MMO Economics 101: Killing, Harvesting, and Looting
In the mediocre MMORPG (mMMO), a player kills a mob of some kind (forget for a moment that the term mob comes from the word "mobile" and denotes a major problem with MMO gameplay--monsters' names and descriptions are completely unimportant, and all that matters is their con to the player. That's a topic for another post entirely). The player then clicks on the carcass, which opens a window, allowing the player to loot one or more items from the body of the defeated mob. Wash. rinse. repeat. Until you level! Woot. Bored.
The Ideal MMORPG is completely different. It incorporates real-world concepts in a way that is interesting and fun without incorporating the bad things about the real world that are not fun. One of the problems with MMOs is that their creators have a perspective that biases them against understanding the world they have created. Most of them are city-dwellers, with little understanding of the tribalism, hunting, and gathering that personify the fantasy worlds we imagine. Many devs have a very statist view of reality, such that they believe in the ability of police powers (Kings, lords, CEOs, whatever) to provide for the needs of the people. They ignore the sources of those power. What makes a knight great is not the absolute number of kills he has made, but how he has made use of his victories. This is part of the reason why the narratives created by these devs are so mealymouthed or milktoasty. They lack the conviction that can only be granted by experience of actual reality, unfiltered by the helping hand of a nanny police force. Let us take a look at the roots of humanity and see how the economic principles of scarcity, profit, and transportation can be turned into a truly enjoyable game experience.
Put yourself in the world before megacities. If you want something, you must be prepared to make it yourself. You survive only upon your intellect, and the imagination of any others who may be wandering with you. You subsist on what the earth can provide, or if you are really smart, you manage to create crops and domesticate animals to keep you from moving around so much. When you kill a deer, you don't get gold pieces, or daggers, or helmets. You get antlers (if it's a male in-season), and skin, and gut, and fat, and organs, and bones, and flesh. You use all of those things to create the necessities of your life. The mediocre MMO tends to idealize a wasteful and economically unsound idea of hunting. One of the main criticisms that American Indians had of early European pioneers was their ability to kill huge numbers of animals, only to take a single part of the animal for use. This kind of waste not only devastates the environment, but it also leads to greater poverty, since someone could use the parts you leave behind, and you could sell those parts for profit, but instead, you decided to leave money to rot in the field.
Are you starting to see how the mediocre MMO goes wrong? By granting you items or gold with your kills, instead of the parts of the beast you have killed, the mMMO robs you of a great experience of the real world that could become the foundation for a really great game! Let me describe the ideal MMORPG's take on hunting, killing, and harvesting, and I'm sure you will agree that this game is off to a great start.
Your character lives in the wilds. You subsist on hunting, gathering, and some farming. You and your friends go out in the wilds surrounding your village to hunt deer fairly regularly. They're pretty hard to catch, so it's a big deal when you manage to bring one back. When you kill a deer, you are given options to harvest various things. Taking the skin or antlers is easy, and would simply be a matter of a single click. Harvesting liver, or heart, or gut would require a mini-game, since it takes some finesse to manage this in the real world. You are limited by the amount of weight you can carry or drag, and the number of containers you have, but you are encouraged to take as much as you can carry away from the kill. Anything you leave behind can be harvested or looted by someone happening upon the carcass within a certain amount of time. When you arrive back at your village, you share, sell, or trade the spoils of your kill.
The antlers are good for making arrowheads and spear tips, or simply for decoration. Trade them for goblin teeth, which you can grind up for making some types of poisons.
The skin is good for making armor or clothing. Sell it to another player for gold or trade it for other items.
The flesh is good for making foods that restore energy. $$ Cha-ching!
The tail or hooves of a deer may be an important component in a speed potion. $$ Cha-ching!
The organs may be important as food or as components for other spells. $$ Cha-ching!
(all of these are potential player-driven quests)
You create clothing, weapons, and other necessities from the remains of the deer, all of which you can craft or have crafted in-game to your specifications. At some point, perhaps a player notices that the armor made from pig skin is sturdier than that made with deer skin. All of a sudden, you have an incentive to hunt for pigs instead of deer. Perhaps the amount of food you can get from a single pig is double that from a single deer. Perhaps it's a longer walk/ride to get to where the pigs are, which is another reason you may choose or not choose to hunt them. In this way, you and your friends diversify your hunting skills, based upon desire, need, and scarcity. Now, let's say that at some point, your village learns to domesticate pigs or deer, and to grow crops. Now you have a reason to build weapons apart from arrows or spears, because you'll have to defend your stores against raids from the neighbors. All of a sudden, we have created an organic set of quests that adds value, narrative, and LIFE to the MMO.
Instead of this:
Welcome to the world of mMMOvia! You are a fighter. You have a sword skill of 5. Here is your first quest: Raise your sword skill to 10. Now please kill 150 rats.
The Ideal MMORPG gives you:
We are the people of the village of Uden. Our lives depend upon your ability to hunt, and your wealth will grow as you become more skilled at hunting and harvesting. Your family has provided you with a spear and a satchel, but you'll have to make anything else you need. Today is your rite of passage. Survive in the wilds for a season, and be successful in the hunt. Return here when you have something to trade with the village, and you will become a full-fledged member of our tribe.
Let's fast forward to a society that has advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage:
Good morning, youngling. Today is your rite of passage day! Today you will be initiated into the defense of our town, Uden. We survive by our ability to maintain a stored harvest, and by our protection of the livestock. If you wish to be counted among those who decide the future of our town, you must be willing to shed blood in her defense. Spend a season standing guard on the fence line, protecting the herds, and marching with scouting parties, and bring the Town Council evidence that you have been successful in defending the town, and you shall be granted full citizenship.
Even further along in development looks thus:
Welcome to the forum on citizenship! Each of you has deigned to become a living contributor to the greatness of the City of Uden! Our armies are great, but you could make them greater! If you wish to become a soldier, please visit with the recruiter, who will be best able to assign you to a watch under an experienced mentor. Demonstrate your skill and you will be rewarded!
Kind of rambling again, but you get the point. Story happens when story is allowed to happen. Hampering the MMO with meaningless numbers and unrealistic quests hinders story! In each of the examples above, players can create the story, by sharing the events of their rites of passage, and sharing them with other players. Quests become organic, PLAYER-DRIVEN moments of fun instead of static, NPC-granted moments of farming and harvest of unrealistic prey.
In the Ideal MMORPG, there will be some value to each part of any creature killed. There will be no unrealistic items found on creatures. If the goblin is wearing a helmet, you will be able to loot that helmet from him! If you want goblin guts, you can harvest them. If you want goblin ears, go for it, be the first in your group of friends to make a goblin ear necklace! Even rats can be roasted and sold to someone who has no other food!
