Raph Koster recently raised this issue on his blog, and I decided to blog on it as well: Downtime is Necessary for Socialization: I am defining “Downtime” as:

Quote:

any time the player is not being urged by the game to be hammering away buttons to fight, move around, or do anything else that requires the bulk of their concentration. Any game system that sets them free a bit, so they can do something social at the same time is “downtime” in this context.

My basic premise:

Quote:

game developers must engage in some degree of social engineering when they make a game, and for a virtual world game they MUST take steps to force people to slow down, hang out, and socialize with others.

Social interaction makes games "sticky", and also reduces the grindy feel of a game. But modern MMOs are so focused on constantly driving people from one bit of content to the next, there is little or no downtime for socialization. Even the idle animations of avatars tends to look bored or nag the player to "get moving and do something." Is it a bad thing to constantly push players to go-go-go? (I think it is). Is this kind of "downtime" (see above definition) important for the social aspect of games? (I think it is.)

Having played a plethora of MMOs out there I gotta call bullshit.

Downtime does not encourage socialization and further in MMOs there is often too much, which cuts the fun rather than helps get rid of grinding. Don't concentrate on ways to hide grinding. Trying to get rid of the feeling of grinding by getting rid of it as best you can. Down time doesn't get rid of it...it enhances it by making you have to spend too much time with PUGs you don't like or tries to force you to socialize with people you already like and socialize with all the time already.

I think you are assuming by downtime I mean the old "wait around doing nothing, waiting for mana to regen" or "wait 10 min on a flight path.

An example of the type of downtime I am referring to is something like the fishing system in Threshold, a text mud. In Threshold, the fishing system basically breaks down into the following actions (after you have set up your rod and reel with line, appropriate bait, hooks, etc):

1) casting your line (either near, medium, or far)

2) reeling it in slowly (the number of times you have to actively reel in depends on how far you cast)

3) if you hook a fish, there is a whole process of battling, reeling in, tugging to set the line, etc.

But the key is, you have to wait a certain period of time (more than 1 minute) between “reel ins.” As a result, most people wait a couple minutes between reel ins just to be safe, and that gives them lots of time to chat between actions. The only time they are super engrossed is if they have a fish and it is fighting them a lot. But even then, output goes to the room, so everyone else there is rooting them on.

When people fish, they definitely feel like they are playing the game the whole time. But there are periods of non-intense activity that make socialization possible.

This has been known for a long time. The long recuperation times in EverQuest were defended with the line that downtime encourages socializing. One of the arguments in favor of slower-paced and turn-based games is that they allow more opportunity to socialize while battling.

It is definitely important to give players some chance to breath when designing quests or levels. I call these bubbles of non-action. Spots in the game or story where things slow down. Kind of like those rooms in RPGs where you can use tents and save. I always liked those rooms. All the tension of worrying whether I'd make it to the next save spot was gone. Replaced with a pleasant feeling of comfort. I don't have any good advice for knowing where to place these little bubbles. I do it on instinct now.

That is a just plain wrong definition. down time is when you disengage and relax. Any time you engage in game play whether it is you pressing buttons or not it is not down time.

I'd rather not socialize with most members of gaming communities, and I certainly don't want gameplay so uninteresting that I'd have nothing better to do and thus be bored enough to change my mind.

If you think MMOs are too consistently fast-paced, avoid Unreal Tournament 2004 at all costs or the consequences may be dire.

I also don't want to feel forced to engage in conversation with people who's sense of humor I don't...appreciate. MMOs bring together people from all over the world, from all walks of life. To pressure a chat is likely to bring differences to the foreground.

Lessee: Our tank wants everyone go bowling with him IRL and is busy asking what town the players live in. Our healer wants everyone to join in her effort to save the Nicronium deposits in southern Wherever. And our mage thinks fingernail clippings are the height of classic comedy.

So my Ventrillo doesn't work. Sorry. Broke it the other day. Yep, dog ate it.

[Edited by - AngleWyrm on January 31, 2009 11:58:42 AM]