September 23, 2004
Formerly a Cellular Molecular Biologist, I decided that I would apply for the Content Designer position on AC1. “I might as well try, I mean, I’ll berate myself if I don’t at least apply.” Four years later, I’m writing this entry from the POV of the Senior Game System Designer for Dungeons & Dragons Online.
My main focus on this project is combat, and ensuring that the D&D rule system translates into our game as seamlessly as possible. In addition, I’m also focused on making sure that our treasure system is rewarding and very, very cool.
I suppose I should start this off with a profound statement, so, here goes:
What is fun?
When I started in this industry, I was a fresh-faced (not really), naive developer that thought he knew it all. Now I’m a jaded developer who will come across as a know-it-all in a public forum :)
All joking aside, when I first arrived here at Turbine almost 5 years ago, I thought I KNEW what fun was. More importantly, I KNEW what fun wasn’t, and I was on a crusade against it. The interesting thing, however, is that over time and exposure, I realized that my ideas and approach weren’t always fun for everyone. Amazing! Eventually, this led me to question my “divine mandate,” so to speak.
You see, my favorite forms of entertainment are games and music. And while there are some types of music I don’t like (*cough* country *cough*), there is no genre of game that I won’t play. What I’m trying to say is, I really, really like all different types of games.
So let me refine my initial question: what is the unifying theme that makes each of these games fun? Is it decisions per second? Maybe it’s simply tied to visual feedback (making gameplay purists gnash their teeth and claw at their eyes), but I doubt that’s it. As time goes on, it seems more and more games are becoming RPGs, so maybe it’s emergence? I can’t really say, as I like tournament-type games just as much as the next guy – I don’t want to deal with stat building in certain games, I just want to get a ridiculously high score by chaining special moves together.
What about competition? Even in games based around advancement, there’s indirect competition. While this may be the case for some, I don’t think that’s the sole reason why a person has fun playing games. Granted, it’s always fun to be the person who stands up, points at all the people playing on the Local Area Network, and accuses them of being “poor harem slaves.” I just don’t think that gaming as a whole is based off of that. It’s a perk, a fringe benefit, if you will.
I could rant about this quite a bit, but in the interest of progress, I’m going to nip it in the bud. The point here, if there is one, is that fun is a many-faceted thing. A truly fun game is one in which all facets have been carefully scrutinized and deliberated, in which the game as a whole has been appraised and polished like the fine gem that it is.
Now, it goes without saying that we want D&D Online to be fun. But exactly what form does this fun take? What are the facets of the game? These are questions that we’re still in the process of answering, but one particularly large facet that I’ve been spending a good amount of the last year on is our implementation of the D&D ruleset.
We’re amazingly fortunate, in that the D&D rules are not only well-known and well-documented, but they also emulate a “real world.” This is good for us, as MMORPGs tend to be real (virtual) worlds, with real rules. All of this is layered on top of D&D being a lasting game. Some would say that D&D is THE game, the one from which all other games were spawned. While I am not a keeper of its taxonomy, I am certainly a believer, and so are a lot of other people.
So, to assuage your fears, our approach so far is to hold up the D&D ruleset, and filter that through the aforementioned gem. The rainbow that results? That’s our game. So, if you like rainbows, and puppies, and good thoughts, you’ll like what we’ve done. But if you like wanton slaughter, epic campaigns, and memorable encounters, you’ll also like our game. On the other hand, if you think play by mail is the only way that D&D should be played ... well, you might want to start looking at some other games.
Later.
Dell2000
Stratics Central
