. Later on, that morphed into one of the concept pitches for a Might & Magic MMO when Wolfpack essentially became Stray Bullet Games (due to Ubisoft getting out of MMO development… but hiring us to maintain Shadowbane and work on new concepts… shrug). The concept that we ultimately went with was “Project X” which was a bit of a different beast but still had many of the design and social systems I wanted to build. Then, when I went back to community management when I started working at BioWare on Star Wars: The Old Republic, it went on the backburner.
Over the years, I kept working on it a little bit here and there and used the working title “War of the Gods”. But, as my career outside of the game industry progressed, it was really more of just something I did for fun and relaxation. If I’m being honest, I was hoping someone else would build my dream MMORPG for me. Believe it or not, making games (much less MMOs) are a risky venture and it’s one thing when you’re working on someone else’s project and it fails… it is entirely another when it is yours. So I was hoping that someone with similar design choices and passions for social systems in MMORPGs would make it happen so I could have fun playing it.
While there have been many great games that have come out over the years, I haven’t really found an MMO that has given me the passion to play that I used to get when playing Ultima Online, Everquest, Dark Ages of Camelot, or, of course, Shadowbane. Much like Josh Strife Hayes points out, I know part of the reason is I’m in a different place in my life than I was back then. And, for the first five (5) years or so when I started at Spiceworks, I really didn’t have the time to lose myself in one, more due to choosing to spend that time with my daughter and supporting her at all of her tournaments (and anyone who has ever played or supported a family member who plays volleyball knows that is basically another full-time job, heh). But, my daughter is now doing her second round of college (she got her BA in biomedical engineering in her first four (4) years) and, while work can have some demands on my time, I actually spend a decent chunk of my “free time” both gaming and doodling around with game design.
As I said, there are a lot of great games out there, some great MMOs including those in the MMORPG sub-genre. But I haven’t found one that has a sticky factor with me. Many I play for a month or two and then just… stop. I know for some, that isn’t a bad thing for them. In fact, I was just recently watching a video by Force Gaming where he mentioned that he likes having MMOs that he can jump into and then jump out of. I imagine part of that is due to being a game streamer and he likes to cover a variety of games (but I could be wrong). For me, I have a lot of single-player games I do that with but when it comes to MMOs, I honestly want something that keeps me coming back for more. And one of the major differences for me is not just having a persistent world but engaging with other players in it. And while I haven’t really actually gotten into what The Labyrinth is yet, you’ll see that one of the major aspects of it is social systems. That should not be confused with thinking that one must be part of a group or guild to enjoy an MMO because, while obvious social elements of a game, they are not the end-all and be-all nor necessary (in my opinion) for an MMORPG. In fact, having an MMO where someone can be a loner is important. Damion did a great talk about this at GDC a few years ago.
It’s been just over a decade since I was last working professionally as a game systems designer. In that time, I’ve seen a variety of projects get started up that I was interested in. Some of them have launched, some are still being produced, and some have disappeared. And while some of those have launched and found success, I have yet to really find one that seems to focus on building and enhancing social interactions and opportunities. Most seem to gravitate either towards a massively single-player experience or to almost force being a part of a player guild to enjoy the majority of the game.
When I think back to when I played Ultima Online (and other games), the majority of the fun I had wasn’t in killing NPCs; it was engaging with the player community on the Pacific Shard. There weren’t a lot of systems focusing on social emergent gameplay when compared to today. And yet, I am a bit surprised at how little the MMO industry has progressed in this area. It feels like most of the features and functionality being created these days for social dynamics are happening more in multiplayer games instead of MMOs.
So when it comes down to it, I do not feel there is an MMORPG out there that I want to wast… err, spend years of my life in and I don’t really see one on the horizon (although there is one project that may hopefully prove me wrong). And I do not feel like I’m the only one, by far. How many MMOs have launched in the last few years where a large group of players flock to it only to abandon it within a matter of months, many times, weeks. Is it because the game is bad? Sometimes. But, many times, I get the feeling we’re all looking for something more. For me, that something more comes in the form of social engagements and dynamics and that is at the core of the Labyrinth.
I’ve rambled on enough for now. My next one I’ll go a bit more into what the actual concept of the Labyrinth is but the above felt like a better place to start for anyone who eventually stumbles upon this site.
