Genesis: The Beginning of a Virtual World

Before reading this entry, I suggest you read Genesis: The Beginning. This lays the foundation from which I argue my point, and, in reality, summarizes the entire point itself. I’ve only written this for those of you who were unable to decipher my point from the Bible passage I’ve asked you to read (or who aren’t entirely sure what I’m trying to get at with it in relation to game design). Now that I have that out of the way, on to what I’m trying to say…

Game designers often create their games in the wrong order. They sometimes begin with the mechanics then work their way down to content. Here’s an example of the wrong way to make a game:

• I am going to make a Science-Fantasy MMORPG. I want a game with fast-paced combat. I want it to be based on player skill in combination with learned abilities. *Designer hammers out the basics of the game*.
• We’re going to have all of the important stats that you see in other big games. You know, strength, intelligence, dexterity, wisdom, constitution, and charisma. *Designer hammers out stats*.
• Alright, so we are also going to make classes. I like to break them up into archetypes and go from there, so let’s say we have four main ones: fighter, mage, priest, rogue. *Designer hammers out classes*.
• Okay, so the main point of the game will be to kill members of your enemy faction. There are some whacked out political structures and factions, racial conflict, and a mysterious supernatural force that attacks all of them at the same time. *Designer hammers out conflict*.
• So there will like 12 races total because I want one to rely heavily per archetype, then a bunch that lean in one direction or another without being explicitly class focused. *Designer hammers out races*.
• Okay, so they live in this post-apocalyptic world where magic is ordinary and technology is power. The world used to be almost the same as Earth, but some aliens attacked the world and destroyed almost everything living on it. So now this is a society that is rebuilding itself. *Designer hammers out the lore of the world and its origin*.

Some of you probably see where I’m going from here. The world will feel artificial. You don’t create the mechanics of a game, then plug them into whatever world you feel like. First, you must create yourself a world. You have to decide where this world came from, where it has been, where it is now, and where it is going. You have to make the world itself live and breathe, and then you can decide what feels natural.

So you want wizards? Why? Do they have a reason to exist, or is that just something that you think is cool and needs to be in your game? Do wizards exist to maintain a balance between order and chaos? Are true wizards too powerful to be controlled by players? You can’t just slap something cool into a game then mold the foundations around it.

The worst part is, many people fall victim to this inappropriate order of development. We think of something cool to throw into the game after coming up with the very basics without really inquiring whether it needs to or even should exist in the first place. I do it. Every time I discuss a new game design with friends or coworkers, I end up going off on some tangent and decide on mechanics before I decide on the origin of the world in which players will live.

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t decide on some things along the way or that the mechanics you come up with are not valid. However, I am saying that if you have a game mechanic that you feel should exist, make a note of it and set it aside. Create your world. Make the world a real and believable place then see if it fits later.

Yes, players are often tricked into loving a game by good gameplay or interesting game systems. See Shadowbane or World of Warcraft (don’t slay me; that’s just a snap judgment based on a few dozen hours of play) for reference. You must first create a compelling, living, breathing world, then find out what people in that world would do naturally. Your game will feel more complete, more cohesive, and more real.