Difference between revisions of "Multiplayer Games"

Revision as of 16:57, 2 May 2010

Games that have more than one player.

Most games let several players participate in the gameplay, either against each other or working together towards a common goal. Before the emergence of video games basically only puzzles were not multiplayer games, and even so many single-player video games also have multiplayer support. With the advent of the internet it became practical to create Multiplayer Games with hundreds or thousands of players, first in MUDs^[1] and later in MMORPGs^[2].

Besides giving people other humans to compete or cooperate with, Multiplayer Games let people have social interaction before, during, and after play sessions.

Examples

Chess has two players competing against one another by taking turns. The board games Space Alert and Battlestar Galactica let players compete against the game system, while tabletop roleplaying games such as Dungeons & Dragons and GURPS allow players to fight enemies controlled by a game master.

Computer and console games such as the Quake series or the Need for Speed Series allow players to compete against each other in combat or races. The Quake series also offers team-based variants where groups of players fight each other, and games such as Battlefield 1942 and Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory are dedicated to this type of gameplay. The Left 4 Dead Series is structured to let a 4-person team struggle against people turned murderous by an infection. The Lego Star Wars Series is optionally a Multiplayer Game in that a second player can jump in and out of gameplay as wanted. Even single-player computer games can be considered as multiplayer games on one level if they make use of high score lists, as for example Asteroids, Pac-Man, and Icy Tower.

MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and Eve Online can have thousands of players playing the same game instance simultaneously and tens or even hundreds of thousands of players participating in the game instance asynchronously.

Using the pattern

For Multiplayer Games to be played, players needs to be able to organize themselves to participate together in the activity. In most cases this needs to be done by the players themselves but online games can support it through the design of Friend Lists and Game Lobbies, including providing Selectable Social Roles. For added flexibility, games may allow Late Arriving Players or Drop-In/Drop-Out functionality but this risk affecting Value of Effort and Team Balance negatively.

A basic decision regarding Multiplayer Games is if the primary gameplay resolves around PvE (Players vs. Environments) as in Space Alert and Left 4 Dead Series or PvP (Players vs. Players) as in Chess, Go, and Quake series. PvP games can also make use of Team Play, as in Battlefield 1942 and Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, which can be combined with PvE gameplay as in Defense of the Ancients or World of Warcraft. To encourage Cooperation in games with Team Play, Asymmetric Abilities and Privileged Abilities can either suggest or require Selectable Functional Roles through a use of Orthogonal Unit Differentiation. A specific examples of this is Asymmetrical Roles in Vehicles, e.g. the division between driving vehicles and manning the weapons mounted on them in the Battlefield Series. Team Play may also allow for Game Mastery by allowing Team Development as well as individual Competence Areas to develop over time. When the games also have Meta Games such as Tournaments or Massively Multiplayer Online Games with Persistent Game Worlds, Community Functionality supports Strategic Planning and Group Belonging. Inherent Mistrust and the possibility of Sabotage can be used when making games where one wishes to limit the amount of Cooperation or make Team Play more difficult.

Since it is important to be able to identify which other player is which, making Avatars unique through attaching Handles or allowing Avatar Personalization may also be necessary. One reason for this is that players typically need to engage in Extra-Game Actions such as Coordination in Multiplayer Games with Team Play or other types of Cooperation, and Bragging, Negotiation, and Trading even in those where there is no Cooperation. While games played with the players located in immediate proximity of each other can make use of Unmediated Social Interaction online games typically achieved this through providing the possibility of different types of Communication Channels, e.g. Game-Defined Vocabulary. Game State Overviews makes Coordination easier regardless of players' actual location, and can be achieved either through Mini-maps found in games such as the Civilization Series or World of Warcraft. Virtual Co-Presences allows supports this, and can be encouraged by Non-Diegetic Elements to locate each other (as done in the Left 4 Dead Series), Outstanding Features in Game Worlds to provide common points of reference, the potential rewards of Team Combos, and the risks of Helplessness. In contrast, the ESP Game relies on players not being able to directly communicate with each other so it takes precautions to not match players together with network addresses which may indicate close proximity to each other.

Multiplayer Games opens up the possibility for Bidding, Negotiation, and Trading including those related to Player-Decided Distribution of Rewards & Penalties and Player Decided Results.

