Interview Guildcafe.com

Le site Guildcafe.com a obtenu une interview exclusive de Richard Duffeck sur le PVP et RVR, je vous colle ici les QR. (Source)

PlayerVox: What's the biggest problem in the current MMORPG landscape; and what can designers do to fix this?

Richard Duffek: I think the biggest problem facing the MMORPG genre right now is actually the perception that WoW has created. So many people out there, fans and developers alike, feel that for a game to succeed now it has to do as well as WoW. I spend a lot of time reading various forums around the web and I see it everywhere I go: "How can [Game X] beat WoW?" or "Is [Game Y] the WoW killer?" Why exactly does a game have to beat or kill WoW to be successful? And then the Devs of various companies buy into this mind set. They feel like they either need to have enough subscribers as WoW to be considered a success, or they just want the number of subscribers that WoW has because they want that kind of income. In my opinion a lot of them have forgotten the most important thing; they're making a game, just make it fun. You don't need nearly the number of subscribers that WoW has to be successful, but you DO have to make a fun game.

PlayerVox: Why is fantasy such an overwhelmingly dominant genre for MMORPGs, and do you think the market will diversify any time soon?

Richard Duffek: In my opinion fantasy is so market dominating because it's the safe genre, for both devs and fans. As a player, with fantasy you know what to expect. There will be swords and axes and spells. There will be Goblins and Orcs and Elves and Dwarves usually. Every game throws a minor twist in here and there, but for the most part it generally boils down to the same thing. And for that reason, you're comfortable there. When you pick up a fantasy themed game off the shelf in your local store, you know what to expect for the most part. A lot of the same things make the genre as appealing to devs as it is to players. They know the players know what to expect from the genre. They know there are certain expectations in place already from their future player base. Those expectations are fairly old and set in stone; it's easy to meet them.

Science fiction, for example, on the other hand has no such set-in-stone familiarities. It is a wide open, unexplored territory, where few are brave enough to boldly go. So many people expect so many different things from a Sci-Fi title that no matter what you do, a large number of people are going to be let down. If it's a land-based game they want space flight. If it's space flight, they want land-based. If you try to do both, it never works out well. One side or the other always ends up lacking. And then you get into the issue of planet types, races, technology, tribbles, etc. There are so many unknown variables out there that for most devs it isn't worth the risk in comparison to the safety they know in fantasy.

Of course my answer to question one plays into this as well… How many Sci-Fi games do you think we'd see in development right now if Blizzard had gone with World of Starcraft instead of World of Warcraft?

PlayerVox: PVP-heavy MMORPGs have been (or become) the niche players. Is there a large enough market to support a PVP-heavy MMORPG?

Richard Duffek: That entirely depends on your definition of PvP-heavy. I definitely feel that there is a large enough market for a PvP-heavy game using a system like Warhammer does for example; a game where you have both PvE and PvP and they're integrated well. Most of the games lately that have PvP in them seem like they were designed as PvE games and then PvP was tacked on as an afterthought, or as a result of too many players complaining about it not being included. In my opinion a game can definitely be considered PvP-heavy without that being the only goal of the game, without it being done in a Free-For-All (FFA) manner.

If by PvP-heavy you are indeed referring to a FFA based game, then unfortunately I have to say that they are indeed, and will continue to be, a niche market game. Take me for example, and I don't believe I'm alone in this opinion by far, I love to PvP… But I'm not always in the mood to PvP. Some times I just want to go solo for a while, or knock out some quests, harvest some materials for crafting, etc. At those times, PvP is the furthest from my mind and the last thing I want is to be ganked. The threat of getting jumped by another PvPer definitely enhances those actions for some people, but I definitely feel that they are a minority. In my opinion most people out there want a definite separation between PvE and PvP.

Any and all employment bias aside, DAoC was my first real love as an MMO because it did such a great job in that aspect. When I wanted to PvP I went out to the Frontiers. When I wasn't in the mood for PvP I didn't, and I didn't have to worry that I would get jumped. While out in the Frontiers you had that "could get jumped at any point" feeling that kept it exciting and fun.

PlayerVox: How do see the interaction between PVE and PVP elements in a game? In other words, how do you see the outcomes of PVP victories impacting the PVE aspects, and vice versa?

