Game Objectives & MMO Games (Part I)

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This document has been sitting on my drive collecting dust for a couple of months now, and I've been meaning to finish it for quite some time, but have been too busy. A recent conversation with a few friends reminded me about it, and I figured it would be worth posting if only to provide fellow Tribes players arsenal from which to construct their own gametypes. By providing arsenal, I mean the "4 root objectives" that every multiplayer shooter uses- either alone or in combination.

I will eventually write a second part to this where I discuss different directions a Tribes MMO game could take. It would be much more interesting to post what other people come up with, however- so if you have any interesting ideas for gametypes that would work well in an MMO format while still staying true to the essence of Tribes, post them up here (use the terminology I provide here, of course). This is simply rhetorical and for fun- there are no plans to make an MMO.

Tribes MMOFPS Format

The primary objective SOE set fourth in its MMOFPS Planetside was territory acquisition- and that objective simply makes sense when talking about the logic of an MMO, and really ought to set the standard for other MMOFPS games. As of now, no notably successful MMOFPS games have been made other than Planetside, so the genre stands largely uncontested. In Planetside, there is much land to be used to play on- it'd make sense the acquisition of the land would be the primary objective. The format Planetside uses for players to achieve the primary goal is a system of capturing bases, either by destroying the base gens (or otherwise taking their power offline), or by hacking the base. Bases were connected with a lattice sytem- so you could only take bases connected to a base you already own, in order to “sweep” the continent you were playing on.

In Tribes, the primary gametype the community was built around was CTF. And in Tribes CTF, the primary objective- the objective which decides who wins and who loses- is the number of flag captures your team has. The “base” game, involving defending your base and attacking the enemy base, is a secondary objective- while the base game is normally very important in achieving flag captures, it is not always needed- especially on maps that lend itself to “cluster” or “spawn” play. This appears to be diametrically opposed to Planetside's system based on land acquisition.

In the later years of Planetside, the win-game was altered a bit- instead of just hacking the base in order to claim it, you hacked the base to acquire a “flag” from the base, and then you had to take that flag back to a base you already owned to claim the new base. This played similar to standard CTF- but the difference is you had to have a teammate hack the base first, and even before the flag game existed, hacking the base took some time. You had to protect your hacker while he was doing it, and if he died another hacker would have to start all over again.

Already we can see how the team-centric Tribes gameplay might just “fit the mold” of an MMOFPS, but instead of trying to force it, it seems more logical to address all of the different objective systems used in traditional shooter games, and see which combination of objectives tailor themselves to the gameplay of Tribes, and of an MMO.

These objectives likely go by other names in the realm of game theory, but I am using my own names and definitions for simplicity.

Objectives

Object-centric Objectives – In gametypes that use object-centric objectives, each team has an object, and one team scores by taking an object away from the enemy team while their team is still in possession of their object. The classic version of a gametype that uses object-centric objectives is Capture the Flag. There are multiple variations of game rules that use this type of objective- objects can be touch-returned or have the need to be “brought home”. In “reverse CTF” the position of the flags is reversed- so instead of having to run to the enemy side to get the flag, you begin with the flag, and have to bring it to the enemy side while your flag is still on its stand. Another derivation of this gametype simply calls for one team to hold onto an object for as long as possible without having to deliver it anywhere.

Touch Objectives – Touch objectives need to be touched in order to satisfy the win condition. One team tries to prevent the other team from doing this. Often gametypes that revolve around a touch objective will give each team a turn at attacking and defending the goal. In the first round, if one team ends up touching the goal, in the subsequent round, the other team tries to touch the goal in less time than the first. Again, the gametypes that use a touch objective can have many varying rules.

Hold Objectives – Hold objectives require players to stand within a limited distance away from a specific object or location in order to win. King of the Hill is a classic example of a game-type that employs use of the Hold Objective. With touch objectives, either you are awarded points for the time you are within the “win area”, or you win by standing in the “win area” a specific duration of time. In the former case, the amount of points determines who wins, but in either case, it's about surviving in confinement, which can prove challenging in a shooter game.

Destroy Objectives – Destroy objectives require players to destroy an object (such as a generator) to satisfy a win condition. An object has a certain amount of health (or some other vital) that needs to be brought down to 0 by causing it damage with weapons fire. (Note- this is not the same as objectives requiring a bomb to be planted to detonate an object- that is usually using some other objective type such as a hold objective).

These 4 objectives are the traditional “root” objectives of which all other objectives are based off (in some combination or sense) for shooter games. You either have to kill something (destroy something), sit still for a while (hold), get to a certain location (touch), or bring an object back to your team (object-centric) in most shooter games to win. In a sense, you can call these objectives the “mother objectives” (the sauces of tasty videogame cuisine). Even arena and deathmatch-style games belong to an objective type here, and that is “destroy”- you want to destroy the other team's members before they destroy your team members.

The reason I point out these 4 root objectives is it makes it easy to craft a gametype using them. One thing worth nothing is that these objectives can easily be used to define the metagame of previous Tribes games. Your HOF (heavy-on-flag) sits on your flag as long as possible to protect it, a capper is obviously aiming for the flag (object-centric), your HO (heavy offense) are trying to take out the enemy generators, turrets, and HOF (destroy), and usually all of your team members want to touch an inventory station to load out with gear (touch). All of these actions (with the exception of flag capping) are secondary objectives.

How does Tribes fit the picture of an MMOFPS though? In an MMOFPS, land acquisition is the primary objective. But as you can see, that primary objective is completed by performing the root objectives over and over again to acquire land. Hacking an enemy base is actually a form of “Hold objective” where you need to hold the room the hacker is in and protect him- the duration of the “Hold” being how long it takes to complete he hack. All the other ways I described that you can use to take over a base in Planetside can be explained by Object, Touch, Hold, and Destroy.

But how do we apply this knowledge to Tribes when making a gametype suitable for an MMO?