2. Connecting Mobile Games and MMOs By Dan Roy

3. This presentation will cover…  What motivates players to attempt to master an MMO?  How can mobile motivate players further to attempt to master a cross-platform MMO?

4. Tech Assumptions  Long term potential improvements  Faster CPUs  More memory  Faster networks  Unchanged  Small screens  Sub PC input methods

5. Stories of Mastery  School – felt irrelevant  Computers – liked feeling like expert, helping others, getting praised

6. Mastery Motivators  What motivates players to attempt to master an MMO?  Personal visibility of mastery  Social visibility of mastery  Social relevancy of mastery  Personal relevancy of mastery

7. Case Studies  Magic: The Gathering  Ragnarok Mobile Mage  Armada: Kingdoms  Travian  The Violet Sector  World of Warcraft

8. Magic: The Gathering – Low Tech Mobile  Increasing mastery is personally and socially visible  Better cards  Better strategies (card combos, probabilites)  More wins  Playing, trading, and discussing increase relevancy and visibility  Portability brings game into new social contexts, just as mobile can do for MMOs

9. Ragnarok Mobile Mage  Mobile companion to PC MMO  Single player  Transfer Zeny back to PC MMO  XP, Zeny add up  Portability kept both games on my mind  RL friends saw me play and started discussions  Low online social visibility and relevancy led to low personal relevancy

10. Armada: Kingdoms  Mobile MMO  Goal: get victory points through attacking, building, secrets  Avatar is a city, guilds are kingdoms

11. Armada: Kingdoms  Slow RTS - attack pace allows for notifications which enable defensive actions  notifications can be in-game, email or SMS  Notify inactive players of their in-game status

12. Armada: Kingdoms Beta sign-up: ArmadaKingdoms.com/beta

13. Travian  A browser-based MMO  Another “slow RTS”  City maintenance drives check- in behavior  Don’t need 30fps, 100ms ping to enjoy

14. The Violet Sector  A cross-platform, text MMO  Playable via web and mobile (WAP)  4 teams of ~50 players, each fighting for dominance of space  3 hour turns – appointment gaming  Different roles require different appointment windows (5 min smallest to 3 hour largest)  Few actions, easy multiple choice entry

15. The Violet Sector – Mobile  Mobile access increases:  Personal visibility: see more updates, pay more attention, make more progress  Social visibility: seen online, seen in person; appointments -> online at same time  Personal relevancy: play more -> care more, urgency/importance confusion  Social relevancy: appointments -> interruptions of RL -> viral marketing -> RL social relevancy

17. World of Warcraft – Auctions  View  Sell, relist  Bid, rebid  Buy now  Manage inventory  SMS notifications

18. World of Warcraft - Crafting  Buy mats  Assemble usable items  See crafting succeed or fail each time  Watch crafting stats increase

19. World of Warcraft - Armory  Show off items

20. World of Warcraft – Maintenance  Something that accumulates over time and needs tending  Travian resources  WoW resting bonus  Pet hunger

21. World of Warcraft - Social Networking  Browsable profiles (Armory)  Screenshot album  RSS-like news feeds  Who leveled up  Who joined/quit guild  Who got an [epic [flying]] mount, etc.

22. World of Warcraft – Rating Content  Rating can:  Take as little or as much time as the player desires  Be started and stopped at any time with no penalty for interruption  Constantly promise a fresh experience (more content)  Rate quests based on difficulty, interestingness, or reward  Avatar appearance  Youtube-style videos of wow activities

23. World of Warcraft - Chat  Text and Voice Chat  Keep in touch with guild  Just listen/read or participate  Phones do voice well  SMS people from WoW chat in PC  “Log on, we need u 4 raid!”

24. World of Warcraft – Combat  PvE  A special kind of combat designed for web/mobile  Could be turn based with timers (like FF7)  Or be like WoW, but slower

25. World of Warcraft – Combat  PvE or PvP vs. mobiles  Could be like Duels.com  Choose equipment and spells, then combat auto-resolves

26. World of Warcraft – Combat  Team PvP with PC players  Encourage mobile players to think more strategically and rely less on reflexes  Mobile players could:  Give buffs/debuffs to PC players (lasting longer)  Set traps  Cast AoE  Follow PC player, like Mario Kart  See strategic minimap of battlefield and give advice to teammates

27. Summary  Asynchronous  Appointments  Maintenance  Status updates  Keep game on player’s mind  Sharable

28. Connecting Mobile Games and MMOs Dan Roy dangame@gmail.com Blog: www.CrossGamer.com Thesis: “Mastery and the Mobile Future of Massively Multiplayer Games” www.CrossGamer.com/thesis