Suttree.com: Casual Games, Social Software by Duncan Gough

Through a conversation with a friend about games like World of Warcraft and Counter Strike I came to realise that their is an element of persistence in all online multiplayer games.

This may well be nothing new to everyone else, but to me it is.

For years, I played Counter Strike. In comparison to a true virtual world like Word of Warcraft, Counter Strike works with a global ‘reset’ button that activates at the end of each round. So, after a couple of minutes invariable spent as a ghost watching the better players play against one another, the world resets, the damage is undone and the game restarts. This groundhog day style of gaming was how pretty much all online multiplayer games functioned. From Quake to Counter Strike, the global reset button was part of the game. Really the only persistent item was your score, which in itself lasted until the end of the round, and reset itself when the next map loaded.

However, there was still a persistence that lived in those games. Clearly the reason why the earlier version of Counter Strike were so popular and still claim the hours of so much online gaming is more than just the balance and gameplay. Those things add to the experience greatly, but once again the success of the service really comes down to the community that builds around it. As someone who has spent more time ‘dead’ chatting with all the other ‘dead’ people in Counter Strike, it’s easy to see how the persistence in the early online games was formed from the community. A player created a reputation through skill and chat. Topping the scoreboard, even if only for a while, enhances your reputation in the eyes of other players. That’s why finding a decent server (like axia) can prolong your time with a game - it become more than just the gameplay that gets you hooked, it’s combination of gameplay and community.

Valve has sensed that there is persistence in Counter Strike with their introduction of the CS Marketplace, where weapons are priced in accordance with the history of demand. Briefly, if everyone buys an AK-47, then next week they’ll be the most expensive. This kind of persistence forces players to alter their playing style and experience the game differently. Or, most likely, they’ll migrate to other servers where these kind of patches aren’t applied. As I’ve said before, I know this is obvious stuff, but sometimes habits form without direct recognition, so acknowledging what created that habit is still worthwhile.

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