Transgressive Gaming

Posted by Stropp on June 21, 2008

Raph Kosters blog today links to The Uptake Blog which has a summary of a panel Raph was on at the Supernova 2008 conference.

The second point of the summary got me thinking.

Raph: “Humans enjoy transgressive play” and will always try to break free from the game constraints.

One of the problem players that MMO developers have always had to deal with is The Exploiter. This player actively looks for ways to gain an advantage in the game by either:

1. Exploiting little known game bugs, or by
2. intentionally subverting the game client.

An example of the first might be moving through or hiding in a wall where the collision detection isn’t properly working. A few of the older games allowed players to shoot through closed doors on occasion allowing them to take out mobs on the other side without risk. Some gold duping also occurs due to bugs.

Subverting the game client is also often a trick of the exploiter. The Speedhack tool is a good example. It allows players to somehow move faster than they should (I haven’t looked into its workings) and gives a big advantage over other players. Exploiters also use packet sniffers to inspect the games network traffic, and even graphics tools to expose other players hiding behind walls.

The game developer axiom, never trust the client as it’s in the hands of the enemy has never been truer.

These days game developers even define exploits as doing things that they don’t want players doing. An example of this is in Eve Online. If a player attacks another in high security space, the NPC police, Concord swoop in and destroy the attacker. It’s apparently possible to evade Concord and escape without using game bugs or subverting the client, but CCP defines doing so as an exploit.

Cheating Is Fun

The problem is, as Raph said above, is that humans enjoy transgressive play.

In other words, cheating is fun.

And that’s true. I have fond memories of playing a card game called Cheat. It used a standard deck of playing cards and the object was to rid yourself of all the cards in your hand. There were rules of course which you could follow to the letter. Or you could cheat and get rid of your cards faster. If you were caught you had to pick up the entire discard pile.

It was hilarious fun. We not only lied about the cards in our hand. We hid them when (we thought) no one was looking; in the couch, on our persons, and in a couple of cases on another player. Getting caught was as much fun as winning.

An Exploitable Niche

If, as Raph says, humans enjoy transgressive gaming, then here is an idea for a new MMO Niche. Transgressive Gaming. We’ll imagine a new MMO — Let’s call it Cheat Online.

Like the card game, Cheat, Cheat Online would have two parts. First it would be a standard MMO, fantasy, science fiction, or horror; the genre doesn’t matter. It would have a set of rules analogous to any other MMO on the market. Players would create characters, quest, grind, and do whatever. The one main criteria is that it would be PvP since competition between players is what it is all about.

The second part would be the cheat interface. This would allow the players to creatively bypass the rules. That might be a macro tool, or a LUA API, or something else. What it should do is give the player a means of hiding the cards.

Where all other MMO’s currently ban players who cheat and exploit, Cheat Online would simultaneously punish and reward players caught. Like the card game there has to be a consequence of getting caught — picking up the discard pile — but there also needs to be something to make it fun — a reward. In the card game, the reward is much friendly laughter and hilarity, but that’s missing in a virtual world so there needs to be a reward to make everyone smile.

The important thing to create in a game, whether it’s a game like World of Warcraft or Cheat Online, is a level playing field. When an exploiter cheats in WoW, it’s not level, he’s gaining an advantage over players who aren’t willing to take the risk to cheat. In a game like Cheat Online, everyone can exploit and cheat to their hearts content without risking a banning, so the playing field is leveled out.

Something Different

After reading through what I’ve written above I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m not advocating exploiting or cheating in games where it is against the rules like Age of Conan or World of Warcraft. Cheating in these games often ruins the game experience for others, especially in PvP. Just because it’s fun for some players doesn’t make it right. All I’m doing here is pointing out a possible niche for MMO games.

One of the complaints currently leveled against the entire MMO industry is that it has been heavily WoWified and that there isn’t really all that much difference between one game and the next. And that’s true. While each game has it’s differences, in most cases they’re cosmetic or a small step above what already exists. There’s not much variation in the species.

Let’s Talk

So lets start a discussion. What sorts of gameplay devices would you incorporate in Cheat Online? What sort of world would work best, Science Fiction or Fantasy or something else? And more importantly, would you play a game like this?

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