In the official forum of the MMORPG Shroud of the Avatar, there is currently an interesting discussion taking place that raises the question of whether regular quests work in an MMORPG.
The mission is to defeat the evil undead king who terrorizes the village. In the dark dungeon, you face the creature and defeat it. The village is saved! Or is it? Because the undead king respawns and the village is still in danger.
Then one realizes that one can never truly save the village and that the undead king will rule forever – after all, all the other players also want to defeat him and claim the loot.
Consequences of Phasing
The feeling of being able to achieve something in the game world, to bring about a change and to receive visible consequences for one’s actions, is difficult to implement in MMORPGs. The Elder Scrolls Online attempts this with the phasing system, bringing players together in the instances of an area that show specific consequences of an action.
However, this leads to players only being able to play with certain other players in these instances and not with everyone.
In a single-player RPG, this is not an issue. The undead king is defeated and the village is indeed saved. One gets the feeling of having truly achieved something and having brought about a change.
In the upcoming MMORPG Shroud of the Avatar, there are also these “regular” quests like: save the child, kill the bandit leader or find the murderer. Quests that should actually have a consequence. The child should be reunited with its mother, the bandit king should remain defeated, and the murderer should go to prison – but that does not happen.
Do MMORPGs Need a Different Narrative Structure?
The conclusion of a quest remains unsatisfactory. The child never meets its mother, the bandit leader respawns, and the murderer remains at large. This has now led to an interesting discussion in the SotA forum.
Do such “regular” quests in an MMORPG even make sense if, due to the online nature of the game, no consequences can be portrayed, leaving every quest with an unsatisfactory feeling?
Solution: Unconditionally Centering the Player
One proposed solution in the discussion: The narrative in an MMORPG must unfold differently. The story must always center around the player. Everything revolves around them, and the NPCs are mere side notes.
So one saves the child, hears during the travels how it was reunited with its mother. An NPC congratulates the hero for having saved the child.
Many consequences of one’s actions would not even be seen, as they are uninteresting for the player. Only one’s own actions count, not what the NPCs experience as a consequence afterward.
The First-Person Perspective as a New Narrative Style in MMORPGs
This solution would mean: A narrative structure from the first-person perspective. Only what one truly does drives the story forward, not what would be attached to a story if told from a third-person perspective. Actions outside of what a player experiences are irrelevant.
You probably would also need to adjust the quests accordingly, designing missions in such a way that they do not require immediate and visible consequences. This raises the question of whether such an approach might work better in an MMORPG.
What do you think? Does it bother you that most MMORPGs lack real consequences for your actions? Would you prefer a different narrative structure? What do you think this might look like? Let us know in the comments.
