I was considering the role of artifacts in MMOs. How can developers reconcile the rarity (or uniqueness) of an artifact with the desire of players to own it?
- EverQuest limited the availablity of the best gear through the mechanisms of limited mob spawn rates, limited item drop rates, and difficulty of the encounter. Items were flagged “No Drop” so that they couldn’t be traded once picked up. Given the correct social network (guild), players could obtain almost any item if they would raid enough.
- Likewise, Dark Age of Camelot limited the availability the best gear and artifacts through limited mob spawn rates, limited item drop rates, and the difficulty of the encounter. In the case of Trials of Atlantis artifact items, players also had to collect sets of items (scrolls) that dropped from mobs of various difficulty. Finally players had to help complete an artifact encounter to gain credit to use the artifact, in addition to any level limitations. Artifacts, once activated, could not be traded, and could not be obtained again. Given enough time and a large enough social network, every player who is interested in an artifact can get it eventually.
Reimagining the artifact
An artifact is unique, powerful, and dangerous. In traditional AD&D games, artifacts have malevolent effects to balance the beneficial, befitting their role as playthings of the gods that should not be meddled with by mortals. MMO artifacts are nothing like this: no player would willingly “gimp” his characters unless the efficiency gained by using the artifact far outweighed the costs.
Artifacts are unique. Only one character may possess the artifact at any time. Everyone might think they want it, but only one player can have it. Naturally, this leads to the problem of players hoarding artifacts, and racing to get them before other players have the chance: artifacts need to have a mechanism to regularly leave the character’s hands.
Artifacts are powerful. A character can only possess one artifact at a time–if you will, two artifacts on the same avatar will cancel the effects of each, and cause suitably dramatic consequences (the artifacts disappearing to shrines on opposite sides of the world, the character suffering stat loss or damage, demons from the eighteenth dimension of suffering attacking the character, etc.). A character using an artifact should operate at a level far above the average elder game character, doing more damage, taking less damage, attacking faster, etc. Artifacts should look absolutely appealing until the player understands the consequences of possession.
Artifacts are dangerous. Artifacts were created for a purpose, such as putting the undead to rest or slaying dragons. They are guarded by powerful, immortal spirits that ensure they are not to fall into the wrong hands, who are driven to retrieve a lost artifact by any means necessary. Getting an artifact is only the first, smallest, and easiest part of owning one–keeping it from the guardian and the faction(s) threatened by the artifact will consume a player’s game-time until the artifact is returned.
- Each artifact is protected by a guardian spirit in a difficult to reach and dangerous shrine. The spirit should be powerful enough that a typical group cannot defeat it alone, that success will require either the best tactics or multiple groups. Once the guardian spirit is killed, it will take some time (minutes, hours, or days) to regather its energies and begin to hunt for the artifact thief.
- The guardian spirit will gather other, lesser spirits, and like-factioned mobs with which it comes into contact, in a slow but inevitable journey toward the artifact wielder. When there, the guardian spirit will order the minions into battle. Note that the minions are neutral except when attacked while hunting for the artifact–attacking one minion can cause all nearby minions to attack the player character.
- Only when the artifact is taken by the guardian spirit and the “thief” has been killed will the guardian spirit return to the shrine. The artifact will not be returned to the shrine until the guardian spirit is present. Killing the guardian spirit on the way back to the shring will only hasten its journey; it won’t drop the artifact as loot.
- Factions opposed to the artifact, especially those factions which the artifact is intended to destroy, will attack the artifact wielder on sight.
- The artifact itself will force the character into attack mode when near opposing factions.
- The artifact will have deleterious side-effects. The longer the artifact is used, the stronger it becomes, and the stronger the side-effects become. (Imagine: attacks getting more powerful and accurate but slower; the character is afflicted with a cough that causes interrupted actions, including attacks; the character is diseased and can only be healed for one-quarter of the normal amount by spells or natural regeneration rate; the character has a slow (hourly) Damage over Time (DOT) effect that doubles its damage each time it hits.)
To keep artifacts moving in the world, consider using one of two additional mechanisms to keep players from hoarding them:
- The artifact disappears from the character’s inventory on log-out.
- The character needs to be logged in and the artifact used against its faction at least once per day, week, or month. The character needs to be logged in at least twenty hours per week (or some suitable period)–long enough for the guardian and faction to find the character–otherwise, the artifact will return to the shrine after a period of time.
If an artifact disappears from the player’s inventory, they will still be marked for death by the opposing faction, although the guardian spirit will no longer be searching for the player. If the player logs out, the guardian spirit’s posse will eventually disperse. The guardian spirit, however, will be a neutral wandering mob, gathering and dismissing allied hunters, roaming near the area where the artifact wielder logged out.
