I am the type of person that plays MMOs solo or with AI bots—I very rarely party with people I don’t know.

Other MMOs that I’ve played tend to create a hostile environment through the way the game’s content is designed and delivered. For example, players can get really territorial over boss kills—players sometimes camp out at the boss’ spawn point for days, and threaten to report other players who “cut in line.”  Then there are MMOs like Final Fantasy XI that force players to play together. The only reason I partied with strangers was because soloing became so outrageously ineffective after level 10. I think that sort of forced player interaction feels dated and arbitrary.

Unlike those MMOs, Guild Wars 2 PvE feels like one giant party. Never have I felt such an immense feeling of community in an MMO. You never need to worry about someone stealing your monster kill (and the full credit) at the last second—now, if someone runs up and kills the monster you’re fighting, both players will get full credit for the kill. This includes any “phat lootz” the monster may have been carrying. I was excited to see other players, and even stopped to help a few people that didn’t even share a quest with me.

That sense of community and collaboration is really well reflected in how the players no longer have to compete for resources. In some MMOs I played, high level players roamed around noobville and trolled all the little nooblets by killing all the monsters needed to complete low level quests. Arena Net solved this problem by level capping areas. What this means is that high level players now have their levels scaled down in certain areas, so as to match the skill level of lower level players. For example, if I am level 10, and I enter an area that’s level capped at 5, then my skills will scale down to match the level 5 challenges and monsters within that area. This has resulted in high level players helping out low level players, instead of destroying and consuming all the resources in the area.  So, if a friend of mine gets the game two months after release, I can still play with him in the low level areas without disrupting other players’ experiences. I can even continue to get experience!

 gw_interaction

These changes have made me a cooperative player in every way. When I played, I revived every downed player that I came across, because that’s just what you do (though getting experience for doing so definitely helps). Taking down a boss with 30 other players was immensely fun, and we never had to form a party or discuss tactics. People just showed up and everyone had a part to play. I always felt like I was contributing, whether I was dealing damage, healing other players, or running around reviving the downed players. The location specific quests (more on quests next week) allowed me to always count on nearby players to help me out.

The lesson here is that if you want your players to play together, then make them want to play together. You have to understand how to direct your players through your content in the context of a multiplayer environment. If you connect every aspect of your game in a logical and cohesive manner, and create an environment where players can benefit by playing together, then players will want to stay longer in your game and experience everything you have to offer.