WildStar Interview

MMORPG.com is offering an interview with Carbine Studios’ producer Troy Hewitt on their upcoming MMO WildStar, which touches upon the game’s conception, the critical elements in the making of an MMO, solo and community content and more. Here’s a lengthy snip to get you started:

MMORPG: When building an MMO, what mechanics do you feel are critical in the making of the game?

TROY HEWITT: Wow, that’s a big question, and it’s an answer that is a little different for each of our departments. Luckily, I’m the one that gets to answer this question, so I’ll tell you what I think is the most critical aspect of an MMO: Social Systems.

I’m talking about guilds with serious management tools. I’m talking about giving individuals opportunities to dominate in a balanced PvP experience and be celebrated for it. I’m speaking to mechanisms that allow the easy sharing of resources and support throughout in-game networks and connections. I’m talking about offering players the chance to enjoy quality in-game alone time if they need it, with options to connect easily and quickly with others should the mood strike you. Social systems are about providing opportunities for individual expression within the game world, and providing venues for you to tell your character’s story on a real-world stage.

So if you are asking me (and you did), the most critical mechanism in the creation of this MMO is facilitating opportunities for superior, high-quality interactions across the spectrum of play styles. That means creating tools for players that allow them to opt into experiences they prefer, and just as importantly, allowing them to opt out of the experiences they don’t.

You’ve heard us say it before: we’re working on full featured MMO here at Carbine. It’s the commitment to knitting all of that together with a suite of community controls that we plan to put in your hands. MMORPG: How important is fusing solo and community content? How often should they overlap?

MMORPG: How important is fusing solo and community content? How often should they overlap?

TROY HEWITT: I think it is very important to that there be some crossover between solo and community content. I saw this on the Internet, so I know it’s a fact: people play MMOs to be in a world with other players. That even applies to people like my boss (I’m looking at you, Senior Producer Eric DeMilt) who don’t want to interact with a ton of other people. While these personality types may not run around the world handing out hugs and exchanging valentines, they are playing in a world that is alive and full of other people. And that’s the magic of MMOs.

That said, I think it is as much a mistake to try to segregate these experiences as it is to force the solo player to group in order to complete a goal. This is where I remind you of our mantra of (play how you want, when you want, with whom you want.) I feel it’s our duty as developers to provide interesting and meaningful reasons for people to engage in community. Imagine the player with a preference for playing solo, riding into town on his epic mount that’s a social interaction that allows a person to show off without being forcing them to engage in ways they’d prefer not to. Then, you’ve got players who group causally to take down a particularly hard boss, or take part in a public event with people they’ve not met, and might not ever speak to again. Then there are players that go so far as to create systems and content to share with others, tradeskillers that create and sell things to others, and those players who dive right in to building those strong social bonds with other players like guild leaders, storytellers, role players and the like.

Ultimately, I believe Solo content and community content aren’t required to be at odds. Carbine’s goal is to give players that choice, letting them sort out how they want to experience WildStar. That being said, if they don’t come out of it having made some meaningful connections with other players, I’ll be surprised.