Why Cooperative Multiplayer Is Best
The first cooperative gameplay in a videogame that I remember experiencing was in an Atari 2600 game called "Starmaster." It was not a multiplayer game. Starmaster used all the toggles on the Atari's main console (normally reserved for switching between color and black & white, or selecting a game mode) as extra controls beyond the main controller (which was only a joystick and a single fire button). This meant you had to play the game sitting right next to the main console to switch between combat mode & navigation mode. Or you could do what my best friend, Kevin, and I would do. We organized play by switching off in Star Trek style between being the pilot and "navigation." One person manned the joystick controller, the other manned the console at the pilot's orders.

It wasn't intended to be played that way, but we had a lot of fun. We jokingly nicknamed each other "Captain Quark" and "Captain Smirk" or something when we alternated acting as the pilot. We cracked jokes and made fun of the game and ourselves the whole night --- and played until about 2 in the morning. Our cooperative "metagame" made Starmaster much more fun.

Years later, during my freshman year of college. Some friends and I decided to go hit the Pie Pizzaria across the street from campus for some late night snacking and chatting. We saw the arcade game "Gauntlet" sitting in the corner, which I'd played a couple times on my own with only lukewarm interest. Three of us put in quarters and tried the simultaneous play. We had a DELERIOUSLY fun time helping each other out when we got in trouble, getting into brief arguments over who needed the food more, or coordinating who'd hold off the monsters while someone else went after the monster generator.

After a couple of dollars' worth of quarters, I became convinced that Gauntlet was one of the most brilliant game designs of all time.

My favorite boardgames for more than 2 players are those with a strong cooperative element. Supremacy. Cosmic Encounters. Arkham Horror. Arkham Horror is probably my favorite boardgame ever (now in a brand-new and expensive edition), and it's got such a strong cooperative element that we rarely ever keep score of who "won" the game - beating the doom of Arkham is enough of a victory for all.

Time and time again, my favorite multiplayer game experiences have been the ones when I've been working WITH other players instead of AGAINST them. Sure, there's a great thrill in the duels against friends, some of them memorable, but the cooperative (or at least team-based) always seem sweeter to me. You can take a look at the Game Moments Index - there are three stories (currently) about coop gameplay, and only one about player-versus-player - and that was against a close friend. And of course, most MMO players are aware of how much more popular the "PvE" (cooperative, more-or-less) games and servers are over their heavily "PvP" counterparts.

Yet for some reason, when I created Void War, I focused on player-versus-player. There were a lot of reasons, but the most powerful ones were simply the prejudices I carried with me from being a hard-core gamer and working in the mainstream game industry... PvP was where it was AT, baby! Cooperative modes were harder to develop, anyway, and not as sexy, so they were always an "optional" feature that tended to get dropped near the end of the schedule.

After Void War was released and I got a chance to talk and play with actual customers and interested players, I discovered that a lot (I'd say, the vast majority) of players were reluctant to try the game online. Why bother? Victory against total strangers is hollow, especially if you aren't sharing the experience with a friend. And as a newbie, who wants to be humiliated by said strangers with far more experience?

This isn't just the case with Void War, of course. This is true of many other games. My own shelves are full of multiplayer games, and I've only played a fraction of them online - and half of those have only been BY APPOINTMENT with friends. My own little community that transcends fandom of individual games. Shouldn't this be telling me something?

By comparison, with cooperative modes, players who don't feel a pressing need to prove their alpha-geekness are more encouraged to play multiplayer. They can have a mentor (a more experienced player - often the friend who encouraged them to play the game) covering their butt. Any "embarassment" of failure in a cooperative game will not be ridiculed by opposing players. An inexperienced player may expect some level of help from other players as they strive together for a common goal. A player who isn't inspired or encouraged by "smack-talk" is unlikely to have to endure it. They are more likely to be welcomed as an asset by a team battling computer-controlled opponents than as a liability in a team-vs-team game where they become one more target for the enemy to score against.

In short, it's a much friendlier, welcoming environment for new players. It's a way to ease people in, encourage more sociability, and build community.

My own feeling now is that, in the future, ASSUMING I am designing a multiplayer game, cooperative gameplay will be the top priority. PvP will be the optional feature to add if there's room in the schedule.

Labels: Game Design

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 12:49 PM (Permalink)