Richard Duffek: I definitely feel that is an area that can really be improved upon in the MMORPG genre. I touched on it briefly above. I think in order for a PvP-heavy game to be successful those two aspects need to be integrated a lot better than they have been in the past. But on that same note, they need to be kept separate as well, if that makes any sense.

I think Warhammer will be making large strides in this direction. With the underlying design plan of the game being that "War is everywhere", even when you're participating in PvE, you feel like you are helping advance the overall PvP effort. If you so choose, you can play the game completely in either PvE or PvP and never worry about the other aspect. But if you take that route, you're going to miss out on a lot of great content.

In too many games you have to PvE just to be able to effectively PvP, or PvP to get really nice rewards to improve your PvE abilities. In my opinion this is the result of too many devs deciding to make one type of game or the other primarily and tacking the rest onto the end. More people who are making a game, which contains both PvE and PvP, need to get it into their heads that they don't HAVE to make a great PvP game or HAVE to make a great PvE game. They always seem to focus on one side, which neglects the other.

PlayerVox: Do you feel that players who are mostly interested in the exploration/PVE aspects of a game will be alienated by games with a strong PVP theme?

Richard Duffek: Not if there is adequate separation as mentioned above. As long as they don't have to fear getting jumped all the time, players will definitely enjoy a game with a strong PvP theme. Of course this is all assuming that there is a PvE based reason for them to play the game. A game like Shadowbane obviously had a heavy PvP theme, and therefore definitely drew the PvP fans. It didn't however really offer anything to the exploration/PvE minded players, therefore it didn't attract many. A game like old school Ultima Online did have that draw though. People who had no interest in PvP played the game because of the PvE and exploration it offered, even with the risk of getting ganked.

UO is also a great example of how important that separation is for those types of players. Look how many people jumped ship to the PvE only side once they were given the opportunity. Even though the game had a very heavy PvP theme, they were playing the game for other reasons. Granted I don't think that would work nearly as well in current times. There are too many other heavy PvE themed games out there for people to play as opposed to trying to PvE on a FFA PvP based game.

PlayerVox: How do you balance making PVP victories meaningful--i.e., provide significant incentive for conflict and victory--while at the same time encouraging the losing side to stick with the game?

Richard Duffek: That's a tough one. A lot of people out there just aren't willing to play the underdog role, and as soon as they find themselves in that predicament, they will quickly jump ship to a winning side. In order to make it work, I think you need safeguards in place to prevent one side from completely locking down their opponent. NPC allies that grow in strength over time would be one example, effective population bonuses to under populated sides is another. The key word there obviously is 'effective'.

PlayerVox: What's your view on class/skill balance? Is paper-rock-scissors and "the uberclass" the inevitable destiny of any MMORPG?

Richard Duffek: There are a couple problems and misconceptions with balance as far as it relates to a MMORPG. First and foremost, a lot of players out there seem to have this idea that balance is some hard, etched in stone objective, and if the Devs would just do X, Y and Z the game would be balanced. Balance in an MMO is a LOT more fluid than that. Anything you do to one class has a ripple effect through many of the others, and in some cases through the entire game. It isn't so much like trying to carve a statue out of granite as it is trying to carve one out of water.

The other big problem that exists in the MMORPG community, in regards to balance, is the "me too!" attitude. Any time one class gets any sort of boost, regardless of how underpowered they were before the boost; there is a large portion of the community who starts yelling that their class needs something new now too. It doesn't matter if they were the most overpowered class in the game; they feel like they deserve something new any time someone else does.

PlayerVox: Beyond being a chat channel for organizing activities, do you believe there's an opportunity for guilds/clans to become a more vital part of gameplay?

Richard Duffek: Definitely. I think several recent games have taken the first steps in that direction even. Games that allow the guild to level up as a separate entity, taking the individual achievements of its members into account is absolutely a step in that direction. These are only the first small steps, and I feel that this is one of the big areas left for MMORPGs to evolve or grow over time. Guilds have definitely grown and evolved over the years. There are guilds out there that have been around five, seven, even ten plus years. It isn't just a group of people who tend to group together in a game and like having that shared chat channel anymore. These are online communities that move from game to game together, have gatherings and meet up in real life, etc. I would be honestly shocked if I didn't see guilds become a more vital part of the MMORPG design in the coming years.