Instructional Design and Tabula Rasa

Another Wired article caught my eye recently, this one about the next generation of MMORPGs. Susan Arendt writes how the multi-million user/dollar success of World of Warcraft has spawned a gold rush among online companies seeking to cash in on the MMORPG phenomenon.

Most interesting to read was the portion concerning fellow Texan and gaming über-alum Richard Garriott. Garriott was a programming whiz in the early days of personal computers. He had the brainy idea of creating good graphical games for the PC, and sold early copies of the Ultima series on floppy discs packaged in sandwich baggies at Houston area ComputerLand outlets. In due course, the Ultima series grew increasingly complex. Ultima Online, at one time, reigned as the supreme MMORPG, and is generally credited with being the first commercially viable one.

Garriott’s odyssey was wonderfully chronicled in the book Dungeons & Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic by King & Borland (2003). This book is highly recommended reading for any scholar interested in computer games, as it traces the history and development of the industry using Garriott’s story as the frame.

In later years Garriott ended up partnering with Korean gaming powerhouse NCSoft, where he has been applying principles of online learning to entertainment venues. Tabula Rasa is the title of the MMORPG that NCSoft hopes will knock Blizzard’s World of Warcraft off the top spot in worldwide popularity when it is released later this year.

Game scholars know from Gee’s musings that one of the sources of popularity to computer games is their complexity. Simple games, Gee (2003) asserted, don’t sell well. Certainly WoW has proven that point, even with its consideration to avoiding past mistakes in over-complicating game play. It was designed with careful observation of its predecessor king of the MMORPG hill, EverQuest.

EQ was faulted for being a drag in many areas; for being needlessly repetitious and downright painful to play in some ways. WoW designers sought to ease many elements of game play. For instance, the “death penalty” that occurs when players “die” in WoW usually necessitates a “corpse run” from a nearby cemetery. This is a hassle, but not overly so, as most corpse runs can be completed in a matter of minutes. “Resurrecting” at the cemetery causes characters to suffer damage and reduces their stats for 10 minutes. Thus, dying in WoW is not as ornery as it used be in EQ; painful, but not overly so.

Still, WoW and other MMORPGs hold high entry barriers for many people. There are still more people out there who don’t play MMORPGs than those that do. The other element that has given a shot in the arm to the hopes of game execs everywhere is the runaway success of Nintendo’s Wii home gaming console. Where the Sony PlayStation 3 costs around $600, the Wii weighs in at $250. Where complex games available for the Microsoft Xbox take time and effort to learn, the Wii offers games the whole family can play. Another Wired article out today, Triumph of the Wii: How Fun Won Out in the Console Wars, details the rampant success of the Wii, and how it has taken almost everyone in the home console market by complete surprise.

So, Garriott and NCSoft hope to take this new way of thinking about video games to the MMORPG market. Tabula Rasa is supposed to be much easier than WoW. Travel will be instantaneous. Whereas long trips by boat or flying gryphon in WoW may take several minutes, players in TR can zap directly to their destinations. Talents will be easier to switch. In WoW, much time, money, and effort are devoted to leveling characters within particular talent trees. TR promises to simplify the process and allow easier changes for folks unhappy in their talent path. Finally combat, the prime source of action in most MMORPGs, will be different with “point and click” action rather than “click and watch” action.

Garriott promises all these efforts will lead to a more satisfying MMORGP experience, with lower entry barriers to newcomers and more fun for everybody. Instructional designers of educational software, always seemingly at least five years behind the entertainment field, will need to watch and see how TR fairs. If the techniques used are beneficial in helping to ease novices into NCSoft’s online universe, perhaps similar measures could be employed in virtual educational environments.

References

Arendt, S. (2007, June 11). Next-gen multiplayer worlds are built to snare nongamers. [Online]. Available:
http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/news/2007/06/nextgen_mmos

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

King, B. & Borland, J. (2003). Dungeons and dreamers: The rise of computer game culture from geek to chic. New York: McGraw-Hill/Osborne.

Kohler, C. (2007, June 6). Triumph of the Wii: How fun won out in the console wars. [Online]. Available:
http://www.wired.com/gaming/hardware/news/2007/06/wii