MMO - Mechanics-Based Group Dynamics

With the recent beta time I've put into Aion, it sparked some thought on mechanics based party dynamics, and how we can make this aspect of party play in an mmo better.

Let's look at a couple of the games that are out there, and some of the things they do.

First, of course, we have to look at WoW. As it's *the* game currently. WoW's party dynamics are, for all intents and purposes, pretty basic. Each player has a role that they are to fill, and there is very little overlap. There's little to no question about what each person does in a party. There's nearly no pre-coordination needed for the group itself. I've played a multiple end-game Healers, as well as End Game DPSers (Can't bring myself to tank again after FFXI). No matter what group I join in WoW, my job is crystal clear. This is somewhat of a double sided sword. First, it makes the system very accessible. Anyone who has played a healer knows, the second they join that group, exactly what their job is from beginning to end. It also allows for a fair amount of group combinations and class homogenization. Because the roles are fairly self sufficient, all you need is someone who can fill that broad role. The downside to this is that it can be fairly uninteresting. I've healed thousands of groups, and I've dps'd thousands of groups. The difference and specifics of each group is fairly minor. Other than knowing where to move for the specific encounter, the party dynamics of pretty much every fight is exactly the same thing.

FFXI is a game I mentioned in the wow paragraph. FFXI's group dynamics were very different. This game was seemingly built around group dynamics. There were skill chains, which allowed all of the members of a group to be involved in one, massive, attack system. This required group coordination and timing, which made the system fairly intimidating for new players and often times too difficult for people to perfect. Though, admittedly, once perfected, it was pretty impressive. This system also threw a monkey wrench into class selection and group creation. Often times, groups would be highly restricted on which classes a group could bring along, if Class Y were incapable of skill-chaining off Class X, the group would be hindered. Having played both a tank, and a healer, this dynamic was interesting for me, as each class could participate in the chain, and add an extra game play aspect to the game. This made the roles much less monotonous, forced my attention, and rewarded efforts with massive damage. Unfortunately, the affects this had on class makeup, paired with forced grouping, really hurt FFXI. Groups were so picky on exactly what they needed, that people often times spent hours, and hours, and hours, looking for a group so they could go get some EXP.

So what's a better system? I think Aion is really taking a great stab at a better system. While the game is still in beta, and details on "group chains" aren't released yet from what I've seen, the potential is there. First, they have a solo chain system. Use ability 1, it unlocks ability 2 for 5 seconds. Use ability 2, you have option of chaining abilities 3 or 4. It's pretty simple, intuitive, powerful, and allows for some really excellent game play. You don't just spam abilities until the boss is dead; you save your abilities, and use them in a specific order to produce the desired results. With the addition of the context buttons (The icon for 'ability 2' pops up in the middle of your screen after ability 1 is used) the system is also approachable and easy to understand/execute. If this system can be expanded into a group dynamic, it could result in some really interesting play. Of course, they would be wise to avoid having the chaining system being overly restrictive, as doing so will result in alienating classes and the inception of an "optimal group setup" which, once defined, will become the "ONLY group setup."

As much as I think Aion is moving in the right direction. It doesn't sound quite perfected yet. I think most of the pieces are there, but they aren't necessarily in the right place.

I think each class needs to have a generic "level 1, level 2, level 3" abilities. IE any player can initiate the 'group chain' by using a level 1, then any player can use a level 2 to continue the chain. Making these generic will help to prevent any class stacking or forced grouping. You could even use a window system. Say the tank initiates the group chain with a combo move. The non-invasive-yet-still-very-clear indication method (ability popups on screen / graphical animation on monster / pick your method of feedback here) would make itself apparent on each member's screen that the chain was initiated. From here, there is an 8 second window where any level 2 abilities can be performed. At this point, anyone in the group can unleash a level 2 ability, which would, of course, unlock the window for level 3 abilities (once the level 2 window is closed). Rinse and repeat. This would allow anyone in the group to get involved. A healer could have a level 2 ability that would do moderate damage to a target, yet provide a damage buff to the rest of the group, and would continue the chain. This lets every member of the group get involved at some point, allowing each and everyone to be involved, productive, and impactful to the greater chain.

A system like this could be easily implemented. Even into current WoW. It could be engineer to use buffs / debuffs as a pacing mechanic. Say the Mage throws a "super level 1 fireball of doom". This puts a debuff on the target, each other class has an ability that can only be used when this debuff is present. Once that debuff is consumed by the rogues "crazy backstab level 2 murder move" this time, it applys a buff to everyone in the group for 10 seconds, letting them use level 3 abilities. One of which, of course, would place a debuff on the target, allowing the process to continue, or to start over. The system wouldn't even have to "flip flop" between debuffs / buffs. Doing debuffs only could make the job of say, the healer, more interesting as well. As often times, healers in current WoW don't interact with mobs at all. The buff system, on the other hand, would lend itself to using these 'chains' for more than strictly offense, and allow very powerful restorative magics, or protective magics to be included and chained.

With systems like these, we would allow players to chain off each other, thus increasing the group dynamic somewhat, as well as preventing group restrictions. But it sounds simple at this point. We could go further with this, simply adding a cooldown to the chains could allow groups to add some level of planning and setup beforehand. Giving the groups a more structured feel, as well as allowing players to build the concepts of teamwork, timing, and decision making. Say using a level 1 skill locks out all higher level skills for 30 seconds. Each member of the group would only have 1 opportunity to participate in the chain. This way, it would be wise for the group to define "Tank starts, dps goes 2, healer 3, second dps 4" though, if someone did mess it up, the chain could be continued, and completed, though may not be as impactful as defined. This would let novice players participate, and still have a feeling of their place in the group, while allowing advanced players to really pick it apart, analyze it, and come up with their best for the situation results. Giving the system enough depth where the chain order could control type of damage, or element of magic, or pretty much any mechanic that can be used to control it in order to allow the advanced players to use it in the most powerful way. All the while, the less advanced players still get a noticeable benefit, just not as optimized.

I think it's important to make the system deep enough for the advanced theorcrafters to really sink their teeth in. But make the system accessible enough that anyone can dabble in it, and still have some noticeable results. We've all seen wow's success, and we've all seen that accessibility is the secret ingredient. But I don't think we should let the advanced aspects that appeal to the really hardcore suffer in the name of accessibility. Video games are truly a world where players can have their cake and eat it too. So let's make it happen, gamers are hungry.