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Musings: Abstracted Communication in MMORPGs

March 16, 2007 | Leave a Comment

noob says to you: “Occasionally I wonder, is there an advantage in MMORPGs for an abstracted communication model for all in game conversation?

In most modern MMOs and in nearly all single player games, the concept of abstracted communication is embraced when it comes to interactions between the player and the NPC. There is a nice menu of choices for what the player might “say” and the NPC responds to that choice as defined by a basic or branching logic tree.

This model is also supported in multi-player interactions on a rudimentary level in some team based and competitive multi-player games, such as Battlefield 1942 where there are a set number of communication options for players to relay necessary game information to teammates. Still other games implement abstracted communication for “trash talking” to the other side, pre-set insults and taunts which allow for bragging rights, but keeping the nature of the bragging within acceptable limits.

What then, if developers took the next iterative step and limited all game supported communication in an MMO to just pre-generated menu choices?

Some possible advantages:

Decreases the PC/NPC immersion gap.
With an abstracted communication model in place for all conversation, NPCs and PCs would interact similarly and in some cases might be indistinguishable from one another.
Gives another possible pathway for character “advancement.”
With more time in the game, a character might gain more communication options. Certain ability scores might lend to more communication behaviors or choices in different conversational styles.
Words might have “power.”
PvP or PvE might be conducted in a dialogue tree. With statements and replies all being “knowns” each could be weighted or valued to generate a victory condition.

Neutral effects:

Impact to role-playing.
For many structured conversations would enforce the role-play element in MMORPGs since all communication would, by design, be in character. However, being forced into a pre-set number of choices for expression is not exactly a role-players idea of utopia.

Some disadvantages and drawbacks:

Drives folks to external game communications mediums.
With the prevalence of voice chat in MMOs, having a contrived menu-based communication as the only in-game option will push more folks to communicate outside the game.
Pre-written responses would become repetitive quickly.
Unlike in real-life, canned video game solutions don’t hold up well over time. Without an unimaginably robust system of conversation openers, replies and finishers, gamers would get pretty tired of the pre-set menu model in a hurry.

Since this is just idle musing on my part, there isn’t any clear-cut conclusion in my head. I believe that an abstracted system might work in situations where the developer wanted to mimic player behavior by NPCs. Couple this with an anonymous or system based identification system and the two might become virtually indistinguishable.”

You say:
1. That would never work and it is true because it is a fact.
2. Your words are those of a poet who does not rhyme, yet creates no lasting impression.
3. I would like a pony.

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