Emergent behavior to be produced in Trion's Heroes of Telara
by Seraphina Brennan 
Jul 7th 2009 at 6:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, Interviews, Massively meta, Heroes of Telara
Emergence is one of the aspects that many MMOs aspired to, only to drop in favor of static storytelling. The problem with emergence is that simple decisions would have a compounding impact on the world. Heroes would solve problems, only to perhaps create further problems with their implemented solutions. Most game architecture can't handle decision making of that nature, as it would need developers to constantly code in the new events that would occur.
However, Heroes of Telara seems to be aspiring to that using server-side gaming. Their proposed method, as it appears in an interview between Trion's CEO, Lars Buttler, and GamesIndustry.biz, is to run the game entirely server side, letting developers change and alter the game on the fly. As Buttler puts it, "There are small events, there are big events, there is even emergent behaviour in the game that changes the game world. A lot of it is not even known to us, it's like the ghost in the machine. The game is almost alive, and that allows you to create heroes."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
starzzareblind said on 6:11PM 7-07-2009
lol that is kind of creepy sounding at the end.
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Jeremy S. said on 6:20PM 7-07-2009
I would've thought there'd be a lot of buzz over this type of info. Even if it is the same PR buzz that has many jaded and disheartened by past similar episodes.
The idea that there may be something along the lines of constant daily "live events" would be an awesome feature.
And this talk of server side? I read the blurb about how it can supposedly reduce or eliminate lag bubbles. But I wonder if it really will. Sure it sounds nice but I wonder if actual implementation will show that it works about the same as the way most MMO's now run? Will it really be able to keep up and redirect the server power it needs fast enough?
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M said on 6:28PM 7-07-2009
Interested to see how/if it works. This "genre" is in need of something different...
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Lougi said on 6:44PM 7-07-2009
This. This is really cool info, and I hope they can deliver. This is just the kind of thing MMO's need right now. A living breathing world, or at least one that seems like it.
Not a small undertaking though. Should be real interesting. This went from being just another fantasy title to join the long list, to one worth watching.
mysecretid said on 8:18PM 7-07-2009
Agreed. This is probably the only upcoming fantasy MMORPG on my radar now.
They don't even have to deliver everything they promise at launch -- just enough of it to make the game noticeably different.
(Hint to the devs and their marketing team: don't over-hype this one prior to release. Emergence is a tricky implementation, to say the least, and if you over-promise and under-deliver, MMORPG gamers will loathe you and your game for it)
Vulturion said on 6:51PM 7-07-2009
Every Telara story that surfaces sounds impressively ambitious, but outside industry event attendees it and Trion are so completely unknown that it's hard to get on their wagon - no sense if the game's a juggernaut or on track to be a footnote bandied about when AAA titles start copying their big ideas.
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SignpostMarv Martin said on 6:52PM 7-07-2009
Sounds like Second Life :-P
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HexDSL said on 6:54PM 7-07-2009
even if its terrible, at least thy are trying to do this, good work people! like what your doing.
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wolfsterne said on 10:25PM 7-07-2009
I do know they have been at this for quite some time, I talked with someone at Gne Con a couple years back who was doing some testing for TWN, he was explaining how this technology worked and how even the most basic changes made the world seem alive like before your character walks into a pub he sees two men haggling on the street corner when he walks back out there is a woman with a child where the men were and a peddler walking through town, and it's constantly changing..it is a living world.
If they can pull it off, this game will revolutionize the industry.
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Grimjakk said on 2:06AM 7-08-2009
Sounds like "The World" from the .Hack franchise. There was an element in that fictional MMORPG that would act independently of the commands of the game administrators.
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DeathMutant said on 11:13PM 7-07-2009
I am confused by what their product actually is. Does "server-side gaming" mean a technology similar to Gaikai ( http://www.gaikai.com/ )?
Other than the user interface, everything mentioned sounds exactly like a MUD or MMOG. I do not understand the reasoning behind the claim of (yet another) "next generation" MMOG but, then again, it is a common claim.
Perhaps they are developing something like "Love" ( http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/index.html ) but with a thin-client or web browser plug-in as a UI?
