[singlepic id=2506 w=580 h=256 float=]I’m tired of playing two realm MMORPGs. Some don’t have more than one realm, though that’s usually because the game was made with zero PvP in mind so it’s somewhat understandable, if still disappointing. Now I’m perfectly willing to admit, that I focus so much on having more than two realms because my first MMORPG had three realms and since then, everything has seemed weak and shallow in comparison. Nevertheless, I still think there is a strong case to be made for a three realm system, for the sake of PvP, immersion/ depth and overall endurance in an MMORPG.
The problem that I have with two realm PvP is that everything in the game becomes a dichotomy between one side and another. There is no surprise when you fight an enemy; you know who the enemy is and where they will come from. You are almost always (as a realm) facing a mirror of yourself and of your own abilities so the line drawn in the ground between the two realms seems to have been put there for no other reason, except for you to squabble over it. Balance is also a major issue, because while the two realms may have, for all intensive purposes, the same potential and abilities, the balance of power can shift dramatically from one server to the next based on playtimes and population.
The advantage of a three realm game in PvP is that the three realms act as a system of checks and balances, not unlike the intended purpose of our (USA) government’s three branches. When you are fighting an enemy in a typical two realm game, be it group vs. group or 1v1, there is always the chance that some members of either side will join the fight and throw the balance one way or the other. But what happens when a different realm jumps in? All the sudden you get a new host of interesting tactics as you attempt to sandwich one group against the other, hoping that in the end you’ll be able to vanquish both. Or maybe your enemy is running a massive zerg, and instead of fighting each other, the other two realms go their separate ways to divide and destroy that zerg. I even have fond memories of forming temporary stealther alliances between myself and another stealther in Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC), through no means other than emotes – because the third realm had too many players out. We would follow each other and gank members of that realm, dance on their corpse, and not attack each other :) The existence of a third realm alters and enhances the normally mundane and superficial rift between two realms to make for a much more exciting, interesting PvP experience.
When I talk about superficial rifts between realms, it doesn’t just stop at PvP. In many games, the two realms are basically just the same. Sure you might have a different theme, but your classes are the same (or almost the same) and so there really isn’t a difference between yourself and your enemies except a line the developers drew in order to divide people into two separate camps. When this happens, the potential for realm pride lessens, and the immersion of the game into each realm’s story becomes shallow and pointless. This isn’t only a fault of using two realms, game developers really should spend more time making two distinct realms instead of two mirror images of each other, but a third realm helps facilitate (at least in my opinion) the emergence of a more realistic and clear identity of the realms and their relationships with each other. It seems like every game that comes out is always the same thing: Good vs. Evil. Shall I give examples? Alliance vs. Horde, Order vs. Destruction, Elyos vs. Asmodians, Federation vs. Klingons, and unfortunately (because I am looking forward to them), both Rift: Planes of Telara and Star Wars: The Old Republic will also fall into this same format.
I also believe that having three realms allows players to spend more time playing a game. What developer wouldn’t want that? While some people will stick with one realm, many of us will play one realm for a while, and then after coming back from a break or something will decide to try the other side out to get a taste of new things. How much better will it be when we get to do that one more time because there is a third realm on the table? It also helps when the realms are actually different. Nothing is more lame than deciding you are going to try out a different realm only to find that the starting area, and everything beyond is basically identical. In my experience within World of Warcraft, the beginning of the game was very different for each realm, but eventually as you got higher level and as the game changed, you are just doing the exact same quests for one side as you are for another, right alongside each other as if there were no realms at all. At that point the appeal of trying out a new realm starts to waste away.
So why don’t we see more three realm games? In my heart I knew Warhammer Online was doomed to fail when they announced that they only had two sides. Everyone was hoping for a transition from DAoC into Warhammer but for a whole host of reasons that didn’t happen. We all thought they had learned from their mistakes, but instead it seemed like they jumped backward on the progress they had made. Honestly, the answer is probably the simple one: It takes more time and money to develop three realms instead of two. However, if your game flops and goes nowhere because you’re offering just the same old model that everyone else is, maybe it will open some eyes. I’m hoping that with the repetitive nature of MMORPGs that are being released, coupled with the high failure rate, that developers will spend a lot more time planning how their product can stand out among the masses instead of trying to just clone each other’s products.
In conclusion, while a three realm system takes more time and effort to develop, and requires out of the box thinking and planning, I believe that MMORPGs can achieve better PvP, more fulfilling immersion and create a virtual world that is much more appealing to players for longer periods of time if they use three distinct realms. With so many MMORPGs being developed, you’d think that they’d try to stand out from each other a little more.
Throughout this article I have hinted at, and been tempted to discuss the “mirror class” issue in greater detail, so instead I will devote my next article to that subject :)