Mastery and end game in MMOG´s

So a while ago I had an interesting discussion with a teacher where he said that what makes Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG´s) so hard to design is that there are a big amount of players, that all are different.

His point being that they started playing at different times, they play via different time schedules (some play 6 hours a day, while some play 2), some are quick learners, some are not.

Now the biggest challenge in this is the people who play allot. They will quickly reach the end game and “master” the game, while the others drift around the lower levels for a longer time.

So how do we as game designers make both parts happy?

So we have two sides, the lower levels can´t feel powerless. If they are constantly compared to the higher levels, they will feel worthless and lose the interest in the game (it won´t be fun anymore, they will quit). But they still have to see these players from a “distance” so they can be motivated to become like them (keep on playing).

The other side is the end game players, the players who have reached the end game can´t simply “win the game”, but have to be fighting for something (beat bosses, gather gear) or they will get bored because there is nothing to do and ultimately quit.

Now for an example we have two people, Joe, who plays 3 hours a day and Jane who plays 6 hours a day, they have both gotten to the max level and reached the end of the game.

So the players are at the same level, still Jane plays the game twice as much as Joe. 

How do we get Jane to continue playing as much as she does if Joe is at the same level, still he plays half as much?

The thing they have in common is that they both need a goal, so lets give it to them.

Lets say we have levels of gear. Joe is at level 3 and Jane is at level 4, now they both have the goal of getting better gear, this is how many MMOG´s chooses to solve the problem.

Now lets say that Joe notices how far ahead Jane is and starts playing 6 hours a day to catch up. 

Now two things can happen, Jane stills plays 6 hours a day which does not allow Joe to catch up. Joe does not have all the time in the world and can only play his 6 hours a day and gets mad that he can´t catch up with Jane (he thinks the game is unfair).

Or, the game allows him to catch up with Jane, which she will think is unfair.

Conclusion.

Now how do we balance this?

We give the players different levels of goals (the gear levels) and make them take longer and longer to get a hold of. Making it so that when Joe catches up to Jane in the gear level, he will be happy and Jane will feel that she is closer to the next level gear, therefor she will have an advantage even though they have the same gear.

Thanks for reading.

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