It’s time for Part 2 of my Ideal MMO series: Alignment and Reputation Matter! In this post I’ll be talking about why these things can add a huge amount of depth to an MMORPG and look at interesting ways to implement them, keeping in mind that we want everything about the game to be fun and never overly punishing for the player.

Alignment

For those unfamiliar with the term, Alignment is essentially the moral and ethical standing of a specific character or entity in the world. Put more simply, it is a way to define whether a character is good, evil, or some shade of gray in between.

Alignment has barely been touched upon in previous MMOs. It is much more common to to simply have race determine whether a player is good or evil, and leave it at that. EQ2 scratched the surface of alignment by allowing players to “betray” their original alignment, but due to their odd class system it is mostly only used to switch between good and evil versions of classes.

In my ideal MMO, Alignment would be greatly expanded on. Players would be able to choose their alignment during character creation, with the exception of certain races and classes which are inherently good or evil. Alignment would effect your starting faction with other races of the world, determining how they view you. For example, a neutral aligned Barbarian would be much more welcome among Dwarves than an evil one, and would have an easier time building a good reputation with them. In this way, you do not have to focus specifically on race when determining relations, and players will feel like they have more control over who they are in the world.

Alignment can add depth in various other ways as well. Certain quests could only be available to those of a certain alignment – for example, an evil aligned human wizard may have no qualms taking up a quest to kill some innocent faeries, while a good aligned one would possibly prefer to deal with them through diplomacy. The more “alignment quests” a player completes, the further into their alignment they could become, unlocking even more quests and other special bonuses. Alignment could also offer unique abilities to the players chosen class – an evil aligned Cleric may be willing to cast spells of a darker sort than one of good alignment, or a good aligned Warrior may inspire greater courage in his fellow party members than an evil one. In this way, you can see how alignment could become a pathway for further character customization, while adding depth to the gameplay itself.

It’s important to mention that alignment could always be changed. While some races or classes may not ever be able to become truly good, a neutral alignment would generally be available to every player. Even an Ogre could walk among the tree cities of the elves if he was willing to prove his reputation. Which brings us to our next point in this category!

Reputation

Reputation (or faction as it was called in EQ) has been commonly used in MMOs, and is simply a way of earning greater status among NPCs. This is another area I would like to see expanded upon.

Reputation goes hand in hand with alignment, but is specific to certain factions, groups, and races of the world. Like in other games, by doing certain deeds beneficial to a faction, the player would earn favor with them. A player can always gain reputation with a faction regardless of race or alignment – the maximum level of reputation you may gain with them is where alignment comes in. An evil Death Knight is never going to be on friendly terms with Halflings, but his reputation may become great enough that they will respect his power and simply keep their distance as opposed to attacking him or driving him away.

I would like to see reputation get away from the grind that it is in World of Warcraft, and delve more into the Lore of the world. Perhaps it could be in the form of a long, epic quest chain? The quest could start by introducing the player to the lore behind the group or race in which they wish to gain favor with, specifically what their troubles or goals are. The player would be able to, slowly at first, do their part in helping this group with their struggles, eventually finding out more and more about them. The bulk of the reputation grind would be made painless through these story-driven quests, which would offer large chunks of reputation as they progressed. In the end, the quest chain could culminate in some great deed or battle the player participates in for the good of the chosen faction. Maybe he took part in reclaiming some ancient elven ruins alongside the Dune Elves, giving them back a part of their lost culture. Or perhaps he aided a powerful thieves guild in overthrowing a rival guild by carrying out a series of difficult assassinations of key members. Whatever it was, it would result in the player earning total respect and acceptance by this group.

Depth could be added to the system by creating opposing factions, similar to what Everquest did. A player who chooses to advance his reputation with the Dark Elves is not going to be loved by the Wood Elves. The player would have to choose which factions to ally himself with, and different benefits would be present for each. More character personalization is always a good thing!

Lastly, I would like to see more than just items as rewards for building reputation, even if they were merely cosmetic rewards. It would be interesting to see the world react to your deeds. For example, a player with maximum reputation with one of the human kingdoms may find peasants bowing or kneeling before him as he passes through. Awarding special titles based on the faction would be fun as well. A player should always feel like he has advanced his character by earning this reputation, not merely unlocked a vendor item as in WoW.

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Next time, I’ll be talking about another character customization choice that has been neglected: Deity and Religion.