Along time ago, in a game far far away, a community was born. With bows at the ready, swords craving violence, and battle spells manifesting the Gaiscioch Social Gaming Community was born. Created out of necessity, as a home for those cast out by other guilds and clans. A home for the underdogs, the left behind, and the forgotten.
It began as a simple idea. A means of sharing childhood stories with a roleplay community in the land of Hibernia. From our humble beginnings in Dark Age of Camelot we sprung to life and grew rapidly. Today we look back at 15 years of history and see a long road of lessons learned, adventures shared, and life long friendships made.
Originally our community was focused on roleplay and realm vs realm warfare. For nearly 5 of our 15 years we rocked the battlefield in Dark Age of Camelot. Our Realm vs Realm tradition continued as we launched into Warhammer Online.
Choosing a battlefield was easy in the beginning. A: Did the game have RvR? B: Was the game fun? Done. Simple. Only one demographic to worry about. Only a handful of games available on the market. Being small and focused had it’s advantages. It made the path in which we travel clear.
After Warhammer Online we moved to RIFT after the lure of new frontiers and PvP combat. With the promise of a Realm vs Realm system we jumped in the pool before it went live. The Realm vs Realm mechanic was pulled right as it entered into open beta and we were left wondering if the choice was right. Did we jump to hastily?
It turned out a good decision in the end and we ended up exploring a whole new kind of content. We forged friendships with developers and made the best of it for the next 2 years. This game gave us an endless guild roster, which we tested with leaps and bounds. Twice we managed to break the guild system. Our numbers at one point exceeded 5,000 characters in the roster.
By the time RIFT started to falter, we knew we had to come up with a system for chapter selection. I looked at some of the other large scale communities like The Syndicate and Acolytes and saw just what negative effects that come with diversifying too widely. The loss of player contact with leadership, the feeling of being “the bastard stepchild”, the management tasks that constantly pull you away from playing the game. This was not the life I wanted, and not the way I wanted Gaiscioch to go.
Instead I chose a focused approach. Where we focused our efforts toward one or two “Chapters” of our Gaiscioch Story. We came up with a guideline for chapters both designed to outline the types of games that I personally can be passionate about and games that provide the most opportunity for success of our community as a whole. I know one thing is certain. If I’m not passionate about the games we play, the community at large suffers. The amount of time and dedication it takes to constructing tools for our website, requires that I enjoy the journey. Otherwise, play becomes work and is no longer something I do for fun.
I sat down with the elders at the time and compiled a list of things that we would like to see in our “perfect” home. We polled the community for what they thought was important and we compiled them into groups.
Now let me be clear. No game is perfect. Every game has shortcomings. It is because of this I have decided to reveal our Chapter Compatibility Matrix so that other communities, Game Developers and Producers can see what we as a community think is important in a game. Our matrix is broken into sections and each section is broken into importance level ranging from we think this feature is cool, to features that are essential.
This list is continuously changing as we experience new features or different ways of doing things. Some items have been removed in the past because after using them we saw the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Just as games will never be perfect, neither will we and what we think is what we want. There are however, rock solid factors, that will make or break our ability to succeed in a game.
I think it’s important for every guild, clan, or community to look at their own community and define their Ideal game. What would be part of your perfect game? This will allow you to view the future with fact and not the hype that typically comes with a game. A good marketing team can convince you anything is good idea. It turns your process into a simple yes or no.
For us we require a score of 60% against our compatibility matrix to just consider the title. Then it comes down to how responsive devs are, pricing models, and most importantly of all player satisfaction. But before we even compare it against our Compatibility Matrix we run it against a series of essential features that are required in all games we play.
Let’s take a look at these features and I will explain why they are so important. These are referred to as the Core Requirements for Chapter Consideration.
Before we even run a game across our full matrix, we run it across our Core Eligibility Requirements to see if it contains the required ingredients. Without these items present in the game, not just in idea but in practice, we will not consider the game for chapter selection. Each of these items is worth 25 points on our scorecard.
Once a game has passed our initial Core Eligibility Requirements, we then run it across our full Chapter Compatibility Matrix. The main portion of our matrix is divided into various categories. These categories are how we view the potential for success for each of our player demographics, and for the community as a whole.
Each of these areas are given a compatibility score from 1 to 100%. Line items have been collected over the years from the favorite features players who enjoy that playstyle have enjoyed. Each line item is given an importance rating such as:
This is the single most important part of any game. It can make or break the game no matter how good the content is. A good guild system will allow us to grow and entertain the masses. A bad system will begin ripping us apart from the inside out, right out of the gate. The falloff is rapid, the pains of maintenance are high, and everyone feels left out. This is also the largest growing epidemic in the MMO space right now.