Either way, I am still baffled as to what the hype is about.
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CindyL said on 12:08AM 7-08-2009
Wait so every time Massively reports on an mmo it's hype? *groan* I'd call it good reporting hype would be generated by the marketing team of said game and usually most mmo have next to no hype, I can count on one hand the games that have had hype in the past...
Anyway this sounds intriguing to say the least.
Rihahn said on 11:44AM 7-08-2009
Server-side means streaming most of the game content to the client - similar to the design specs for "Horizons" / "Istaria" (circa 2003) in that there is no need to publish new world files (geometry, textures, etc) to your users via a scheduled update... Basically the world can change at the speed the content can be delivered.
Horizons / Istaria still does this, and it is far better than it was in 2003 when the average player was still running sub 1Mbit connections to the servers.
This sort of tech is very, very cool - but it's also very, very server and bandwidth intensive. WoW, which is a client-side game (there's 11+ gigs of the world on your HD and the client just does things like positional and combat updates to the server), can almost run on dialup while SecondLife, a server-side system, can, and will, consume every iota of bandwidth you have - much to the consternation of your roommates...
I figure Telara will fall somewhere in the middle in that the land and major landmarks will be client side, but everything else will be streamed.
I look forward to seeing how they pull this off.
Sean said on 12:54AM 7-08-2009
Just to clarify, I believe the technology they're citing is something vaguely analogous to the hero engine, as a development tool, implemented in the actual game. For instance art assets, ai, geometry, etc., could be updated on the fly without the need for a client patch/restart.
However, haven't we seen this "emergent" gameplay with Asheron's Call, Matrix Online, and A Tale in the Desert? Perhaps their implementation will be better but I wouldn't call it wholly novel.
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Aerton said on 1:10AM 7-08-2009
That surely sounds exciting, but past similar endeavors in single player games, like Oblivion and STALKER had very limited success. Both of these games claimed to have similar featured implemented, but then cut them off before release due to gameplay problems getting out of control (quest NPC were nowhere to be found because they were stuck in an attempt to clear a near dungeon, player's quest invalidated before he had a chance to reach destination, etc).
It should be way more complex for an MMO, so we'd see how much of that will get into release. At very least, it complicates Q&A process quite a lot.
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jack said on 2:19AM 7-08-2009
If they can pull it off, this game will revolutionize the industry.
http://www.chinalaptopstore.com/
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Suthainn said on 2:41AM 7-08-2009
The dawn of a new era in MMORPG's is upon us and we have TWN to thank for it.
- www.telaratribune.com
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Diabolus said on 6:09PM 7-16-2009
Don't be too hasty... Several games have been touted as "Dawn of a New Era" - Darkfall, Age of Conan..... But they fell short. While they did introduce some interesting new features, they are still not revolutionary.
So let's just wait and see how good it really is.
I like the concept. And I hope they really do implement "emergence" rather than just modifications on the server leading to changes in the game world. Sure, the latter will be AWESOME too, but real emergence is more than just constant real-time developer changes... its when the gameworld is 'alive' and produces unpredictable results simply of its own accord using its pre-existing rule set.
Celestian said on 1:55PM 7-08-2009
All this sounds great, I'm going to wait and see how it turns out, if it even makes it into the retail version. So much hype for all the other games features and so much let down. I'm going to keep my expectations low.
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Skuz said on 2:03AM 7-09-2009
"If they can pull it off, this game will revolutionize the industry."
I agree, it all depends on the execution, scope & integration, if it is a core function of the game, built in from the ground up it might have a huge amount of potential.
Having the world geometry client side & all the "assets" NPC's, buildings, flora & fauna etc on the server does impact on bandwidth but hopefully they are utilising the broadband era without being over ambitious it's a balancing act.
If using this they can truly bring us a living breathing, dying choking, dynamic & changing world, they will have crossed a threshold, perhaps it will the first small step in the direction many RPG enthusiasts have wanted games to go.
Only time will tell if it can deliver upon such lofty aims, but I think it is a bold & important move away from the current WoW-clone trends, I have become deeply interested in this title.
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