“I think the big things are going to be how you can better socially connect your players. What are the things players are doing in-game to work with each other and build on each other, and develop strong social ties?”
– The Elder Scrolls Online creative director Rich Lambert
MMORPGs have gone through a lot of changes since World of Warcraft dominated the market. As online gaming has grown, so too have the community and social aspects—but in some ways, they’ve grown smaller and tighter. And according to Elder Scrolls Online creative director Rich Lambert, that may mean the future of MMORPG design isn’t to build big, but rather build small and specific.
During our stream of Elder Scrolls Online on Wednesday, we talked with Lambert about what he thought the future of MMORPG design was, and our conversation proceeded to basically cover the impact of Dunbar’s Number—which is the concept that a given human being will, on average, be only to mentally process about 200 social connections.
Essentially, what Lambert and fellow virtual worlds designer Raph Koster have observed over the years, is that players in online games may only need to encounter that many players to have a satisfying experience.
According to Lambert, that, and the financial disincentive to build large, risky open-world online games, may mean that MMORPGs which innovate on social features could be the future of the genre.
Be sure to watch the whole stream for more insight from Lambert on designing MMORPGs, and subscribe to our Twitch channel for more regular streams and developer interviews.