So many newer titles are reducing guild sizes, removing communication channels, and hiding guild names making it impossible for communities like ours to even exist let alone thrive. Things that were a staple of games like Dark Age of Camelot, Everquest, Lineage, Star Wars Galaxies and World of Warcraft are now being removed. Why we are unsure. Where are the Alliances in games? Why is every new game limiting rosters to 100 people? Why are custom chat channels absent in new games? The very core staples of the classics have long since been forgotten. We’re left with a barrage of games that are from the ground up antisocial, pushing players to be self reliant, and punishing communities for being successful.
Let’s take a look to the many features that we see as important for the Guild System in any game.
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Rewards for Intraguild Participation
One thing I would love to see in a game is a participation system that rewards players for participating with the guild. The more they team up with other members the more they are rewarded for their efforts.
Rewards for Taking Care of Others
It would be awesome for a game to reward players for opting out of loot rolls, helping new players, and generally encouraging behavior that we’d like to see more of in games. Being helpful instead of selfish, being friendly instead of rude, being a guardian rather than a bully.
Guilds Taking Ownership of New Player Quest hubs
I would be ecstatic if there were systems in place where Guilds could claim a starter town that they could upgrade to provide new players quests, merchants, additional goods and bonuses at a cost of a hourly rent charge. While most guilds would avoid claiming such places communities like ours who go out of our way to take care of new players would be able to help offer guidance and services to new players and leave a memorable first encounter in their minds. Perhaps even add a Stockpile that Guild Crafters and Collectors could toss items into that would randomly be distributed to players hunting in the area.
Shared Knowledge Base
It would be wonderful for a player to be able to learn a rare ability or crafting recipe and be able to teach the guild how to do it. Then anyone in the guild would have access to that skill or recipe so long as their part of the guild. If they leave, they will no longer be able to use that skill or recipe and will have to learn it on their own.
The general tone in player behavior has changed over the years and with a little help from the game mechanic guilds can both be a rewarding experience for players in guild and out.
This is the second most important category for us as without the ability to communicate and participate the whole experience falls apart. Having a great social system that draws people together and provides an inclusive experience will keep players engaged and active within the community. Social Systems are the ties that bind a community together.
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Since our expansion into RIFT we have developed a core of players who prefer PvE over PvP. Nearly 60% of all activities logged within our community are based in PvE. Just as sPvP is the the Elite Competition for the PvP players, Raiding is the Elite Competition of PvE Players. Both of these facets are essential to our communities success. Without a successful PvE core, the majority of our community will not stay interested and likely bypass the game.
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At the very essence of our family, you will find RvR. As deep as our roots go we are forever rooted in siege combat. Siege Warfare offers dynamic content that never remains the same. Every battle different, every situation a canvas for a memory. While fighting opponents the battles are unscripted and change from opponent to opponent. This style of gameplay is for the quick thinker, the psychological player, and the strategist. If done right this area alone will keep our community active and healthy over the test of time. It is however the most prone to game breaking changes. So far in our history, 2 of our 5 games have released game breaking patches which caused mass exiles from the game. It is crucial that developers get this right and heed caution when messing with a winning formula.
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Just as some like Raiding, some PvP players like the competitive vein of PvP in the form of small scale scenarios. These are timed matches where there are 2 teams that compete against one another scoring points for completing objectives or racking up the kills. The most skilled PvP players enter in tournaments and seek glory on the sPvP Battlefield. Having a sPvP outlet for the competitive allows for a longer commitment from PvP players.
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At the very core of Gaiscioch, we are entertainers. From the day we were created our community, we have been focused on hosting public community events open for everyone on our server. These events have ranged from scheduled RvR battles to journeys across the in game landscapes, to hunting the largest bosses the game has to offer. These events are how we as a community grow, how we are noticed, and how we give back to the community that supports us. It is critical that whatever game we go into, has the ability for us to create enjoyable large scale community events.
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Crafting is one of the more vital pieces of a MMORPG. While some people enjoy questing, exploring, and fighting there are those rare few who love the crafting and gathering side of a game. It is important that these people feel useful, needed and rewarded for their efforts. Allowing them to gain levels and contribute to the community as a whole is critical. This is also one area of a game that every developer should build around the idea of players making wikis and guides. Randomized values make it difficult to index and properly give real data. Games should also think about how they will distribute their data to make quick work of putting up accurate information.
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Kindness is Contagious
A long time ago in DAOC, a lad by the name of ROAC helped me out by crafting my first set of gear to get me started. He even gave me a decorative cloak. On the items, it said “Crafted by ROAC”. This gave me a single point of reference to contact him if I ever had any questions. Today 15 years later I still remember that kind gesture and have made it a point to continue it. In RIFT I crafted bags for new players and let them know they can contact me at any time if they have questions. All of the bags I sent had my name on them so it was easy for them to find me and message me.
