Characters and EQ

Nick Yee, Befriending Ogres and Wood-Elves: Relationship Formation and The Social Architecture of Norrath, Game Studies

This is a slight departure from the normal discussion on narrative, with a continued focus on character and social development. Yee focuses on a discussion of how the design choices of EverQuest fostered an environment that essentially forced players to get to know each other in some manner, and fostered altruism and other acts of kindness given the fairly harsh consequences of death (etc.) that the designers implemented. World of Warcraft did not necessarily share this philosophy, as soloability (the ability for a single character to progress without too much need for assistance) was increased to the detriment of necessarily inter-class dependency that demanded social interaction for any character-players to make meaningful progress.

I singled out this particular article because it also deals with character progression of a kind. Rather than insisting that characters necessitate a story, Yee’s article describes how the EverQuest philosophy and design features demanded interaction. Interestingly, however, much of Yee’s evidence is anecdotal, as described in a story-manner by players with regards to their experience. It thus seems that Janet Murray’s point that games can equal story is merited in this regard, and so is the idea that character development necessitates some kind of event structure and happenings that can be described (and perhaps experienced, especially for the role-players) in a story-like way. However, do games in this way necessitate drama? Or is it true that players create this drama for themselves?

Regardless, I don’t find that narrative, itself is an essential factor in MMORPG creation, though I think The Old Republic might be putting a spin on that…