What is an MMORPG? Is Fortnite an MMORPG?

 I was listening to Epic Loot Radio's recent podcast State of the Game with @Ready Check Raideo (You Tubube version for anyone interested).  They cover a gambit of topics regarding MMORPGs eventually getting into what makes an MMORPG an MMORPG. An interesting question is discussed: Is Fortnite an MMORPG?  Their answer is no and I'd agree to that.  Here are some more of my thoughts on what was discussed.

One item that I keyed in on was their discussion on what the cut off point for "massive online" is.  The consensus number was at least 1,000 players in a single online world.  That resonated with me and I'd put a clarifying point on it that the game has to have the potential for 1,000 or more players and additionally the world needs to be a persistent online world.  

My point above about "potential for 1,000 or more" cuts off the "do games like Crowfall count when they are not popular enough to go over 1,000 players?".  Persistent online world helps to drive out considering games that have large online player counts jumping in and out of their worlds, but are not persistent.  

With these considerations we can rule out Fortnite as an MMORPG massive online front.  Yes, Fortnite has millions of players online at any given time, but you are only ever in a world with 100 of them and that world ceases to exist once the match is over.  Note: this doesn't make Fortnite any less of a game; it just doesn't need to be called an MMORPG.

On the tail end of MMORPG is the role playing (RP).  This is briefly covered in the Epic Loot Radio discussion, but is important for a lot of players to separate MMORPG from games that hit all the other points but are just MMOGs.  If anyone has ever read my first blog post (from 17 years ago!!!) you will know where I stand about role playing:

Social interaction with like minded nerds and geeks; people whom live through their in game characters as though it was version 2.0 of themselves.

I don't want to hear these gamers speak in foreign Orcish or Elvish tongues. I want them to speak English and call me newb, l33t, or dude. I want role playing that is a real person, embodying a real in-game character. I don't want to know how much you can pretend. I want to see who, what, and how you can do things in game with the class, race, or skills you have chosen in our game of choice.

So my take on role playing is that the game offers players roles to play within the construct of the persistent online world.  This could be the holy trinity -- damage, tank, healer -- or it could be the desire to just bang away at an anvil as a blacksmith.  The key is the game requires players to fill their role in the world.  On one end are games like Final Fantasy 14 where players are asked to set their job (aka role) and while set to that job that is the only role they play.  On the other end are games like New World where based on gear equipped your role is defined.  On either end players are playing a role.

Role playing is another area where you would look at Fortnite and say "mmmm, nope".  Yes, during a Fortnite match you may get different weapons and take different actions which change how you play but really everyone is there for essentially the same role: kill other players (hopefully before a building pops out of them).

I'd also be willing to accept arguments for some games considered in the MMORPG market to be discarded due to this RP element because they don't actually put players in roles.  None come to me off the top of my head, but I am sure there are some out there.  

I think there is a valid category of MMOG where there is a persistent world that supports over 1,000 players but players just come and go without any defined roles. Minecraft is the easiest example as it has many multiplayer servers that are over 1,000 players and the game doesn't define roles but yet has persistent worlds.  Minecraft is a massively multiplayer online game.

MMOG also dovetails into the last comment I want to make.  In the podcast there is also reference to games-as-a-service; "as-a-service" (aaS) being the buzz word across the entire software landscape.  The company I work for has "aaS" hanging off most of our software products.  All it really means is that customers can expect software based solutions that continue to be updated (and hopefully improved) as part of a service contract (i.e. I don't have to buy version 2.0 in a year; I will instead just keep getting updates as part of my service contract).

I'd argue that the golden era MMORPGs such as Everquest and Ultima Online were gaming's first "as-a-service".  Now-a-days almost every game is dabbling in the service aspect with cosmetic purchases, paid for add-ons, battle passes, subscriptions, etc.  So make the last defining characteristic of an MMORPG that it is a game-as-a-service (note: the service contract aspect can vary from free 2 play to battle pass to subscription; that is less important than the aspect that players will see continued change to the service).

