When we think of “automation” in MMOs, usually our mind goes straight to what we see happening in mobile online games. Everything there seems to be automated, including running, fighting, and even questing. Games like Lineage 2 Revolution more or less play themselves with minimal human interaction.
But that’s an extreme form of automation that does too much to remove players from the game. It doesn’t mean all automation is bad; we accept some level of it in our games because it’s a helpful quality-of-life feature. Some examples of automation are taking an automated ride from point A to B on a flying mount, being able to queue up dozens of tedious crafting recipes in one go, and even automatically assigning new stats when a player levels.
What do you think? What parts of an MMO should be automated — and what parts should be kept free of computer control?
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!
