Skills as natural extensions of the character

Upon the player character's entry into the liminal world of the MMO, skills should not be obvious data sets to which the player attempts to add integers.

Life doesn't work that way. No one writes a resume that states, "I have a problem-solving skill of 132." People say, "I am adept at problem solving," even if they aren't.

In the MMO world, as in real life, skills should be something one possesses and can improve through effort. In real life, There are factors that limit how far one can take any particular skill, but in a game world, we assume everyone has an equal chance to rise as high as he wishes.

That being said, we don't want a scenario where the player character is effectively "in school" learning skills for the better part of his life. This would be too much like the real world. The trick is to create a world where each person can follow his or her individualistic interests and entrepreneurial incentives.

Arriving on the MMO plane of existence, the ideal game would allow each character to notice things in the world with which to interact, be they trees, buildings, rocks, or whatever. Continued interaction with said items should grant the player more information about them, and allow further analysis to become available.

For example,
A character, call him Bob, arrives in our ideal MMO, and is fascinated with the lovely tree near his spawn point. He approaches it, picks a leaf, and uses the game's interface to examine it closer. He is granted information about the leaf itself, but this examination also allows bob to notice the flowers, the fruits, the bark, and the roots of the tree. Examining each of these will allow bob to notice various creatures living in and around the tree, such that he gets an idea of its value as a food source. Bob may also have noticed cloth, and his examination of the tree will tell him that its fibers might be good for making cloth. If he has examined a building, his interface might tell him that the tree's wood might be good for construction. Through all of this, and through his use of the function of examination, Bob's ability to glean information from the world around him increases steadily, and soon, he finds that he has the ability to recognize multiple things about objects he has only just encountered.

Let's take a look at crafting or fighting skills in this context. Instead of deciding to look for monsters that are close enough to his level to grant, and grinding on them for the purpose of adding numbers to the value for swordsmanship, perhaps Bob simply kills a bug, or chases down a rabbit to eat. Each time he does this, his ability to understand the creatures of the world increases, as does his speed, stamina, and skill at killing. Eventually, Bob advances to higher order creatures, and the memories he has of killing lower organisms allow him to understand things like weak points. Doing this organically increases his ability in combat to the point that people around Bob can recognize his fighting skill by looking at him (it appears in their information panel, when they try to examine him. "Bob, an athletic man of medium height, who has the appearance of someone who can handle himself well in a fight."

As for weapon training, the same can be done. Bob finds a piece of wood that can be used as a club, and begins whacking the first nuisance creature with it, we'll call them ugs. After a while, Bob begins to notice that he can kill ugs rather easily, and his skill with that particular type of combat leads him to understand other creatures and weapons as well. When he eventually finds or makes a sword, Bob has a general idea of how to wield it, but will require practice. Eventually, Bob may handle a sword so well that others will notice this ability when they look at him.

At no point should the ideal MMO allow the player character to say, "I have a sword skill of X, therefore I can defeat characters of level Y with great ease."

In fact, the whole point is to have that be a mystery. Knowing that you could get your ass handed to you by almost anything affects your willingness to start swinging a weapon at it. This is an important real-world attribute that should be a part of the game experience. Too many MMOs have hunting parties that are not looking for elephants, or crocodiles, or dragons. They are looking for creatures that are yellow, or orange, or red to them. In this way, the mediocre MMO participates in making the creative process that went into creating the elephant or crocodile meaningless, and thus not worthy of the player's time or appreciation.

The same model can be applied to crafting. Now that Bob has figured out that the wood of the tree he saw is good for crafting, he might make a piece of lumber, and either he or his companion may be able to turn that lumber into a plank for building, or a shield, or a table, or a club with spikes, etc. Making one thing, and repeating that process, will open up other items based upon the expertise earned from the first item. Also, examination of other items (Bob sees a large wooden shield being carried by a friend or a monster, and examines it) will allow Bob the fledgling woodworker to attempt to recreate that item. Ideally, Bob will have one in his possession to imitate, but the one he examined as it passed by in the hand of a goblin will suffice for beginning the crafting. Eventually, Bob's skill at making shields will get to a point where others are able to see that the item is of great quality. The goal of the developer should be to avoid allowing players to say, "I have a woodworking skill of 205, so I can make shields of Double Plus Exquisite Quality, but I can get to triple plus if I twink up with Joe's buff spell.

What about magic, you say? Yes, this model applies! Perhaps Bob, upon examining the tree, notices its connectedness to nature, and begins to become sensitive to the spirit of nature. Soon, he may find that he has the ability to manipulate that spirit in various ways, from making his own or another's skin like tree bark, or causing thorns to grow from a creature's club weapon. Greater use of this ability yields greater proficiency, and also opens up other abilities previously undiscovered. At no point should the developer allow the player to "Get a nature magic skill of 55, allowing him to cast nature spells of level 3." In this, I take a cue from the MMO, "Asheron's Call". Magic, and all skills, really, should have some economy associated with them. If you have learned how to make a great shield or sword, or cast a really killer spell, there should be some risk associated with sharing that information. IF everyone has your shield, there will be no advantage to fighting with that shield. If everyone knows your spell, it should become easy to counter or defend against. As in Asheron's Call, if many people use the spell in question, it should wane in strength as well.

Now that we are talking about powers, it's a good time to point out how the ideal MMO will deal with the strength of combat skills and magic. It should never be allowed for the player to say, "I am level 50, therefore I am basically immune to anyone lower than level 5." You may be level 50 (though ideally this MMO will hide that information as well), and an expert swordsman, but if you have never met a mage who knows how to handle ice, you are in for trouble, even if said mage is only "level 3." Similarly, if you are a proficient swordsman, but have never fought an enemy who uses a spear, you will suffer penalties that should make you think twice before taunting that player or monster. In the same way, some monsters will have the ability to learn from their enemies, such that it is a really bad idea to give a newb the best shield/armor/spell buffs available, and send him against a high level monster. The monster, upon dispatching the newb, may "steal" an item, learn its capabilities, and be that much more difficult to kill thereafter.


In this way, the ideal MMO encourages players to gather, form relationships, and share information with each other in a meaningful way, and prevents the tendency for players to share information with everyone without any filters. Also, it encourages players to gather and fight or work together. David Wilson had a brilliant idea about that last point. Skills regularly used in unison should eventually become cooperative. If you fight at Bob's side regularly, you and Bob should become more adept at fighting together, and you will experience a bonus to your chances of victory in combat with that player. The same should hold for crafting. If you build shields made with Bob's lumber, and more so if you work in the same area together, your items should be a little better quality than if you picked up a random piece of wood and made a shield from it.