Social Dilemmas

Many design choices are unique to Multiplayer Games or are significantly modified by the presence of other players: Smooth Learning Curves and providing the Right Level of Difficulty can be more difficult to achieve, although Balancing Effects can help; Player Balance can be achieved not only through Balancing Effects but also through Handicaps such as differences in Skills or Asymmetric Resource Distribution, the latter of which can also be the original source of the imbalances; Game Masters can be used and can allow the other players greater Freedom of Choice and stronger Illusions of Influence; Tiebreakers may be required to determine winners of Overcome goals unless Tied Results are to be possible; Player Elimination may exist and force individual players to quit their play sessions before the game sessions end due to Early Elimination; Agents can be used to simulate other players to allow Multiplayer Games to be played alone.

Persistent Game Worlds, which by their definition have to be shared between several players, represent one way to achieve Multiplayer Games with a potentially limitless number of participating players. These types of Multiplayer Games have Dedicated Game Facilitators to maintain the game state, but Self-Facilitated Games are also possible, although, the number of participating players has to be lower, or else the game state synchronization becomes difficult.

Single-Player Games

Player Balance

Spawning

Value of Effort

Although it may seem that the main requirement for Multiplayer Games is that the game supports several players, even Single-Player Games can be a possible foundation for making Multiplayer Games. This can be accomplished through Meta Games such as organizing players in Tournaments. Another form of Meta Games that make Single-Player Games into Multiplayer Games are those that share Trans-Game Information, e.g. High Score Lists or Ghosts.

Diegetic Aspects

Games allowing Late Arriving Players or Drop-In/Drop-Out gameplay can provide difficulties maintaining Diegetic Consistency, especially if Spawning is used. One possible solution is the use of AI Players of take players' roles when they leave and that new players take over AI Players positions.

Interface Aspects

Most Multiplayer Games need additional interfaces to provide the Communication Channels needed for Coordination or Social Interaction, e.g. voice chats to give near Unmediated Social Interaction or quick message systems of Game-Defined Vocabulary to control what information is passed.

Save-Load Cycles are more cumbersome to use in Multiplayer Games, since players must negotiate when to load previous game states.

Narrative Aspects

For Multiplayer Games with Narrative Structures there lies a risk of some players Value of Effort regarding how the narration progresses may be less than others.

Consequences

Multiplayer Games provide a focus point for Social Interaction between the players, and gives players a Freedom of Choice to have Social Organizations and Identification within groups. Having several players in a game allows the game design to have Alliances or Team Play and modulates Game Mastery by making it possible for players to develop specific Competence Areas for their Characters. Multiplayer Games also provide some forms of Game Mastery, some which are not applicable in other games, for example Social Skills related to Negotiation. As with any other situation with many people, Multiplayer Games can also lead to Excluding Groups.

Multiplayer Games often give players Limited Planning Ability, as the goals and plans may be difficult to deduce and they can significantly affect future game states. For the same reason, Multiplayer Games are one of the simplest way of providing Challenging Gameplay in games with Competition under the assumption that skilled opponents can be found. However, the time spend by players planning may be regarded as Analysis Paralysis to the others. Multiplayer Games with PvP make other players into Enemies.

Synchronous Games are by their nature also Multiplayer Games, as there must be several players sharing the same game situation.

The gameplay in Multiplayer Games naturally provide Mutual Experiences as long as the players have some direct interaction with each other, and often make individual Enemies into Mutual Enemies. This may be in the form of Team Accomplishments, Mutual FUBAR Enjoyment, or simply Team Strategy Identification.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Downtime, Synchronous Games, Identification

Multiplayer Games

Can Modulate

Social Organizations, Game Mastery, Meta Games, Social Interaction

Can Be Instantiated By

Tournaments, Persistent Game Worlds

Can Be Modulated By

Early Elimination, Meta Games, Competence Areas, Self-Facilitated Games, Ghosts, Downtime, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Illusion of Influence, Skills, Game Masters, Creative Control, Freedom of Choice, Tiebreakers, Tied Results, Balancing Effects, Limited Planning Ability, Right Level of Difficulty, Smooth Learning Curves, Team Play, Player Elimination, Asymmetric Resource Distribution, Player Balance, Handicaps, Agents, Characters, Extra-Game Actions

Potentially Conflicting With

Save-Load Cycles

History

An updated version of the pattern Multiplayer Games that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design^[3].

References

1. ↑ Wikipedia entry for MUDs.
2. ↑ Wikipedia entry for MMORPGs.
3. ↑ Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.