I tend to be an empathic kind of guy. Despite my cynicism and sometimes jaded outlook, I care a lot. Especially about things in the world of MMOs. For example, I am frustrated and saddened by the passing of the Marvel MMOG.  I really wanted to see that DC/CoH/Marvel fight. (Aside: that article is really well written. Go me!) Last year I was made emo by a number of things; Vanguard’s suq, Auto Assault’s closure, Gods and Heroes’ cancellation.

There’s something ongoing in Massive games that just makes me dejected, though, and that’s ‘middle levels’. The levels past the ‘newb experience’ and before the ‘endgame’. IE: The stuff everyone mostly wants to skip. The reason: I love those levels! I think the middle levels are freaking awesome. The problem is that both the developers and the players seem to view them more as speedbumps than anything else. As a result, additions to games tend to heavily weight towards either end of the play experience. New character races introduce new newbie experience, while almost every expansion will add (or prolong) endgame content.

Meanwhile, the middlin’ levels are left lolling about wondering why they got out of bed in the morning.  I want to take a moment to pour out a metaphorical beer for my friends, the middle levels.

What makes a middle level so unloved? I think the primary reason is a shift in goals. During the newbie experience, players are working towards understanding. They’re still working out the quirks of their class, getting used to the game UI, and learning how to deal with this brand new world that has such people in it. In EQ2 and World of Warcraft this period ends around level twenty or so. I’d say the second time a player ’shifts venues’ is likely to be the end of his learning experience. After two jumps to a new locale, most players are going to have a good understanding of what the game is like.

At that point the player is no longer playing to learn. With learning no longer the goal, something new has to step in. It varies, obviously. Players with a static group have the goal of meeting expecations. “I have to be there or the group will have no healer.” Players seeking in-game wealth will be looking for prime financial opportunities offered by lower-level experiences.

Most players, though, will be leveling with the goal of engaging in endgame content. Whether they are looking to meet the expectations of a guild, looking forward to endgame PvP, or just want to have really cool looking gear, most level/class games spur the player on to the highest levels.

The problem, as I see it, is that this shift can be done too rapidly. If players stop learning new things early in the leveling process, they’ll quickly see the game as repetitive and lose interest. If the content geared for players just out of the learning process isn’t interesting enough, they players will begin to think the newbie honeymoon was some sort of beautiful lie.

EQ2 has several harsh examples of this, and recently I’ve been thinking this may contribute to the game’s lack of stickiness. For example, old-world players coming out of Freeport (which is in itself a terrible experience) and the Commonlands are sent into Nek forest. Until changes were made to the zone last year tweaking a number of fundemental elements, it was easily one of the most broken zones in the game. The high quality level of the Greater Faydark zone makes for another bad leap. GFay is such a great place to start the game (especially if you’re a Fae). Then you head off to either the Thundering Steppes or Butcherblock Mountains. While I like BB just fine, I’m sure there are a lot of players who find the change jarring.

World of Warcraft also handles this spottily. While Alliance players can look forward to the spooky depths of  Duskwood (a zone I’ll never tire of playing in), they also have RedRidge mountains. The Horde face down Stonetalon and Thousand Needles. With Blizzard’s creation on the tip of our tongues, it’s worth mentioning that they have begun the process of correcting this lack of love for the middle levels. Patch 2.3 added a buttload of new content to Dustwallow Marsh for the highly unloved 35-45 range.  That patch also made essential changes to the speed of leveling from 20-60.

Unfortunately, as much as I love the Dustwallow changes (some of those quests are just awesome), the leveling curve change speaks to Blizzard’s real intent: get players past the middle levels ASAP. In other words, get em’ to the good stuff.

My fervent wish is that someday a dev team will have the time and resources available to look to the present day for inspiration, instead of constantly seeking future glory. My ideas for a WoW expansion may have seemed quite in contrast with what has been announced for Lich King, but they ultimately stem from the same place Blizzard’s does. We both want the game to be fun. I just want the game that’s out *now* to be even more fun.