Want to argue with me about what an MMORPG is?  Play Fortnite and feel offended?  Drop a comment or two.

New World: Azoth Salt and PvP Reward Tracks

 In New World's big PvP update earlier this year they introduced PvP reward tracks and a new currency called azoth salt.  This salt can be earned from instanced PvP modes such as arenas or outpost rush, but is also earned for having your PvP flag on while adventuring in the open world.  The salt is then used to buy items from the PvP reward track, but only after a player earns experience points to unlock a track level.  The current situation is most players have maxed out azoth salt (you can have up to 100,000 total) but have nothing to spend it on since salt is earned a lot faster than PvP tracks are earned.  Here are some ideas to change this system up.

The biggest change that could be made is how the PvP tracks work.  Each level has three unlock points and until you make a selection all PvP experience is lost.  This is just a bad design and I've lost so much PvP experience because I forgot to buy something from the reward track and thus open the next track up to receive experience.  There is also the possibility early on before a player builds up a pile of azoth salt that they can't buy a reward in a track so have to decide whether to lose out on PvP experience to wait for more salt or just move on and lose the reward.  Also worth noting is the rewards unlocked are random each time so passing over a best in slot item is a real risk and it may be a long time before you see it again.

New World PvP Reward Tracks

The better way for PvP tracks to work would be to have a vendor you get access to different tiers of rewards as you level up and can just use the azoth salt to get those targeted rewards.  There can still be a chance to get it at a reduced cost via random track reward, but also offering it for a higher fixed cost from a vendor makes a lot of sense. 

Also PvP tracks need to be changed so PvP experience rolls over to the next track.  It's an ultimate feel bad if you lose 1,999 out of 2,000 experience because you only needed 1 experience to max out that track.

Consistent predictable progression with a sprinkling of random reward is always the best bet in this type of game.  Amazon Game Studios (AGS) added a similar method to this idea with materia from expeditions.  There is a chance to get a named drop from an expedition but if you don't luck out on that drop you still earn materia for completing the expedition.  Once you have enough materia you can craft the named drop you weren't lucky enough to have drop.

Another idea for azoth salt is to let us salvage it.  Just off the name alone I'd love to be able to salvage it into azoth and salt.  Azoth for all of the new ways we can use it in crafting and refining; salt as a key ingredient in cooking that is not nearly as widely available as it should be.

Azoth Salt Vials

 

Making other uses for azoth salt would go a long ways as well.  Since it's PvP related letting it be converted into faction tokens would be a good idea.  AGS also seems to like adding new functions to the gypsum kilns so maybe a kiln recipe that includes azoth salt.  Anything that allows me to use it outside of just the PvP reward track would be an improvement.

At my current azoth salt gain rate I will never run out if all I am buying are rewards off the PvP track.  I will continue to be at the salt cap feeling bad that any new salt I earn is being lost to a blackhole.  Reducing how much salt I earn is NOT a good idea as I don't want to have to make decisions about progressing a track so I don't lose experience if I have to wait around for salt to come in to get a track reward.  Keep the current salt gain rate and just give us new stuff to do with it!

Are you a sweaty azoth-salt-drenched PvP player in New World?  If so what are your thoughts?  If not what do you think?

Call of the Wild: The Angler Hotfix 1.03 Comments

 Call of the Wild: The Angler has released hotfix 1.03 out in the wild (ha!).  There were a few items in the notes I wanted to take a moment to comment on (and since I missed posting yesterday consider this my make up for my post a day commitment).

The first note worth mentioning is under UI.

The option to turn multiplayer off is now saved between game sessions.

Finally!  It was irritating that this option was defaulted to on, but doubly irritating that it had to be turned off again every time you started the game. 

Recommended gear for the optional tutorials now appears as intended in the Game Guide.

It is great that this is being fixed.  If you knew how to turn off tracking and then turn it back on you could get the text to display, but that was not at all an obvious way to get this info to appear.  This was probably the number one reason I saw people asking questions in discord or on Reddit.

Solved an issue that would prevent players from accessing the Quick Menu under specific circumstances.

