Greg Street, the former World of Warcraft Lead System Designer, recently shared his opinion that streamlining the MMO leveling experience is a mistake.
A screenshot from Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII – Reunion (2022), Square Enix
The current Studio Head and Game Director of Fantastic Pixel Castle, who is working on an upcoming MMO titled Ghost, posted to X, “I’ll be spicy some more. Someone asked me if it’s a mistake to streamline the leveling experience and let players get to the endgame asap because that’s what they love. My answer is yes.”
He continued, “I think it’s the leveling experience that we all fell in love with and invested in MMOs. I think getting to level cap should be an accomplishment, not a blip.”
Greg Street on X
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Street elaborated, “The endgame is very very important and a lot of MMOs fail because they have a good leveling experience and a lame endgame. So we won’t forsake that.”
“But I also think the leveling should be challenging and a bit of effort and not something you cruise through so you can start raising,” he opined. “Even when I was on WoW I held this opinion.”
Greg Street on X
“And as with many game design ‘taste’ issues, I understand that people have different opinions and you do you,” Street said. “That’s fine. But we can’t be all things to all people or we will be milk toast.”
“I don’t even mind milk toast. My momma made it for me a lot. But it’s a synonym for something mid,” he concluded.
Greg Street on X
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In a number of responses, Street would elaborate on his thoughts and clarify that he’s primarily talking about the first play through with a brand new character rather than a second character going through much of the same content.
In response to one user pointing out they get exhausted having to constantly level up, Street replied, “I hear you, but I also think this portrayal from players and devs as leveling is the boring ass long line and endgame is the roller coaster at the end is a false dichotomy. It doesn’t have to be that way.”
Greg Street on X
Specifically regarding a question regarding leveling up a second character, Street replied, “I think it should be faster on subsequent characters. BUT this perspective from players often comes with a desire to not want to see every cutscene in a linear story over again. Leveling doesn’t have to be that way.”
Greg Street on X
Not only did Street share his thoughts on leveling, but adjacent to this subject, he also explained what he believes makes a great MMO.
He wrote, “Immersion in the world, great combat that asks you to make interesting decisions, a strong social component, challenges that feel satisfying to overcome.”
Greg Street on X
Street’s opinion about making leveling an experience that takes time, dedication, and presents a challenge can definitely be rewarding and provide players satisfaction when they hit various leveling goals. It also clearly allows players time to master their character as well as test out various strategies. However, given the rise of the internet and the proliferation of guides, this is somewhat mitigated as many players share and gravitate to the builds and playstyles that are most effective for various game types that they prefer i.e. PvP builds versus PvE tank and DPS builds.
Star Wars: The Old Republic made the leveling experience very rewarding. However, it implemented a very unique tact of providing class-specific storylines. It made leveling up feel rewarding and satisfying and also drove a desire to play through other class storylines because the stories for the most part were so deep.
A screenshot shot from Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011), Broadsword
One of the challenges that MMOs have regarding making the leveling experience rewarding is the fact that in many cases a lot of the types of different game content is only accessible to characters at max level. This pushes players to want to get to max level as quickly as possible in order to enjoy all of the options the game has to offer.
It would be possible to alleviate this by opening up more of the end game options to lower levels and even integrate a kind of buddy style system where higher level players are encouraged to aid lower level players to obtain faction reputation or some other rewards or benefits that are not outdated or of little use to players at max level.
Another way to achieve this is through random dynamic events that offer various rewards at starter or lower level areas to keep those areas interesting as well as spice up the leveling process. Depending on the game’s setting, it could be possible to have random PvE raids into territories where they could possibly take over certain areas of the map if players do not work together to fend them off. Players can also work to reconquer territory that has been taken.
Clearly, leveling up is a complicated issue, but there are solid examples such as Star Wars: The Old Republic on how it can be a rewarding and satisfying experience for players outside of getting to the end game content.
A screenshot from World of Warcraft: The War Within Alpha (2024), Blizzard
What do you make of Street’s comments regarding leveling?
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