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Five Prescriptions for Viral Games
 Avoid Level Segregation
Once someone is actively involved in a game, they need to be able to interact with their friends and teammates. The problem is that these friends may have totally different skill levels, which can lead to segregation. If you fail to consider this game design issue, players might try a game but become quickly disillusioned when they learn that they won’t be spending much time with their friends.
Many first-person shooter games have done a good job at addressing this, offering a range of tactical choices to players of varying skill. For example, a relatively new player to the Battlefield series of games can score some kills by learning to use one of the stationery cannons, while the most advanced players often gravitate towards the flying vehicles. Nevertheless, each type of player can make a positive contribution to their team, allowing them to play together.
MMORPG games have had varying success with solving this problem. Most MMORPGs are built around “levels” which provide players with the ability to take on harder challenges as they learn new skills and abilities. However, this design can lead to a segregation of players, with some either left behind or isolated from their friends.
Guild Wars
A few MMOs have found solutions to this problem. For example, Everquest 2 has a feature called “mentoring” that allows higher level characters to reduce their effective level, enabling them to join in on adventures with their lower-level friends. Other games are built around rapid progression, with a skill-based system that allows new players to join in with veterans: Guild Wars is an example of a system where new players can unlock useful skills within a short period of time, allowing them to adopt competitive skill-templates within hours of playtime.
The challenge for the designer of any multiplayer game is to remember that viral marketing depends on the social bonds between friends, and therefore it is important to provide opportunities for friends to work together within a game whether a player is new or experienced. The level-based system that exists in many MMORPGs tends to segregate players rather than unite them.
The very concept of levels in video games is the legacy of Dungeons and Dragons, which was geared towards a static group of friends who played at the same times—rather than a dynamic world, in which players progress at different rates. Offer players meaningful objectives that allow them to play together regardless of their relative time investments, and they’ll be more likely to invite even more of their friends to play with them.
Conclusion
Virality is no longer a catchword for the marketing department. It must be incorporated into a game while the rules are being designed and the technical architecture is being established. It is about making games that players feel invested in, that they want to share with friends—games they’ll go out of their way to show to others. When designing a game, developers should begin asking themselves not only “how will this make the game more fun?” but also “how will this encourage players to share the game with others?” Players will become your most active sales resource, if only you empower them.
References
1Nick Yee, “Life as a Guild Leader,” http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001516.php?page=1
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