Listed: 4 Magic Systems That Would Be Awesome in an MMO .

Last week on Listed, I did something I promised myself I would never do: I introduced several problems without coming up with adequate solutions. Shame on me! This week, as part of my penance, I’ve decided to tackle one aspect of last week’s list and do my part to introduce some ideas that could help alleviate the grievances I had. This week, we’re talking all about magic.

The concept of magic has become so ingrained in fantasy that the two are hardly separable. But magic itself is really just a catch-all term to describe anything that can’t be hammered to fit the laws of physics governing our world. But magic in fantasy has a nearly endless scope, some worlds use it in a far more mystical and nuanced way, making it a force that cannot be defined or controlled but acts with the same obscurity that our ancient ancestors once thought the sun and moon operated under. Other worlds use magic as a tool to be controlled, like casting spells with specific purposes, or harnessing elements to do your bidding.

MMORPGs are interesting though, because more often than not, magic is merely just a means to an end, with most ends being killing something. Rarely does magic get much screen time outside of combat, and in reality magic is indistinguishable from most combat abilities that are inherently unmagical. The only difference between a spell and a sword ability is how they look on screen (and even then, they often look indistinguishable).

But what if magic was so much more? This week, I’m drawing on some ideas from fiction and other games that we think would really freshen up how magic works in MMORPGs and could lead to some interesting concepts that deviate from the norm that the genre so often falls into.

 

Drawing Your Spells – Black and White, Okami

Whether you love him or hate him, there is no denying that Peter Molyneux has been responsible for some pretty unique games. I mean, the man pretty much single-handedly created the god genre, which, sadly, has fallen out of fashion lately.

If you’re unfamiliar, Black and White is a wonderful little game where you play a god asserting your will (either benevolently or malevolently) over villages of people. If you’ve never had the chance to play, I highly recommend hunting down a copy and giving it a go because Black and White is a supremely unique game worthy of your time. But perhaps one of the more interesting elements of the game is how magic works.

In Black and White, any time you want to cast a spell, you first need to trace that spell using your mouse. There are a dozen or so patterns that you need to replicate, from swirls to squiggly lines, and each of them, performed correctly, will cast the spell associated with that pattern. In fact, the system isn’t unique to Black and White, as many games have gone on to draw inspiration from it, most memorably being Okami for the PS2, PS3, and Wii.

Part of my complaint with magic systems in typical MMOs was that the system lacked impact and discouraged immersion by allowing you to cast amazingly powerful spells with the press of a button. Summoning meteors or earthquakes is always depicted as a feat requiring incredible magical fortitude in most other works of fiction, so to do so with a tap of the corresponding number key in an MMO betrays just what an incredible feat that actually is.

Now, I’m not saying that drawing some squiggly lines in the air is going to alleviate this problem, but having a motion associated with casting spells would be a great way to help inspire an attachment to what you are doing. It helps deconstruct the barrier between you and the game, so that you feel a closer connection with your character and your impact on the game world.

Another thing worth noting is that such a system would require actual skill in order to pull off. Memorizing the proper patterns and deploying them effectively is a challenge all on its own, one that would be more rewarding when you finally manage to pull it off. Also, I just want to have a raid wipe once as our priest shrieks out “I can’t remember what the pattern for revive looks like!”

 

Combining Runes – Magicka

One of the big gripes I have with magic in many modern MMOs is how little nuance it has. In a sense, magic is a quantifiable force and any shred of mystery or mysticism is often cast aside to provide transparency to the player. When you roll a new character, you can often head over to your skill window and see every spell you will ever unlock. That’s kind of boring isn’t it? What about the thrill of discovery?

Though Magicka is far from the first, it remains popular recent example of a magic system that adds an element of danger and mystery to the equation. The game features a system where you combine runes together to create new spells, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Layered on top of the already hectic combat with friendly fire, and you have a game that is explosive and hilarious. I like to call it the “Friendship Breaker”.

Either way, the important thing to draw from this system is how flexible it is and how it injects a much needed sense of discovery into the tired mechanics governing magic in MMOs. Finding new runes and combining them together without even the slightest clue as to what the outcome might be would make for a game that delights those with a sense of discovery. With enough runes, you could have a near endless number of combinations, and a near endless number of spells that players will have to work together to discover and document.

A system like this would, like the previous example, also add an element of skill to the game as players would need to remember combinations and recombine runes on the fly as the tide of combat changes.

 

Spells With Limited Uses – Dark Souls and Dungeons and Dragons

One of my favorite aspects of Dark Souls is the way the game limits the number of times you can cast a given spell before resting. It’s actually a mechanic that was probably borrowed from Dungeons and Dragons, seeing as the popular pen and paper role-playing game was using something similar decades earlier.

What makes such a system so intriguing is the way it emphasizes smart use of your abilities and creates a sense of tension as you need to make good use of each cast while also weighing whether or not you might need that spell down the line. The thing is, most modern MMOs make magic so accessible that we take it for granted, but building a game from the ground up that supported a system where each cast needed to be thoughtful and intentional would make for a very tense and interesting world to explore.

The real set back here is that, with a system so limiting, the game itself would have to redefine many of the common concepts used my most MMORPGs. You couldn’t just slap a magic system like this on top of World of Warcraft and call it a day. It would be a disaster.

That said, in the right game, such a system would lead to a very unique style of game. This system would actually be right at home in dungeons and other forms of instanced group content, since they are typically linear adventures with a defined beginning and end. Learning when to cast certain spells when, or determining whether or not a situation is dire enough to warrant a spellcast would be something totally unlike what we’ve seen in the genre.

 

Injesting Materials to Create Specific Effects – Mistborn

Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn is a series of books that gets a decent amount of flak from fantasy fans—a lot of which is totally legitimate. But one thing just about everyone can agree on is that the man is a genius when it comes to creating magical systems. Mistborn isn’t actually home to just one school of magic, but three. That’s right. But my favorite, and the one that I think could work really well in an MMORPG setting is the magic known as allomancy.

Allomancy is the ability for a user (known as an allomancer) to “burn” metals to achieve a variety of physical or mental enhancements. By burning specific metals, like iron, steel, or even fictional ones like Duralumin and Malatium, the allomancer can gain access to a variety of abilities to use in both combat and practical roles.

One interesting example is burning iron, which allows an allomancer to pull on nearby metals. If the metal weighs less than they do, they can pull the metal towards them, and if it weighs more, they can pull themselves towards the metal. But what really makes allomancy stick out to me, however, is the way it fits so nicely into economic systems of supply and demand that can also make MMOs very interesting. If players need to maintain a steady supply of metals, there is the potential for creating a very interesting economy based on the bartering and acquiring of these metals.

There. I did a good thing and supplied some sweet ideas that could hopefully help answer some of the tough questions I put forth last week. That said, there are a ton of magical systems to draw from, and these are only a few of the ones I particularly enjoy and think could fit really well. That means if you have one you think might be better, it’s your duty to tell me! You have to!