A while back, I read a Twitter thread about one of the reasons video games revolve around violence: It’s easy to assemble into content, and it’s easy to measure. It’s objective, a numbers game; you did more damage faster than the mob did, or you didn’t. You clicked your I-win button first, or you didn’t. Obviously, it’s a lot harder for a video game that doesn’t employ legions of live staff to measure whether you’re good at roleplaying, running a guild, writing books, or decorating houses.
But violence isn’t the only thing that’s easily measurable, is it. We can measure exploration sometimes. We can track minigames, mazes, and races. We can assign measurable qualities to things like pet breeding and crafting. So it’s irritating that violence is still considered the “default” measurable content in MMOs, to say nothing of the unmeasurables.
What’s your favorite thing to do in MMOs that isn’t violence?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
