Your Next: Socially Retentive

Why the social systems of EverQuest Next Landmark are Priority One.

We're now two weeks into the EverQuest Next Landmark alpha, and so far it's been a pretty smooth ride. Problems have been met and dealt with, and stability increases and new elements are being introduced into the game. The vertical slice is getting wider, and as it grows, we begin considering how SOE plans to unlock the potential of its new blank canvas.

This week, Director of Development Dave Georgeson shared the first development roadmap for Landmark, giving us the first look at where the game is currently heading and what to expect in the coming months. As we've come to expect from Georgeson, hints and teases abound and a few surprises come nestled in the wall of text. One thing that should be of no surprise is what came at the top of the list: social systems. The current focus is giving us ways to interact in-game beside exchanging /onods as we hunt for sapphire. This is such a crucial part of the game, and SOE knows it.

So many MMOs have seen their hype trains pull into the station, enjoyed the party for the first few months and then watched as dwindling interest led to a spiral of decline. It's such a shame to see MMOs working backward like this; the majority of players only see them in the worst state they will ever be in.

So what is the trick to retaining players in an MMO? For all my talk of innovation and climbing out of the MMO rut, this is something the genre got right 15 years ago and has since all but abandoned.

As we discussed last week, Landmark is an MMO, so social systems could be the make or break feature of the game. We've already seen many players sharing their creations with screenshots, videos and livestreams, so there is obviously demand for a way to share projects. Weaving this into the game itself is a great way to promote a spirit of competition and add an aspirational quality, which are two must-haves if SOE wants players to stick with the game and eventually throw some money at the screen.

When competition is introduced, cooperation is never far behind. Giving players ways to make something they can be proud of through challenging gameplay is a recipe for superglue-strength social stickiness; there's just nothing like it for creating trust and lasting bonds. 

This sense of cooperationwas perhaps the main reason that EverQuest is such a phenomenon. Giving players challenges that require them to rely on others is the reason the MMO genre exists. You can find throwaway cooperative multiplayer anywhere these days, but the bonds that grow through trust need persistence. This is why so many of us long for the return of server reputations you just can't get from instant group finders.

This, like so many things in Landmark, is just the beginning. When exploration and crafting are fleshed out, and hazards and combat are introduced, the whole landscape of how the game is played will change. It is my greatest hope that players are given the chance to specialize in various roles: Imagine a Tier 5 raiding party complete with drillers, miners, explosive experts and light crews, backed up by their mob disposal team, with runners to deliver materials to the guild's crafters positioned at the Crafting Altar that was found earlier by a scout, a new recruit who downloaded the game that day. Now imagine it's a PvP server (or not, if PvP isn't your thing).

This type of speculation will seem very farfetched to some, but the signs are there. As resources become scarcer, and the world more dangerous, we may not even need the planned grouping incentives to start specializing. This also ties in neatly with the concept of horizontal progression: if it doesn't take too long to become valuable for one role then new players can be useful to veterans early, meaning less time before they're welcomed into established groups.

Whether this type of thing will be possible is yet to be seen, but player driven organization like this has been a staple of sandbox titles like EVE Online for years. In a blog post this week SOE President John Smedley explained why he thinks the sandbox MMO design should be the goal of the industry, and several of his comments pointed at this line of thinking.

If SOE can foster the spirit of competition and cooperation, and nurture social bonds between players, then Landmark has a chance to realize its potential. Of course, the potential of the game lies mostly with its players and all we need is the tools.

EVE Online has had remarkable success in player retention, even with its notorious learning curve and semi-subscription based business model. A more accessible and intuitive game that comes free to play could really pull in the crowds, and if all goes to plan they might even stick around.

 

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