Just as if you smile at someone, 9 times out of 10 you’ll get a smile in return, kindness is the same. A random act of kindness can change the tone of someone’s day and encourage further actions of kindness by them as well. The more a developer can do to encourage random acts of kindness and reward them the closer and more friendly their player community will become.
Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, and Ultima Online raised a generation of MMO savvy players. At the time, those games were largely populated with teenagers and young adults. Now nearly 2 decades later, those teenagers are in their late 30’s and early 40’s. Time is not as plentiful as it once was and many have families, careers and obligations.
These players are the ones that subscribed to games, committed to games, and had longevity in their dedication. We waited hours for bosses to spawn, were severely punished for dying and we still came back day after day to play.
Today’s modern MMO players can’t stick with the same game more than a month, want everything for free, and care more about instant gratification than they do about the journey. Sure the younger crowd might have more time to play, but they also have shorter attention span than those that committed years out of their life to the same game.
It’s important that you retain the classic gamers and ensure that they are able to enjoy your game in bite sized adventures that fit their busy schedules.
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In every guild there is a Marco Polo, a Magellan, a Leif Erikson. For players like myself, Earth has been explored, everything has nearly been discovered, there isn’t much left for a young adventurer to find in our world outside the digital space. So we look to virtual worlds to fill that need to explore and discover places unseen. We also live in a social media generation where every discovery is posted on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Explorers take pictures, we make movies, we capture our discoveries. These can be used both as promotion for the game and as memorable moments in gaming.
Creating far off hidden reaches, landmarks, and beautiful scenic places can captivate explorers and create a shareable adventure with others. Rewarding players for seeking out these hidden treasures can help encourage players to see the world around them. Give them a reason to look into every corner of a cave. There’s nothing more exhilarating than jumping down a well to find a hidden area filled with adventure and loot.
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While this group has shrunk over the years and roleplayers are harder to find than not, we still hold true to our roots and encourage roleplay among friends. Just as many of us began sitting around a table with a dice in hand, roleplay still is alive and well among those who cherish it. It’s important that these people are not forgotten and continue to have the tools needed to thrive in game worlds.
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The Game System is a base set of core mechanics we look for. Our criteria is unique to our community and every guild, clan or community should look at their own requirements based on their demographic and interest.
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Once we have found a game that scores a 60% or higher, we then consider it for chapter selection. A new chapter is only opened if one of our two chapters is below the minimum of 300 active players and the new title has more than 300 active players interested. Without the interest of the community a game will not become a full chapter.
While the game is in closed testing, our Gaiscioch Pioneers will investigate the game, provide feedback, find game breaking features, and provide valuable feedback to the developer team building a closer bond. In all 5 of our chapters, our players were part of early testing and helped developers find critical bugs and roadblocks. In any chapter we consider, we want to be a part in it’s success, whether that’s through helping test the game, promoting the game, or lead media worthy events within the game, we do all we can to ensure the longevity of the game and our chapter. A lot of time and money is invested in every chapter opened and it is crucial that we ensure the most enjoyable experience for everyone to make the endeavor worth it.
Once a potential chapter has been selected a seed is planted. This is a 3 month trial that monitors population and the success potential of a game. In our past, we’ve jumped into chapters pre-launch only to have the final days of beta introduce game breaking features that decimate player populations. In an effort to avoid this in the future we came up with the idea of building seeds. These are trial chapters that if successful will be turned into full chapters and gain all of the features of a full fledged chapter including full website support and community events.
If after 3 months the seed is not better off than it began, we will turn the seed into a Social Adventure and appoint members to be the guardians of the adventure. Only a seed that rises above where it began will become a full chapter. This is to ensure that we don’t commit to games too hastily and waste time building systems that will never be used.
In every game we look towards as a chapter we make a solid effort to get involved in testing, promotion, and building relationships with game developers. When we commit to a game, we commit 110%. We stream it on our livestreams, we publish it in our magazine, we write guides for it and we promote it through our social channels. Just as we want to flourish in the game, we have to ensure the game flourishes as well. This can be done by working closely with developers to ensure messaging is relayed correctly and it also allows developers to bounce ideas off us for supportive and non-biased feedback. Our longevity depends on the survival of the game. Thus it is a vested interest for us to ensure that we relay any useful information we can to help ensure it succeeds.
As you can see, opening a Gaiscioch Chapter is quite a process and not one we take lightly. With each chapter, I end up spending hundreds of hours building tools and systems to integrate with the game. This in turn raises the enjoyment of the community and helps keep us driving forward. That said, even the most engaging systems outside the game can not keep people playing a game that they don’t enjoy. At the end of the day, population always tells us where we need to be.
Use the comment field below to share your opinions about what makes a MMORPG special for you.