My tour here in Germany is nearing an end! This has me shifting out of hyper-work mode and back into MMORPGs, writing and other fun things. I’m pleased to say my book will most likely be available by PAX East and I’ll be there promoting it! While I’ve been out in Germany I’ve been extremely limited on MMORPG play time and ability. To fill my miniscule free time I’ve been playing Eve Online and an iPad sudo-MMORPG called Trade Nations. Both are pretty entertaining and both utilize diminishing returns in different ways. I thought I’d take a look at this design feature in one of my first articles back.
Diminishing returns have been with the MMORPG since the early days. One example that most players will be familiar with is the fact that the higher your statistics climb the less significant they are to your character’s power. Levels also tend to offer a diminished return when players reach the other side of the curve. The difference between level 10 and 20 is often far more significant than say the difference between 35 and 45. At a certain point your character will not learn new abilities that define new roles but, instead, will receive new versions of the abilities you already have. This is one of the reasons I am against level level cap inflation!
Eve Online does diminishing returns in a slightly different way than most games. When you reach a new skill level you always receive the exact same benefit as the previous skill level. Level one Warhead Upgrades gives you a 2% damage bonus just like level five does. The difference is in how long it takes you to learn the skill. In Eve level one skills can often be trained in a matter of minutes. Going from level four to five, however, often takes weeks. For Ferrel it took nearly a month to get 2% bonus damage via Warhead Upgrades V. The gain is small and the cost is great! The investment basically diminishes the return and that is why you’ll see a lot of players remaining at level IV in a skill.
My example might sound negative but in all actuality it is a necessary feature. By increasing the time so substantially to train the higher levels of skills CCP has ensured that new players can compete with veterans. These players can ramp up to levels three and even four quickly to be competitive. It also ensures that the insane like me can train a skill for a month and get a very slight but real advantage. The system works well even if I do feel that 30 days is too much for any skill. It is a necessary feature that I think works for the betterment of the game.
Trade Nations uses a different system that is not as altruistic as the one employed by Eve Online. The major premise of the game is to create a little economy and earn experience by doing so. The humor to this is that as you earn more advanced products your rewards begin to decline to an extreme degree. Diminishing returns is in full effect! Look at the chart below:
If you look at the products and the rewards from them you’ll see that they diminish extremely over time. The reason for this is so that the makers of Trade Nation can keep you fixed on your screen as much as possible. All of the more rewarding products take the least time and require the most attention. It is also interesting that the products made from wood are worth less than those produced from wheat. Wheat is a basic resource and wood must be refined. If you look at the last wood product, however, the reward picks back up again. I’m curious to see how the tailor rewards for the products it makes.
In the large scheme of things diminishing returns always serve the same end. They keep a player engaged in a product without offering huge benefits to them for doing so. We all chase the extra 2% because it does progress our characters in some small fashion. I can accept that but I would prefer to see less devious methods!
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