Sandbox games have a unique challenge where players can go anywhere, do anything, but then how do you encourage them to complete quests?
There are two common ways to solve this, one is to offer rewards for completing quests (cash, in-game variables such as reputation), and another is to use storylines that are progressed through the quests. For example, Minecraft is a sandbox but has the option to battle the Ender Dragon, this then creates a story as the player must venture the world to collect the keys (Eyes of Ender). The player also receives a large reward after the battle.
A more forced way to achieve this is to have a quest as the game starts, forcing the player to complete this section before the world opens up. This is a lot more restrictive, especially in open world rpg games, but is often used to introduce all of the games mechanics. However, due to the setup, this section must be interesting or else it reflects heavily on the rest of the game.
Mount and Blade Warband takes a very loose forced approach, starting with the player being attacked but not restricting the player after the first minute, making it an interesting case study for organic quest design in open world games.
The Goal of a Video Game
I think it’s important to touch on the goals of video games and how gameplay revolves around them, so you understand why the developers chose certain choices when designing quests.
The best video games will make the player feel something, whether it be power, relaxed, or any emotion. A game like Stardew Valley would fall into the relaxed category, with in-game mechanics focused on giving the player the experience of running a farm. A game like Call of Duty aims to make players feel powerful, tactical, and excited, through gunfights in hallways, taking down waves of enemies, and engaging in a bombastic storyline.
We can break this down further by thinking of scenarios as “moments”. For example, enemies bursting into the room requiring the player to think fast to survive (leap to cover, throw a grenade, etc). Almost all games are made up of and designed around player moments as these are what connect players to a feeling.
Mount and Blade Warband is a game made up of moments that the player places, or finds, themselves in. Getting ambushed by an enemy lord, running out of money and needing to find some, inter-lord politics. All of these are gameplay moments that force the player into making choices, feeling panic or other emotions, and, due to the nature of the game, changing the course of their story.
Mount and Blade Warband Starts the Player Under Attack
This opening is the only part of the game that restricts the player however it works because it’s at the very start of the game. Players are willing to accept it here as they don’t know anything else and it serves a purpose of introducing them to the combat in an engaging way. If this section was to come later in the game then players would be less forgiving.
The game starts with the player making their character and choosing their starting town. They are then attacked in the street by a bandit who they must defeat. This immediately creates urgency because the player is forced into a fight against this unknown opponent while having to learn a combat system on the fly. Players will also usually have pretty terrible weapons, such as throwing knives, which can be useless if the bandit carries a shield, adding to the tension and urgency of the fight as they attempt to win with inferior weapons.
By itself, this opening is simple enough, but it does set up a running theme which is “the world is tough, people will do you over for their own gain”. While this theme doesn’t show up too often because of the sandbox nature of Mount and Blade, it’s interesting to start the player being the victim of a random assault. It goes some way to showing that people will act in their own interests even at your expense, something that’s then repeated when Kings declare war on each other.
Getting Players to Take the Merchant Quest
While being attacked the player will likely be wondering who this opponent is, why they’re under attack, and what’s going on. The merchant will appear after the fight (win or lose) and offer these answers to the player if they take his quest. This is an organic way to entice players into quests, especially at the start of the game. You actually have the option to reject it; however the merchant offers you money and gives you a goal, something new players won’t have so are more likely to accept.
The Merchant talks about how bandits have infiltrated the city, answering why you was attacked, and then shares about his brother being kidnapped and how you would go about rescuing him. Quite interestingly, you’re not offered a reward for doing this but instead are given the money upfront to hire troops. This reframes the quest as a combat experience instead of busywork, which goes someway towards making it more appealing.
The Merchant in Warband does talk a lot which could be a positive or negative. On one hand, it gives the players insight into the world and how it operates, that being a place of harshness and everyone out for themselves. On the other hand, it is a lot of reading and there’s no option to go “back” a page, so important information could be lost. The merchant also sets up the idea of “dealing with the bandit” problem, something that will be expanded upon further later on.
Mount and Blade Warband Opens its Map
After leaving the Merchants house, the player is given full access to the map and can do anything they want. This is where the Merchants quest becomes valuable because it gives you a clear target to work towards instead of having to create your own goals. There’s also some neat game design with each town having a nearby village (where you recruit soldiers from) so the player can often get started with recruitment without being ambushed by bandits.
Even more interestingly, the player isn’t forced to return to the Merchant with soldiers. They can raise an army and complete the rest of the game if they so wish. This freedom leans into the feeling of a living world because elements change around the player whether they’re engaging with them or not. It’s not uncommon to have several quests on the go at once, and the Merchant storyline being something you return to when you’re in the area.
Once the player returns to the Merchant, he will tell them to seek out a group of robbers to interrogate. 4 low level bandits will then appear on the map nearby and defeating them will reveal the location of their base. Both of these happen fairly close to the starting Town, giving players a chance to encounter them without being assaulted by larger groups of bandits who they’d have no chance against. That’s good game design for beginners.
The player will seek out the bandit lair, rescue the brother, and return to the merchant for the next part of the quest.
How Mount and Blade Makes the Player feel Powerful
Upon returning the Merchants brother, he will reveal his plan to you. The Captain of the Watch is corrupt, allowing in bandits in return for a cut of the profits, so the Merchant plans to take out his co-conspirators, capture the caption, and bring him to the King directly for punishment. He asks that the player leads his team.
This was set up when you first speak to the merchant and it’s now paid off here with a plan to resolve the problem. That set up means players are more likely to accept the quest as it feels like a continuation of a story they’ve already started on. This also ties back to the start of the game, giving a reason for why they was randomly attacked by a bandit in the streets. In some ways, this is the players chance to get back at the people who started them on this path.
The plan begins in the streets where you stand with the Merchant and a few townspeople ready to fight and then he gives the order. Upon this, the group spreads out, attacking any nearby bandits. The genius of this part is that you’re surrounded by townspeople who are often unarmed and weak, meaning they’ll go down easily to bandits carrying weapons. This can also apply to the Merchant who I’ve seen go down instantly to a guy with a club.
All of this works together to give the player the feeling of being powerful and the hero in a losing situation. You’ll likely have some fighting experience by now, so can handle most 1 on 1s and won’t have too much trouble unless you’re ganged up on. The game organically uses weak allies to create a sense of power.
What Developers can Learn from the Merchant Quest
The questline ends with a debrief back at the Merchants house where he discusses his next steps. We later meet him and learn that the King has exiled him from the city, and he speaks more on how the world is unforgiving.
Mount and Blade Warband is a great study for encouraging players to take quests because the game truly is a sandbox where players can have more fun chasing their own goals. However, the Merchant questline counters this by involving the player from the get-go and then giving them a chance to get revenge. I was attacked in the streets, this is why, and this is how we will deal with the problem. That set up strongly entices players to follow along as they are directly involved with the situation.
The street brawl has a few interesting lessons in how to create immersive situations where the player feels powerful. The first is that the player is not the leader here, the Merchant is, making the player just one amongst many soldiers. This changes the dynamic from managing the troops into just defeating whoever’s in front of you, which is a feeling players won’t get later on in the game.
Secondly, the troops are naturally weak because they’re a resistance force of townspeople, not trained soldiers, going up against savages. This organically makes the player feel powerful because they’re the most experienced fighter amongst them, leading to the rest of the crew struggling with enemies the player can take on easily. The rest of the troops going down easily also creates a sense of despair as the numbers quickly reduce.
