Discussion VRMMORPG in novels

I often see in reviews people talk about how the authors don’t understand video-games and how the settings especially the design and properities of the games in VRMMO setting novels tend to be unrealistic and unbalanced. I can agree with some parts of that, however, it got me thinking.

Wouldn’t the existence of full immersion/semi-realism with full drive VR and AI lead to vastly different and new types of games and gaming experience? Especially since there could be the existence/emergence of a genre possibly called “Second Life” where one could live a second life?

The size and longevity of the game would also make the experience different from today’s games. With AI, you could also create a vast quantity of ways to keep players enjoying the game. You could also allow for a few individuals who are a bit overpowered (tho not broken) and have these people as key figures and celebrities of the game.

Unique titles, quests, and items could be generated in vast quantities and given to many players to give these people a feeling of being special. These game worlds don’t need to be the best when judged by our modern limited game standards, they just need to be better than real life. They no longer need to be just a game, they can be a new way of living.

 

Yeah, but problem is, not everyone irl is a main character, but everyone sure as hell wanna be one. Which is why, if you made a game like some of these are, with a few players being able to pretty much solo the rest of the entire player base, that wouldnt work. Even in a future setting, with super advanced tech, having some players be miles above others due to, more often than not, coincidences, would never work in the real world. Which is why it hasnt been done yet.

Edit: Games are meant to be fun. And, while a ''2nd life'' genre would mean that you don't necessarily need to ge able to beat everyone, most people would still not like to never be able to touch the top players, not due to a skill difference, but due to an item/rare title/rare class/ any of that kinda bullshit, really. A functioning multiplayer game can't have huge gaps between players due to luck, it just can't.

2nd edit: there is a reason why, in many of these virtual reality novels, the company behind the game is often extremely influencial, and likely the only game company ever mentioned. It's because, if a company didnt have complete control over the market (like they do in the novels), and they then put out an unbalanced game like that, i can assure you their players would drop withing a week, unless rebalanced.

 

Definitely, all to many think of the games as if they had to be like your standard shitty wow clone played on your PC.

With that said, most these games in the novels are still broken. They just wouldn't work.

 

The thing with true Virtual Realities is that there are two divergent paths possible.

One is Extreme Realism, the Better-Than-Life sort of game. These are so pleasurable, pleasing, or hyper-realistic that people tend to forget that they are actually in a fantasy/game world. That everything they feel, touch, taste, or interact with isn't real. Which can be highly addictive, especially if it has the same physical effect on the brain. I.E.: It's like a drug.

The other is the Ultra Game. Often found in sci-fi genres, because of the 'fuzzy logic' that has to go into explaining the technology and whatnot, this set of game worlds are for user experience in a very game-like setting. Unlike Extreme Realism, where stats take a back seat to physical and practical ability, the Ultra Game is set to where the STATS matter more, the gear matters more. You aren't going to be doin' nothing but ground-pounding if you don't have a spaceship in a sci-fi game, after all. Lol.

The draw then is similar to the games we have today, if in more extreme ways. Second Life, if anyone has played it versus World of Warcraft would be an 'okay' example. Do you want to escape your life for a totally new one, or dive head first into a fantasy world?

Now, a lot of authors (myself included) tend to mix and match as desired or required. Because it is totally hypothetical, there's no basis for what could or will be with the Virtual Reality genre of writing. Until we have established Artificial Intelligence and their ability and limitations, there's no real way of knowing how or what could be possible in the real world. That leaves it totally to the authors imagination, which doesn't often mesh completely to what others think on the subject.

Then again, that's why it is all fiction to begin with, right? So long as it is enjoyable, the fact that it doesn't make sense to those involved doesn't really matter. Heh. Or at least, that's the way I see it.

 

Here's why it's not feasible... coding is a tedious task as it is. When you're coding for 1 person out of milion's just to make it "interesting" for that one person , to add some spicy unbalances eg(hidden unique skills or classes), you're wasting time to improve the experience of maybe 1-2 people where vast majority will never get to experience it.

Despite the fact that Scientific journals say a lot about AI , AI is very much still primitive and will remain primitive for a long time.

We used to BLOCK classes behind difficult quests , but it is not what people want these days. People want quick and easy experience.
Games that have "pay to win" and HIGH RNG aspects are unanimously hated on the market. Dominated by people who spend big buck for LOOT BOXES to get advantages.

Which leads to the conclusion that the whole MMO thing is a pandora's box, because at the end of the day games are about milking you out of your money and often your time.

 

What if we achieve and survive AI that’s reached Artificial Superintelligence? Wouldn’t that solve the coding issue? Plus they can be unique reskins.

