The Implications of a Setting
This is another one of those posts that I started an eternity around and just never got around to wrapping it up. More specifically: I wrote this back in 2007, so it might be disjointed.
Although I like both, I’m more of a game guy than a world guy, and the setting isn’t one of my priorities in game design (partially because I’m not senior enough to have a say in the setting). Even though I’m not overly concerned with the setting of the projects I work on, it’s a huge piece of any game. As a customer, it’s often going to determine whether I have any interest in the game, and that does translate to a degree of excitement for designing the game. When I write up various crazy-game concepts for fun, sometimes I leave the setting rather vague. That doesn’t work well if anyone else reads the concept, because the setting is one of the most visible elements and it’s easy to grasp. So, I’ve been thinking about various elements of a setting and how they relate to Pirates, my concepts and various other games. This isn’t intended to be a complete overview of the features of settings. Also, this is only about the setting’s impact on the game, and is not the sole determinant for any of these factors.
- Recognition: What degree of recognition do players have when they see a brief glimpse of the setting?
If you see a fantasy game, you immediately recognize the setting and the implications. If you see Pirates of the Burning Sea, you immediately understand the setting… it’s the Caribbean. High degrees of recognition make something more accessible.
- Instant Appeal: How strong is the immediate appeal of the setting?
Once the player recognizes a setting, is it going to appeal as a place they want to visit? High degrees of instant appeal attract new players.
- Long-term Appeal: How strong is the appeal of the setting once you’ve broken the surface and delved into the depths?
Someone took the leap and visited the setting, but do they want to live there? A post-apocalyptic setting might work great for a game like Fallout, but it sure didn’t do any favors for Auto Assault. It’s important to make the distinction between a place where you want to visit and a place where you want to live. WoW’s world is a very appealing place to live overall, but there are numerous places within the world where you would only want to visit. That’s important. High degrees of long-term appeal keep players interested in the game.
- Curiosity: How much curiosity does the setting evoke?
You want an element of mystery and the unknown, places to explore and things to discover. High degrees of curiosity translate into long-term appeal.
- Historical: How historical is the setting?
Historical and realistic settings are a double edged sword. High degrees of historical accuracy means increased recognition and instant appeal with decreased design freedom.
- Freedom: How much design freedom is there in the setting?
When it comes to determining if I want to work on a project, this is the big one for me. Pirates certainly has a lot more flexibility now than it did in the past, as a result of our development history. When you are deciding on a setting, it’s critical to consider how much freedom it offers. The more something is based on an existing premise, the less freedom. This is true for both historical/realistic games and licensed games. If you’re set in the real world at a real place in history, then the users are going to expect things to be a certain way. They’re going to complain when you deviate from their expectations, and they are going to want justification for everything from skills to art. This funnels energy towards recreating the known instead of creating the unknown. Also, there are always going to be users who know more than most of the development team does (before the game launches) if you aren’t using your own setting.
Here’s my point of contention: complete setting recognition is a Bad Thing. If players know everything about the setting before they begin playing, then it doesn’t create a spark of curiosity. They may feel a strong instant appeal, but there’s less long-term appeal. It’s harder to surprise people if they know everything about the setting before they play the game. This is another place where WoW succeeds, because it has a highly recognizable setting that still offers plenty of new experiences and rewards for curiosity. There’s a fine line to cross here, because it’s very common for people to want to live in a world they know.
However, it’s crucial to provide the element of discovery in familiar settings. Otherwise, too many players will quickly reach a point where they realize they’ve seen it all. Just because you’re in a known IP doesn’t mean that there can’t be any sense of discovery. Think about how similar this is to art history. Paintings gradually became more and more realistic until they reached a point where they had to take it in other directions. They reached a point where reality no longer held the same appeal.