MMO’s Biggest Secret — Game Design
We all think of MMOs as a genre where everybody playing should be playing in groups and interacting with complete strangers because it’s in the name, massive multiplayer.
What about the people who play it and decide they would rather solo, or be the occasional participants in groups?
Well, contrary to popular belief, MMOs themselves cater to solo players as well as group players. This is because MMOs themselves, in their default state, are built primarily for the solo players, for the most part.
The MMO contradiction
So we have here a seemingly contradictory question. How are MMOs typically built for solo player by default when everything we know and hear about it screams group up or fail? This notion is primarily driven by marketing these days since back in the old Runescape days, you could group up and talk with others, but for the majority of us, we enjoyed playing solo and grouping when we needed too.
No pressure, just a fun and relaxing experience.
So today, I’ll be explaining the types of solo players that appear in MMO’s because these players each solo for different reasons and then I’ll be answering how MMOs are built for solo play by default.
Types of solo players that appear in MMOs
According to Damion Schubert during his ‘The Loner: Why Some People Play MMOs Alone’ GDC talk, he categorized solo MMO players into 10 types.
The link to that talk will be at the end of the article, which I highly recommend listening to.
I for the most part, am going to be literal with the type names since cute names don’t necessarily give you any useful information.
These types go by the noob, the snob, the troll, the busy one, the introvert, the lost one, the self-conscious, the commuter, the uncommitted and the lone wolf.
Who is the noob?
The noob is the first time player who really has no idea what is going on. Maybe they joined the game because a friend told them it was good or they happened to stumbled on a top 10 MMOs to play and decided to give it a go.
Whatever the case, this player is a Tabula Rasa where the noob could become any of the other types depending on how their experience with the game goes.
Who is the snob?
The snob is the player who doesn’t care about interacting with other players because for the most part, others suck and they are “just content” for the snob to absorb. What I mean by “player’s are content” is this type won’t interact (not to say they won’t ever) with others but instead visit chat, forums, wiki’s, YouTube, etc, getting the information they need because others have done it for them.
Could it be that the snob thinks so highly of themselves?
Not necessarily, they may just find it easier to do what they need to, by not having to interact with others, or they could just be l33ts.
Who is the troll?
If this type needs an introduction then you must be completely new to the internet. The troll is the type who ignores normal standards, nuances and social rules. These types will grief, or just plainly cause trouble in whatever area of the game suits them.
Now, let me be absolutely clear, sometimes a troll is one by accident because they are too new to the game and don’t understand that there are norms that exist between players. Typically, once they are told that their behaviour isn’t exactly welcome then they will for the most part stop trolling and respect the norm or face the sometimes amusing consequences.
So to give quick example of this, you’re fighting an enemy and another player is watching. You whittle it’s HP down and on the final hit the troll kill steals taking the EXP, gold and loot. This is more of a nod to older MMORPGS and MOBA but it’s still paints the right picture.
Who is the busy one?
The busy one is basically the person who doesn’t have a lot of time to play the game. They can’t dedicated 30+ minutes to a raid because they are at work on break, because their kids are down for a short nap or they’re waiting in line for poutine.
The fact is they can’t dedicate as much time as a high schooler can, so they play in whatever small window of time they have.
Who is the introvert?
Clearly, like the troll this one needs no introduction. There is a misconception that introvert means shy, not factually correct.
Introver players, unlike shy players, prefer going solo because it’s more relaxing. So with that in mind you can understand why they enjoy soloing, but though this happens for the majority of the time playing the game, it’s not an absolute rule, they will group when they feel like it, but for the most part will always solo unless they can find a relatable and trustworthy team.
Who is the lost one?
So the lost one is more of a sad story. That’s because this type may have once been part of a team, guild or just a group of friends, but through fates unkind hand, everything turned to dust and now they’re alone.
Through that cause they play solo because like someone who has been recently dumped, they don’t know if they can have the same relationship with other people, at least not the same one they had before.
Who is the self-conscious one?
This one tends to undervalue what they’re able contribute to a group, be they a tank or healer, they don’t think they have the skills to help. So because of this they avoid group play and even if they struggle going solo, at least they won’t be in the way, or so they’ll continue to believe.
A good example of this player, which you can see a lot of, is noobies who act as cannon fodder for large groups. Think Guild Wars 2, World versus World. They’re the ones who rush straight towards the gates or enemies making them use their skills so they’re stuck in CD half the time, while more experienced players can take that advantage and wipe out the enemy group, usually through an AoE skill.