 

I think that What the OP is saying has merit, but the game would have to be designed in such a way that every player has equal chances to become the celebrity. Like a 100 floor dungeon that anyone can access and you have better odds of finding hidden classes and stuff in game the higher you reach. Like npcs can look and see that someone has reached floor 60 while someone else is on floor 10. Obviously they would give their super secret unique mega quest to the better player.

Edit: the dungeon would have to equalize stats and equipment so that's it's a true skill trial.

 

We already have super intelligence , you realize that computers are BETTER than humans in terms of calculative power.
So it is easy to write things that are mechanical/generic... but it's incredibly difficult for a machine to develop A balanced class concept unique to a player.
Machines are NOT creative.

 

No on so many levels. First of all, the biggest issue with many VR novels tend to get real life completely wrong, not just the game. The way people act in real life is completely odd. Now as for VR itself, it isn't like I don't understand where you are coming from, but there is a HUGE flaw. People respect the top players in games due to their level of skill. If the game is throwing freebies their way due to unique quests or the like, people don't respect that anymore, that just starts feeling closer to paid to win.

Now there have been cases where devs do have limited quests that only a few people can complete but requires the whole server to participate. But those tend to come usually at end right before an expansion, so in a few months it becomes nothing more than vanity stuff.

Now in a future where you have AI, sure, everyone can get a unique quest and all that. But the major role of AI would ALWAYS to equalize the game.

The thing is, these VRMMO novels are aimed at people who were never in top guilds or progression in MMOs to get the "feeling" of what it is like to be a top gamer. Most of the time though the author themselves was never a top gamer either, so the result is that most of these novels are based on the "illusion" of what it is like to be a top gamer.

This is precisely why I never liked VRMMO novels, as someone who actually gamed in the top end, none of it makes sense nor does it describe how actual MMOs work.

 

I was in a pretty high ranked raiding guild in WoW and what stands out to me the most is the sheer amount of time we spent beating up practice dummies trying to perfect rotations. Game novels dont tend to bring that up lol.

 

Most of them don't even acknowledge the concept of real raiding. It seems MC is only one with a brain as the top raiders are closer to chickens with their heads chopped off. They only exist so the MC can lead them by pointing out basic common sense, then somehow do more damage than everyone else combined.

 

Don't forget the absolute lack of any kind of rotations. In most vr novels they just spam skills as soon as they come off cd.

 

There's no pay to win using real money just like reality.

 

Rotations? They don't even do basic strategy and research. They just run in than go "wow, look at the MC, he is actually capable of not standing in fire! We a top guild who have years of experience raiding are no match for that solo guy!"

 

You guys are reminding me of SAO the anime, not the novel that I haven't read yet, but I'm not going to say why. But talking about OP main characters in VRMMO, they are there for action for most of the time. Yeah, you can have action with weak character, but people want to see movement, which is action.

From what you said it won't be like that since it would get boring, that is why there are numerous authors. It would be an interesting premise of having a VRMMO world that is worse than people's current life, they can write something interesting from that.

In the end, the way of story writing is very vast and it doesn't have to be what you said or thought, expanding what you see is scary but rewarding to them. This all revolves around your heads and make you think more. Who knows what you see at the end of the day.

 

not gonna lie the thing that bothers me the most about VRMMO stories is that people automatically assume boss fights are pretty much going to work the way they do now, with rotations and everything.... the whole concept of rotations is based on dumb bosses that only focus on the target they hate. if a boss has intelligence, the whole holy trinity (tank, dps, healer) ceases to exist as it is now. tanking and aggro? LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL, that only exists now because noone has come up with good AI and gaming companies are too lazy to change it. DPS will never be able to do rotations because the boss won't let them. raiding a boss will be more like pvp because the boss will act with intelligence and purpose to defeat you instead of slavishly acting out a set pattern (lets be honest, even the latest bosses merely have randomized patterns at best) and only attacks the guy that tickles him but shouts loudly. the whole concept is laughable to say the least.

 

I was talking about Artificial Superintelligence as in the 3 Levels of AI.

 

True, that is if the game isn’t purposely designed for rotations and such game setting instead of realism. It could make sense such a model is still used since games don’t need to be realistic to be fun.

 

i wonder who started the HATE and MAIN TANKER thingy. anyone knows? is it wow? or dnd?
the concept of hate is weird actually. why would a boss or monster keep on hitting one person who is the hardest to kill?

 

To be honest, the kind of stories common in VRMMO novels would make more sense if it wasn't really a game but rather just a free for all virtual space where everyone is basically trying to hack the system or something.