Player death and artifacts
Assume that typical mobs, when fighting player characters, knock them unconscious and rarely try to kill them–only the toughest mobs will kill player characters (who must then be ressed by another player, use a favor of the gods, or return to his bind point). Mobs associated with artifacts, in artifact posses, or in opposing factions will always attempt to kill the player character and secure (take) the artifact.
(Aside: Death and dying as a result of combat
Player characters knocked unconscious by mobs will be looted for cash. Player characters killed by mobs will be looted for cash and possibly (unlikely) items–my wife hates the idea of losing items to mobs as it leads to Asheron’s Call grave goods workarounds. Character resses may be performed by self resses (favors of the gods), character spells, charged purchased or loot items, and clicky quest reward items. First aid or healing spells will return unconscious characters to consciousness immediately, but will not help dead characters. Characters will return to consciousness as part of the natural healing process–unconscious characters are considered to be in combat for the purposes of the health regen cycle. Assume that characters are unconscious at 0 or negative hit points–dead is a separate state or flag set by mobs that kill player characters. Players kill mobs, which usually aren’t ressed by their comrades and instead create lootable corpses which decay over time.)
Is this balanced?
It would seem that this design provides a good balance of power and risk. Artifacts would be most useful for short periods of time, rather than as permanent items: if the guild is going to raid a dragon, getting a dragon-slaying sword for a few hours will very helpful. Elder game characters who are looking for a new kind of challenge may want to try to hold onto the artifact as long as possible–and to cause fun havoc by kiting guardian spirits while doing so.
May 2nd, 2005 at 9:16 pm
Is this coming from our discussion or you are just gathering ideas freely?
Of course this interests me since it’s one of the systems I was tinkering with. The design questions you made at the origin are the same, but I found different answers in order to adhere better to the rest of my plan.
Some of your ideas sound rather interesting even if I see some problems here and there that won’t be that easy to solve. For example it would be rather hard to even code the pathing in the right way in order for the guardian spirit to chase the players along all the world and with his minions. Considering all the problems WoW is having right now with the train of mobs (like Lord Kazzak invading Stormwind) I also fear that the whole mechanic could become more fun as a creative exploit than for the actual use of the item. And, of course, this doesn’t look nice.
I personally don’t love too much the idea of countdowns and “at loss” situations. This directly aims for the pure catassers that will have the guild support to gain and keep up the artifacts and its “requirements/side effects”. And this isn’t really appealing as it should be.
So what I don’t like is the actual mechanic of the guardian chasing the player and the negative, progressive side effects. But you also suggested me new elements that could be fun to develop and expand.
My own idea remains connected the “design” purpose of an artifact (not the “lore”, just the design pattern):
- A rare, special item to offer a substantial (unbalanced) power up that shouldn’t become a direct requirement.
In a PvE environment this type of tool could be a “key” to solve a particular puzzle (like the special magic item that can slay a particular mob), but it’s in PvP that the design comes to the surface as an unbalanced power. As I commented in our discussion I think that the unbalance is an interesting mechanic, in particular in PvP (another of my heresies). This is why it should be used instead of feared and this is also why my answers to your questions pivot around the PvP.
Artifacts are unique -> they can be gained through instanced PvE but they have no effect till they are pulled out to the persistent world (where PvP happens). Once this passage is complete only “x” number of artifacts can exist. In the persistent world they become persistent items. Let’s say that they “solidify”. They are unique or rare based on the type.
Note: The artifacts cannot be used to access other instanced PvE content since the artifacts banish the player from the access of portals. So they are exclusively PvP tools and this because of another design reason. In PvE an overpowering tool just begs to become an exploit tool and will be used directly to bypass the difficulty that the devs have planned for a specific encounter. I believe that overpowering tools in PvE do not offer anything that is fun or interesting, they just become pattern-breaking tool, hence they should be put aside.
Artifacts are powerful -> They are. They are directly planned to transform a player (along with bonuses for allies) as a “raid encounter” himself. Veguely reminding the old ideas of players playing as mobs. In a 3D graphical game the wielder of an artifact will become a demon, graphically. The size will increase, it will use different powers, attributes and so on. The player with an artifact becomes “content” for the players of the opposite faction. A goal. A target. (I explain later the actual “reward” the encounter represents)
Since the artifacts cannot be traded or dropped and since they banish the player from accessing the PvE instances, the player won’t be able to get another artifact. So the problem of stacking these tools is solved at the root without developing specific systems.
The important point, though, is nested in your first question: “artifacts need to have a mechanism to regularly leave the character’s hands.”
That’s the core and that’s also what matters if we discuss the design problem that every game shares: how to add powerful items that are accessible and desirable by everyone but that still remain rare in order to not become a general requirement/timesink? How to mantain a “special” status without trivializing it?
