Raid bosses are considered a major challenge in MMOs, especially when they are freshly released. However, over time players learn all the mechanics and defeat the bosses with ease. But that could soon change.
What is Microsoft working on? In a livestream from Microsoft, software engineer James Trott talked about artificial intelligence in video games. Specifically, it was about teaching the AI to dynamically and in real-time respond to players.
This could lead to bosses that read player behavior and thus autonomously change their mechanics and patterns. A classic meta where teams play with the same setup could be prevented.
Why is this exciting? PvE battles are particularly interesting with new bosses, as players first have to learn the mechanics and discover the specifics of the fight. This leads to races for the “World First” kills, which, similar to WoW, garner interest even on Twitch in some MMOs.
However, after a while, the challenge diminishes. Bosses reach “farm status” and are taken down easily. Dynamic bosses, on the other hand, could remain exciting in the long run, which could bring a lot of fun and replay value.
Trott also mentions that it is challenging not to accidentally make the bosses too difficult.
The machine learns and reads players
What does the developer say exactly? Trott describes in the livestream what Microsoft has been working on and how it could influence raid bosses in the future:
Last year we worked on a project with Microsoft technology to develop an MMO-like system for bosses that learns player behavior in raids.
When the raid battles are running and players find a dominant strategy, the bosses adapt almost in real-time [and] recognize the strategies that players use.
These changes apparently even lead to entirely new mechanics that the developers had not originally intended for the boss.
We experienced a lot of interesting things with genetic algorithms, where the content developed into something new based on a few basic principles that the developers might never have envisioned.
Where are the problems? Implementing dynamic bosses also brings obstacles. One problem is overly strong raid bosses that players can simply never defeat.
For this problem, the developers still need to find solutions, as Trott explains:
The challenge for developers now lies in how to hold back machine learning and simulation given the amount of computing power in the cloud so that NPCs and monsters are not perfect.
Because with enough training and computing power, they will defeat the players every time.
What does this mean for the future? Currently, the systems still seem not advanced enough to implement such raid bosses in MMOs. However, this could be possible in the future.
In almost every PvE content, a meta eventually develops, meaning a group setup with specific skills to defeat a boss effortlessly.
This kind of meta could be dismantled in the future. As the machine becomes more dynamic, players will also need to adjust their behavior. That sounds extremely exciting.
- AI in games is already quite clever in places. It can even create dynamic adventure players itself.
