Cloud-based Persistent Worlds & AI Dungeon Masters - evolutionary next steps of the classic MMORPGs
I was recently at a meeting with some colleagues who are directly leading the growth of game design and development.
Old ideas are new again
Our discussion got me thinking about an old idea that I was kicking around when I was ranting about transmedia to anyone who would listen about a decade ago. One of the core ideas that i promoted was the notion of a storyverse. What is that? For me, it is everything that goes into making the universe that a fictional story happens in. The individual stories that we experience are just one snapshot of a much larger universe. There are many fictional worlds that we explore, some more than others. But each has its own set of rules that define characters, places, and things in that universe.
Fast forward to now. More and more we are experiencing games that approach this level of storyverse existence. In fact, one of the most legendary is Dungeons and Dragons. DnD is possibly one of the first hugely popular examples of a storyverse created.
The Object-Oriented Storyverse
One of the key features of a storyverse is that it is object-oriented. Object-Oriented Design is a way of programming that is near ubiquitous today, but was once a novel invention two decades ago. Object-Oriented Analysis is a way of taking a system and analyzing it for its components and then building those components to interact with one another.
Understanding DnD
With Dungeons and Dragons, the whole game is based on objects (characters, places, and things) that have certain rules associated with them. As the players encounter various things on their journey, they collectively deal with these objects based on the rules set out for them and their characteristics. Random chance is applied to the encounters based on probabilities and weightings to determine the ramifications of various actions and the story continues.
In order for a DnD game to be played, a Dungeon Master is required. This is someone who knows the game well enough to create a playable game and ensure that the players are not slaughtered on their first encounter with a monster.
Persistent Worlds
More and more game engines are delving into the cloud to explore the power of persistent worlds. In order to understand what is happening here, let’s look at some predecessors
MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) - Text-based, open-ended, moderately structured
RPGs (Role Playing Games) - video game genre, classic first was Baldur’s Gate by BioWare, story-rich, branched linear narrative
MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) - online, persistent state world, character driven, rules managed by game developers e.g. EVE Online.
Open Virtual Worlds - The most famous and notorious of this was Second Life. The open format gave creative freedom, but little game format.
Cloud-based Persistent Worlds - different or the same?
With the advent of the cloud, game developers are looking at ways to extend their connection with their audience through persistent state worlds. Companies like Improbable are breaking new ground in redefining what is possible with current game engines and cloud-based persistent state environments. There are many opportunities here when exploring the potential of this form (such as, but not limited to):
World modification persistency - Either by construction or destruction, players could alter terrain and create deep stories within the worlds for others to encounter and interact with. Sites of battles maintain their scarred state with possible history related the site.
Lore based engagement - designers can plant lore and legends within the worlds and use previous user engagements to enhance the connection between the players and the world.
Graduated player experiences - depending on the players settings, the environment could scale to suit their age, skill, playing preference, etc.
Iterative world development/quicker design to implementation - this is something talked about more and more, is the power of small teams to be able to design and launch new content rapidly
AI Dungeon Masters?
Dungeon Master is a term used for DnD specific gaming so it helps us understand what an AI game host could offer. What if an AI could serve a player or team of players to determine their most enjoyable experience in the persistent world? What if a group of children could play in the same persistent world as adults without concerns for inappropriate interactions because an AI game host was moderating the interactions? What if every experience in a game was modified to suit the teams skills and knowledge?
Beyond Entertainment and into Serious
Something that is often required when creating simulation based training environments (known as serious games) for first-responders, healthcare workers, transportation workers, and others is the need for a simulation controller to generate conditions that allow the players to practice their troubleshooting and reactions to various problems in a situation. What if an AI host (the Dungeon Master from the previous section) was able to perform the role of the simulation controller? What if the simulation environment was part of a persistent state world where the AI host could track the history of aspects of the world to ensure a fully connected set of cause/effect relationships could be followed?
Conclusions
Persistent worlds combined with AI create some undeniably massive potential for designers, developers, and players to engage in incredibly rich experiences that take the storytelling experience to the next level. People will be able to engage with one another in spaces that exist with longevity and can be referenced for more rich shared experiences. With this could come a proliferation of new and rich human experiences that will further enhance how we engage with each other and our world.