The answers we had till now all pivot around the time dedication as in the EQ and DAoC examples (and hologrind, first version). These items are rare because they require an insane dedication. But they are also not limited so this dedication becomes a requirement for everyone in order to reach the new standard “platform” (in particular in PvP). These items, after some time, become requirements and lose their special status. They become common. Standards with insane timesinks. This is when they are nerfed to be put in line with the rest of the content or made easier to become part of the standard treadmill.
You can address these problems by building some sort of “first come first served” policy like SOE did with the last Jedi system reiteration but it’s obvious that the system itself is begging for one core idea: a recycle. Not a differently planned threshold and access, but a dynamic process that keeps moving between the players without becoming a constant.
Your proposed system grants a “loss”, but it doesn’t grant directly a recycle and a possibility for all the players.
These items can be special and rare but they must keep moving. At the same time you cannot achieve this by reverting the same model of the “achievement through dedication”. Here is where WoW failed with the Honor System. In order to maintain what you get, you have to keep up with an insane race that looks nowhere fun. It’s a goal that keeps slipping out of your hands and really not fun to chase. It’s the actual death of the “achievement” as a fun process. It goes directly *against* the basic gameplay of a mmorpg, it’s counterproductive. Revolutionary in a negative meaning. You are always losing. Always struggling to “keep up” to not lose what you earned. This mechanic is directly frustrating because the pattern (as for Raph’s description) is always out of your reach, out of your control.
“When we meet noise, and fail to see a pattern in it, we get frustrated, and give up.”
This is also why the large majority of the players will just learn to not bother at all with the system. It’s a goddamn CHORE. And noone likes chores in a game that is supposed to provide a compelling endgame.
So, how to keep these “statuses” (because powerful tools represent, at the core, different statuses for the players) moving without becoming common, without triggering insane maintenance patterns and without sticking to just a selected group of elitist players?
My solution is to achieve the goal through PvP. These are PvP tools, if a sword is supposed to cut, an artifact is supposed to be used in PvP. So the maintenance system won’t become an increase cost to fulfill desperately, but it will be just a basic guarantee so that the item is used actively.Employed in PvP. A “flat”, accessible upkeep to grant that the item isn’t hidden and protected somewhere without becoming the “content” it is supposed to be.
The fact that the item is being used also means that the the player using it is exposed to a “risk”. So a possibility to die that here is tied to the *loss of the item* itself.
The circle is complete. The artifacts are powerful items, rare. They require the player to expose himself to a risk. Concrete and visible and not based on abstract points that the player cannot track and follow (like in WoW), so that he cannot identify as patterns to optimize and play with. At the same time the artifact drops on the ground if the player dies, so we have the loss. The artifacts drops and can be taken by someone else. And here we have the recycle process.
This mechanic allows the artifacts to become special content that isn’t reserved to a small group of catasses since everyone will have an occasion to see the artifact fall on the ground and pick it up. It’s an open possibility. The fact that the tool is used in PvP, an environment where the death is a common element, means that the recycle process remains dynamic and not a permanent tool of power in the hands of a small group.
This is how these artifacts become tactical elements in PvP. Becoming “content” and “context” themselves. Exactly following the myth of PvP as an always renewing type of content that doesn’t need continue development to maintain the novelty.
(and since this become longer than the average comment I think I’ll file it on my website as well..)
May 3rd, 2005 at 9:04 am
I can’t believe you typed all that into this little box.
My ideas about artifacts came out of thinking in the shower pretty much–I’m sure what you mentioned in your dream game was an influence, as was AD&D, and even Horizons to a degree, among a lot of other sources. I felt it was close enough that I looked for your dream game link on The Cesspit, but found that there wasn’t a good anchor to go right to the relevant paragraph.
Regarding artifact loss being confusing or “un-fun,” I tend to view possession of an artifact as a kind of Capture the Flag, which is itself a kind of Keep Away game. Heck, even my dog knows how to play keep away. After your comment, I believe an additional challenge for the designer will be to adequately communicate that artifacts are different than rare loot in other games–even if the rules are blunty communicated by NPCs (quest test or overheard conversations), or if the artifact itself is given a simple “personality” (like Eliza). The designer must make it very obvious what the ground rules are, and in the context of the game.
Finally, I know that both my wife and I found kiting mobs in-game (either by ourselves, or witnessing other players doing it) to be a very enjoyable emergent meta-game. WoW’s designers claimed that they factored kiting into their game by making mobs that are too far from home “neutral” unless attacked. I’m willing to lift that mechanism from WoW for the artifact hunt: the mobs ignore players who don’t aggro them when they’re in the hunt. How to represent that they are part of the hunt is another challenge–a simple solution is, again, to have the mobs shout about what they’re doing: “Kill Henry! He stole the Orb of Pteros!” Personally, I think seeing uber mobs up close, and perfectly safely, can be a lot of fun for newer players who haven’t exhausted the game’s content.
May 20th, 2005 at 3:47 pm
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