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Exclusive LOTR: Siege of Mirkwood Interview - Part 2
The second part of chat with Jeffrey Steefel, LOTRO's executive producer. Today we discuss the potential of console MMOs
Written by Andy Griffiths, 22 October 2009
GamerZines: The console platform seems like a huge opportunity for any MMO developer. Lots of companies seem to try but nobody seems to be able to pull it off. Why do you think that is?
Jeffrey Steefel: The biggest reason is that they aren't thinking about it as a different experience. This has always been the case with ports in general- from PC to console or vice versa. It's a lot more acute with an MMO because there's so much interaction required between players. But taking a game from the PC which is fundamentally a different kind of device and just bringing it over to the console without looking at what the needs of console play are is the biggest issue. There's an assumption that it's an easy way to make new money for an existing product, rather than saying what's the heart and soul of what you've built. What is it about your gameplay that's valuable to be successful on a completely different platform? A PC is a great device for managing lots of information, that's why it's great for RTS and MMO, where you've got a cockpit more complicated than a space shuttle. A console is great for immediate, very responsive gameplay and that's what it was created for. You really have to focus on the console experience that you want to create and that's what we are very focused on, as we start thinking about the platform.
GZ: Talking from an interface standpoint, how would you map the controls to certain functions? Have you figured that out or is it an ongoing process?
JS: Well yes and yes. We think we know how to do it, we've hammered it out and tried a lot of experiments and it's an ongoing process. But I think it comes down to the process, you don't approach it as:
"I've built MMOs before and I know how they need to function and I like to build one on a console, so how do I map those functions to certain buttons." You basically say "The first thing I need to do is simplify the experience."
360Zine Issue 53
For our latest Lord of the Rings coverage, click here to download 360Zine Issue 53 for free.The PC experience of an MMO is far too complicated for a console. It's a completely different experience, there's too many decisions and choices to be made. MMOs intentionally slow in pace to allow your time to make choices and push all the buttons. Console games are fun because they are responsive and immediate, therefore there isn't enough time to make those decisions. You don't want to have one hundred skills in an MMO on a console, you don't want to have a story interaction that's based on a lot of text or walking around and talking to people. You also have the issue of fundamental things like social interaction and chat, how will people reach out to each other and communicate? How do you make a game that doesn't require a huge amount of communication back and forth? Which people depend on for text chat for on the PC. The U.I work and mapping is hard, but that's the easy part. What's hard is figuring out how to build a game that suits the platform, so then some of the decisions on how the controller works become more obvious.
GZ: Would you say it's more of a streamlining process then? Electing what you want to keep and what you think should be left out?
JS: To keep and also add - from a design perspective recognising this is a different environment - it's about what things are strong about an MMO, about what we do as a company that is going to be as or more compelling on a console, things like persistence is not common on a console but that's a centrepiece of what we do. Some of the storytelling that we do, some of the character persistence, these are things that consoles don't do a lot of and so they are all things that translate very well.Running around and spending a lot of time with the environment through your mouse is something that isn't as compelling on a console, so then you have to think about why is it fun for players on a PC. Think about the motivation, exploration, being involved in a story and having a compelling set of objectives which you can deliver all those things on a console, only you need to deliver them in a different way. So you have to think of it as a new game and what do we know about persistence worlds and persistence RPG's that will translate well to console and start from that. Rather than how do we take the game we have and move as much of it as we can to another platform intact, because that's the wrong approach.
GZ: Do you think LOTR on line is a natural fit because of the licence, because of mass appeal that it offers?
JS: We think there are lots of things that are very amiable to consoles. We're not talking about exactly what they are yet but we are really focussed on the stuff we were just talking about, regardless of what the IP is- how we communicate the right kind of gameplay and what should combat be like. How do we make sure our technology and our engine is functioning the way we need it to on a new platform with efficiency and all that stuff.
GZ: What platform would you want to put your titles on? Have some manufacturers been more open than others and do all of them want to, at least, talk about it?
JS: We are working predominantly with Microsoft and Sony right now but we are open to talking to the other hardware manufacturers. They are all actively involved and figuring out what the next steps are for this kind of entertainment on their consoles - they're both clear that this is part of the future. What's exciting about doing this is that it's not all figured out yet and so we can hopefully participate with them in helping to define what the most successful experiences are going to be on these consoles. There's no question you can just look at the strategy behind both companies that bringing their consoles online, building the capability of their digital download services and creating communities. Microsoft's and Sony's strategy is online and they are both very actively involved in that. It's really just about how and everybody is trying to figure out what the most effective way is to do it. In terms of how players are going to interact with the live servers, with the game and what kind of business models work. The hardware manufacturers have an opinion but it's uncharted territory and we're all figuring it out together.
Lord of the Rings coverage available in 360Zine Issue 53 - click here to download it for free!
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