Look forward to this fix.  Nothing sucked worse than seeing a big ole' fatty of a fish and then not being able to use the quick menu to swap baits for it and by the time you got through the rest of the menus the fish was gone.  I swear that is the only reason I don't have a diamond sauger catch...

 Fixed a number of issues that would cause items to get stuck in the backpack or in storage.

For those of us with the starting rod stuck in our inventory; hooray!

 Fishing under bridges is now possible.

Water under the bridge in my book.

Updated the spawn rate for gold and diamond fishes.

No additional details so not clear if this means we will catch more or less.  My hope is less as you seem to catch gold and diamonds without much effort at all.

And lastly there is a single item in the section on Multiplayer fixes:

MULTIPLAYER

• Changed the default number of players populating servers from 10 to 8 (maximum server capacity remains 12 players).

Dev Team’s Notes: Bringing a definitive solution to the multiplayer issues is no small task and requires more development time. It's one of our top priorities at the moment. In the meantime, this small tweak should make it easier for players to join their friends online.

I still am not sure this will do anything.  I have literally clicked the Join Friend's Game button hundreds of times and never has it brought me to the same map as they are on regardless of if there is room on it or not.  I really just want an option to host a private map and invite my only friend to fish with me.

Fixing multiplayer has to be the priority for this team.  It is killing the community buzz on the game.

Are you playing Angler?  If so what are your thoughts?

New World: Why fresh start servers?

New World's community manager, Luxendra, recently indicated that fresh start servers were under discussion and that more information will be available soon.  Of course the community took this as 100% confirmation that fresh start servers were coming.  This has lead to an argument as to whether fresh start servers are warranted at this point or not.  At the same time there are also folks outside looking in asking "why now?".   I will attempt to make the case as to why fresh start servers make sense now.

The most obvious reason that fresh start servers make sense now is the revamped leveling experience from levels 1-25 that is included in the next major patch scheduled for October (and currently in testing on the public test realm).  Towns, zones, and quest lines have been replaced and/or overhauled.  Early reports from test realm is that the experience is a huge step forward for the game and does deliver "a brand new experience".  So it makes a lot of sense to offer players the chance to enjoy this new experience along with many other players on a set of fresh servers.

The next big reason for fresh start servers goes back to the experience that many players encountered during New World's original launch.  During that launch there was a plague of dupe exploits which many state as a reason they gave up playing the game.  There is an argument to be had about whether the duped gold and items ever actually made it to the market, but regardless the perception of the problem was enough to chase folks away.  Fresh start servers (with server transfers blocked) give players a confidence that they are on equal footing without the taint of dupes.

A smaller reason for fresh start servers is that it encourages players to try out New World for the first time at the same time a bunch of other players are starting from the ground up.  Just look at the popularity of things like World of Warcraft Classic as evidence on how much fresh starts are enjoyed by the MMO player community.  If you missed out on the launch window of an MMO you likely missed out on some of the most fun times for that game.  Fresh start servers give a chance to live (or re-live) that magical period.

Lastly, the buzz around fresh start servers combined with an advertising push (such as the data mined Twitch "Return to Aeternum" event) will bring back players to the game.  More players is always better for massive multiplayer games. Worst case there is another boom and bust cycle with server creation followed by server merges.

While the above points are good reasons for fresh start I do want to list a few of the reasons not to have fresh start.

• There is valid concerns that exploits (not duping this time, but things like speedhacks) will plague the fresh start servers as companies race to take control of the major cities.  The main argument here is that new servers are a bad idea until Amazon Game Studios fixes territory control.
• An argument can be made fresh start servers will divide the playerbase. New servers that just got stood up to deal with the current population boom could quickly crash and need a merge.
  
• Players returning for fresh start may come back to the same problems they saw in the first game: overcrowded servers and long login queue times.  Since the main servers are jam packed and most have new character/character transfers locked these players looking for an alternate to fresh start may not find one.
• The sweaty players want new players to dominate with their best in slot gear.  Not a real argument but I've heard it said enough lately.

What are your thoughts?