I’ve written before about the frustrations players have finding and following content in MMOs. Specifically I think it’d be helpful to have guides or aides that specifically connect players with level-appropriate content. In my discussion of ‘the Personal NPC’, I brush against the problem that players face when they return to a character after an extended absence. Back in the day Brent dropped all of his quests when we left World of Warcraft so that he could come back fresh, and I’ve been reflecting on that ‘coming back fresh’ element. More on that in a sec.

In some ways I think the bewilderment of a returning player is almost equal to the transition from a new player to a veteran. In games like World of Warcraft or Guild Wars there isn’t a lot in the way of a problem there. Point A to Point B, no problem. What about a game like EverQuest 2, though? Or Dungeons and Dragons Online? If you’ve never tried to make your way through that content without a signpost, you’ll know: it’s hard. My thought is that there are ways to solve the issues of contextless gaming and confusing leveling paths. Ways that involve cool instanced visitor centers! Read on.

Coming in fresh, without a lot of context for a game’s story or purpose, is the real hurdle here. If a player is a returning one they’ll probably quickly recall how to actually play the game. Likewise for a new player, the act of playing probably won’t be a big hurdle. Someone that’s never played an MMO ever, of course, is going to have some serious adjustments to make. But for folks that have played at least one other online title, the rules are going to seem very familiar.

No, what both of these types of players actually lack is motivation. Understanding of what they’re ’supposed’ to be doing. New players get over this hurdle quickly because dealing with this disoriented state is entirely what the early game is ‘about’. You log in for the first time and the developers have created a space that will walk you through what you need to know. Returning players, though, are left adrift. They’ve got a quest  log and maybe some inkling of what they were doing when they last logged off.

Without the context of having played recently, returning players are left trying to connect with an entire life they’ve left behind. The threads of their life in that gameworld are tattered and torn, with their strongest links (other players) most likely long gone. Returning to a game after a protracted absence is a dodgy enough decision to begin with – this period of reconnecting is an incredibly fragile moment for players. I don’t have any firm statistics in front of me, but I’m going to guess my own difficulty of rejoining the player populace is representative. Even a player that actively wants to re-engage is going to have a daunting task before them. Less patient players, or players that might only be in for a ‘free weekend’, are almost certainly not going to stick.

My suggestion is to one-up the idea of a player guide with an entire player visitor center. If a player’s account has been inactive for a certain amount of time (I’d say three months or more), characters logged back in should have the option to appear in a themed ‘visitor’s center’ instead of the last place they logged out. This should be optional, obviously, because some players are just not going to need it.

For those that want a bit of reorientation, though, there should be several NPCs and help systems available. The full gamut of the game’s changes should be available in digestible chunks, everything from in-game cinematics to catch a player up with ongoing lore to full-on tutorials for new or expanded mechanics. Helpful minstrels that can spin you the tales of the latest expansion should stand side-by-side with helpers that will let you reset your skills, retrain, or straighten out your inventory.

I’d even go a step further than that, with NPC merchants allowing returning characters the chance to catch up on stats and loot. As an example, imagine a merchant that would sell level 70 World of Warcraft characters with hopelessly outdated gear greens that would put them on par with pre-Wrath equipment.

To jump back with this a bit, I’m very much also in favour of a little handholding for players leveling up through games with confusing zone spreads. Dungeons and Dragons Online, as much fun as it was, is an infuriating game to move through. Both individually and as a group I had absolutely no sense of what content I should have been attempting. My tactic, such as it was, devolved to grabbing every single quest I could and hoping I got one or two in my level range. The quest tracker’s sorting schema made even this default of an idea challenging.

Similar to visitor center guides, helpful NPCs would be a boon in major player cities with leveling problems like DDO. Even just a simple suggestion of what zone to be in would be a huge help for players looking to get ahead in the game. The default assumption seems to be that all players are relying on external guides to move through the game. Indeed, that’s a generally safe assumption … but not only does it seem kind of lazy, it offloads a bunch of work onto the player. “Here’s a bunch of content,” the developers seems to say. “Work out what you should be doing.” That’s all well and good if you’re caught up to bleeded edge of expansions or working your way through a just launched game, but what about five years down the line?

EQ2 is a fantastic example of this, because at level 59 I have roughly 1,000 zones to adventure in. Which one is ideal for my level? Which one should be seeking solo content in, and which one should I be looking to for group activities. Yes, I know the answer to that thanks to EQ-IQ, but my point is that I shouldn’t have to go looking for that kind of information external to the game. Why isn’t there a bard in Freeport somewhere that can give me rumors of solo adventures in Tenebrous Tangle, or hilarious group hijinks in the Clefts of Rujark?

Ultimately I’m not looking to be coddled here. I don’t want to be babied or railroaded … I just want a sense of what I should be doing so I’m not wasting my time. Time is valuable. The DCUO developers impressed me greatly back in Austin by proclaiming their respect for player time, and I’m right there with them on that.

If I have time to play, I want to play damnit. I don’t want to go searching through your endless expansions and patches for the quest lines I should be doing. I don’t want to guess which zone I should be in. If I’m returning to a game I don’t want to have to remember what quest line I was in the middle of months and months ago. I want to jump in, have fun, and get on with the important work of playing.