Teasing Epic Encounters

What makes a player stick with a game that starts out by making them repeatedly whack rats with rusty daggers?

Or, how games that require significant player investment communicate that players' effort will be well rewarded.

Game levels are generally designed to gradually ramp up in difficulty. Players expect that each encounter will be slightly more difficult than the previous one. Intentionally breaking this principle can yield some highly motivating results. Let's take a look at some case studies.

Everquest

Everquest is the fore-father of the modern MMORPG genre. Players spend much of Everquest's early game repeatedly whacking rats, snakes, and various other vermin with wooden sticks and rusty daggers. It's not the most compelling gameplay premise, yet this is one of the most addictive games ever made. Why did players put up with this? Because Everquest promised epic encounters for those who survived the early game.

This is the Oasis of Marr, a low level zone in Everquest. Low level players spend most of their time in this area hunting crocodiles living near this lake. What's special about this level is the island in the middle of the lake.

The island is full of these high level, badass (for 1999!) undead spectres. If a low level player gets anywhere near them, they will be killed instantly. Wait, isn't this super frustrating for players? Fortunately Everquest is extremely clear about whether or not it is appropriate for a player to attempt to fight a specific enemy, so it is clear to players they are not yet ready for this encounter. What does happen though, is as players are farming crocodiles around the lake, they see other high level players fighting the spectres. This creates a fantasy for players about how one day they will be ones fighting the spectres, while other low level players around the lake watch in awe.

Elden Ring

This design pattern largely fell out of use following the release of World of Warcraft which would emphasize lower friction progression and clarity for players by providing discreet level ranges for each zone. However, this philosophy lives on in FromSoftware's games.

Elden Ring has a fantastic implementation of this technique, it's what hooked me on the game.

This is the Flying Dragon Agheel. You can encounter this dragon within about 5 minutes of emerging into Elden Ring's open world, and if you challenge the dragon then, you will be a smoldering piles of ashes a few seconds later. This is a critical promise that the game makes to players. It says, "this game is challenging and humbling, you will be killed over and over again by the most mundane of creatures, but if you overcome these challenges, one day you will have these incredible encounters with the most fantastical beasts and demons." Once players are burnt to a cinder, they are hooked. They will die time and time again because they want to experience an encounter like this. You must show players the incredible things that await them to keep them wanting more.

This technique is powerful because it creates an intrinsic motivation for players and because it creates an opportunity for delayed gratification. The human brain loves puzzling out how to overcome long term challenges and gives huge dopamine hits when you overcome them.

What's something that happened within the first hour of a game that completely captivated you?