Who is the commuter?
The commuter tends to be anyone who plays while commuting from one place to another, be they going from home to work to school or any combination of tasks, it still needs to happen in the in-between of the destinations.
This person likely is the one sitting in a bus playing a game or walking outside while using their phones to play games because that’s literally the only time they have for leisure since they’re lives are so hectic.
Who is the Uncommitted?
The uncommitted are the ones who literally don’t want to commit to grouping with others because of many reasons. Some may find other players are stupid, some find that setting up the group to face the boss is too long, whatever the case this type avoids group play.
Also, the uncommitted may actually be open to to grouping but because of what they’ve experienced during their time playing they’ve don’t know for sure if they would want too.
Who is the lone wolf?
The lone wolf is actually the heroic archetype. They prefer their solitude to grouping up but don’t avoid groups for the same reasons as the previous types. It’s a natural choice to solo in the case of this type rather than an external experience, as is the case with the other types.
So I know this sounded a lot like daily horoscopes, but it helps to put some digestible summaries in our minds.
Now with the 10 types known as well as their own personal reasons for soloing we can move on to “how MMOs are typically built for solo play”.
How MMOs are typically built for solo play
MMOs are built to look like they are designed for massive hordes of players set on smashing the biggest boss there is. Look at World of Warcraft and their raids, it’s massive. Even game trailers show hordes of players grouped up in massive raids, but rarely show player’s soloing. This leads to the idea that MMOs are built for groups; not accurate. At their core they’re solo games, at least until you reach endgame.
So let me explain since I know the accepted idea of MMO screams group play.
You see, since the look of MMOs scream group play we get hung up on that idea without realizing that we could do everything we need to do, solo. There some exceptions to this though, like in the case of most of Guild Wars 2 world boss fights where you have party up in order to stand a chance or as in the case of Final Fantasy XIV (Pre-ARR) where really the entire game was suppose to be group play, but we all saw how badly that failed.
Let’s use Maple Story 2 as the reference.
You can solo, but you better “Git Gud”
Starting the game brings you to a starter island where you can fetch your quests to start the unwinnable first boss fight. After your epic defeat you get tasked by the Queen to fulfill some quests around the world and you go on your merry way. You follow the main quest line and complete them all, all without ever needing to group up. Sure it was hard, but you still pulled it off.
You eventually, after many quests and dungeons later reach the final quest. You defend the Queen and the Kingdom from the enemy and all while playing solo. Sure, it was a massive army that invaded but that didn’t stop you.
From here endgame kicks in and this is where the grouping pretty much needs to happen but as you can see, the game was completed by yourself. There are other examples of this across other like TERA, all have winnable (but hard) mainline quests.
This was a very simplified example of how MMOs are built for solo players but I believe the point got across.
The Short Takeaway
Everything that’s done from the time you finish creating your character to killing the final boss and reaching end game can be done solo. Sure, it’ll likely be harder, take longer and less social, especially if the game developer decided to prioritize group play, but the ability to complete it as a solo player exists.
If you take a look at the MMO you’re playing right now and think to yourself “am I able to solo everything before endgame?”. If the answer is yes, then the core of it is solo play even if it’s harder without a group.
If you’re looking for more articles like this check out my publication: @Gaminglinkmedia or @ryanvelasco.
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References used
- Wikipedia: Massively multiplayer online game
- GDC — The Loner: Why Some People Play MMOs Alone
- LinkedIn — Darrion Schubert
- Definition — Tabula Rasa
- Definition — L33T
- Dorkly — 5 Online Gaming Trolls Who Got Punished in Satisfying Ways by Tristan Cooper
- PT — Introversion vs. Shyness: The Discussion Continues by Sophia Debbling
- PT (Canada) — Why Break Ups Really Hurt by Lisa Firestone Ph.D.
- Reddit — Why are healers/supports and tanks always the least played by quite alot in every game?
- Wiki — Guild Wars 2: World versus World
- Forbes — Is Mobile Phone Gaming Taking Over From Console Gaming? by Anna Tolbin
- Am I a Bad MMO Player? by Tyler F.M. Edwards
- Understanding the Hero Archetype by Susanna Barlow
- Trailer — Black Desert Online
- Game — TERA (Steam store page)
