Mobile MMORPGs are on the rise. They are particularly popular in Asia. However, there is one feature that is not well-liked here: Autoplay. MeinMMO author Andreas Bertits has taken a closer look at this feature.
What is Autoplay anyway? Autoplay is a convenience feature. It allows players to skip game elements that they might not enjoy. This includes long treks to quest objectives, grinding, or battles that aren’t particularly exciting but are dictated by the gameplay. Autoplay is mainly found in Asian MMORPGs, primarily in Mobile Games – including titles like Black Desert Mobile or Lineage 2 Revolution.
Asian MMORPGs often rely on grinding, which means repetitive tasks that players must complete to earn rewards. These rewards can be better skills, level-ups, or more powerful items. However, grinding takes a lot of time. Time that not everyone has. Therefore, in some games, it is possible to deliberately bypass such game elements. While players are at work or doing something else, grinding happens automatically. The player returns and collects the rewards.
However, it is a feature that does not necessarily meet with much favor here. MeinMMO readers have expressed the following, which you can read in the article “There are more and more high-quality Mobile MMORPGs – But is this the future of the genre?“:
- Jona writes: “No serious MMORPG should aim for a future on mobile devices. The controls are terrible and the gameplay is mostly automated and shallow.”
- Luripu says: “V4 looked decent on PC, if I set aside the missing AAA. But the game itself was pure auto mode = yawn.”
- Fain explains: “Somehow no developer dares to release MMORPGs without Autoplay in this area.”
Autoplay certainly has its justification
Why do such features even exist? Such “shortcuts” through automated systems are not to be condemned in general, as they have their fair share of “fans.” This is not only the case with Asian MMORPGs. One only needs to look at the browser game Shakes & Fidget.
The developer studio Playa Games broke down the entire gameplay of an online role-playing game to its essentials in the 2009-released role-playing game.
- Players take on quests in the city, which are automatically fought based on the values of the heroes.
- Afterward, there are rewards, and the player can improve their hero.
- This allows them to climb the rankings, complete more difficult quests, take on more powerful players in PvP, and be more useful in guild wars and guild missions.
Shakes & Fidget is predominantly a passive game that you can play alongside other activities. And it is very successful. It has won several awards, including the prize for the best German casual game at the German Developer Award 2009 and was named Game of the Year by Gamestar in 2010. The ratings in the Google Play Store, in the Apple App Store and on Steam are very favorable. There are said to be more than 40 million registered players (via Wikipedia).
Video games that shorten or automate certain gameplay elements are therefore not received as poorly here as one might believe.
Where does the principle come from? Autoplay is therefore a feature that serves convenience. It is fundamentally based on macros that existed as far back as Ultima Online, the first online role-playing game to officially receive the designation MMORPG. Even at the time of its release in 1997, players wanted to shorten certain actions or automate them when they were not sitting at their PCs. Thus, they developed so-called macros – small programs through which characters in the MMORPG could automatically mine, for example.
Autoplay in modern mobile MMORPGs essentially takes this to the next level. Players basically just have to press the Autoplay button, and the game character automatically completes missions, fights independently, and the player only has to collect loot and rewards. They then focus on playing only the elements they deem important, such as raids, boss fights, or the PvP part.
Autoplay: Meaningful or not?
The question that arises is: Why are gameplay elements even built into a game when developers simultaneously give players options to simply skip them?
This is what MeinMMO author Andreas Bertits thinks: There are certainly players who do not use Autoplay. They want to actively experience the grinding and every little battle themselves. However, no one is forced to use Autoplay. The content in the game actually has its purpose. However, Autoplay has become so entrenched in Asian MMORPGs that it is a feature many players frequently use and now likely expect.
Could these games not simply eliminate grinding and the “unimportant” quests and battles and really offer exciting and challenging content that players must actively experience? Instead of constantly making players fight a certain number of enemies in standard quests – wouldn’t a really interesting quest with a good story and a challenging battle be more meaningful to level up? The rewards could be the same.
Well, PvE is often only there to enhance the hero and to obtain important items for the PvP battles that matter to players. This means that PvE is generally often skipped there.
However, it is still part of it, as rewards should be earned. Ideally, this happens because players complete quests and fights themselves. If that is not possible due to time constraints, Autoplay at least conveys the feeling that quests were played – even if automatically. It does not simply display a screen with the rewards; the hero actually walks to the destination, fights, and completes the mission. The character has therefore earned the loot in a way. You can read more about the differences between Asian and Western players at Plarium. This topic is also discussed in forums such as MMORPG.com.
As mobile gaming is prevalent in Asia, small touch screens often result in MMORPGs not allowing for particularly comfortable controls. Therefore, especially on smaller smartphones, an option to bypass grinding or undesirable game elements for the sake of convenience is welcome.
Autoplay is thus a mix of convenience and tradition. While grinding is traditionally a staple in Asian MMORPGs, options to not always have to pursue it without penalties are also welcomed. It is simply a different way to play an MMORPG. A way that differs from how an online role-playing game is often enjoyed in the “West.” And Autoplay is also generally not a bad option for those who have little time but still want to achieve something in an online role-playing game.
How well Mobile MMORPGs with Autoplay are received is demonstrated by the new Mobile MMORPG A3: Still Alive, which had over 1 million players shortly after its launch.
