So in my previous entry I talked about one version of “metagames”.  I believe there is, in fact, another phenomenon that might be considered a “metagame”.  And to talk about this, I need to talk about…zombies.

Specifically, I’m going to talk about Urban Dead.  (In fact, I’ve already written quite a bit about Urban Dead, but I should summarize for those readers just now joining me.)  UD is a text-based, browser-based massively multiplayer game.  Survivors and zombies are trapped in the city of Malton.  Starting characters acquire experience points through fighting, and they spend these points skills to let them become more lethal zombies and/or survivors.  Another interesting wrinkle is that survivors who die become zombies…and zombies can be “revived”, becoming survivors!  This lets players try out both roles and develop both skill trees.

Eventually, of course, your character will acquire all the skills that exist.  You might stop playing at this point…or you could get a bit deeper into the game.

The game truly is “massively multiplayer”.  All the players exist in the same world at the same time.  (Well, Malton is the “main” town and there are a couple other, less populated towns.)  People do stuff using action points, which accumulate over time.  Thus, people are logging in at all hours of the day to perform actions that affect the world.  If you’re a survivor who logs out in a barricaded building, you might log in the next day to find that the zombies have torn down the barricades, swarmed in and turned everyone inside into zombies…and now you get to work on your zombie skill tree.

Malton is made up of a number of neighborhoods, each with its own layout of buildings, empty lots, streets and even malls.  There is safety in numbers; Survivors will congregate and barricade buildings in their neighborhoods to keep out zombies.  Zombies will congregate and ruin buildings in their neighborhoods, making them inhospitable for survivors.  And occasionally, some motivated people will get a bunch of friends together and make a foray into enemy territory.

Malton’s map is a mix of human and zombie influence, perennially shifting as skirmishes occur. That link should take you to the “Building Information Center” on the UD Wiki; scroll down to see the current state of Malton (red for zombie presence, green for zombie-free areas).  This map is continually updated by reports from players.

Malton is, quite literally, a warzone.  The two sides struggle back and forth to gain advantage over each other.  One could imagine power players on the two sides viewing it as a giant chess game, using field reports to puzzle out their opponents’ strategies and plot new attacks.

The Warzone Metagame

This kind of metagame can actually be found in several other games nowadays.  EVE Online and Guild Wars come to mind; I’m sure there are other examples.  The whole point is organized attacks on enemy territory.  However, there are a couple of important wrinkles.

Negative feedback keeps armies from building on their advantages.  If new territory increases the conqueror’s power, then it will allow them to take even more territory; this positive feedback loop may allow an initially successful side to win in short order.  In Malton, territory doesn’t actually provide you with anything.  (For survivors, it means short supply lines and mobility; those are the only real advantages I can think of.)

Incentives for attack keep players attempting attacks.  In UD, oddly enough, there doesn’t seem to be much incentive for attack…except that fighting is what zombies and survivors do.  (It’s a very easy premise to buy into.)

Fortifications allow players to develop an emotional attachment to pieces of territory.  Investment of time and effort leads to emotional investment.

Status information lets players know the state of the world.  (In UD, most of this is provided by players, but it seems to work well.)

Outflanking allows players to take advantage of attacks.  Soldiers attacking a new territory may leave their home territory undefended.  This can lead to all sorts of wild reversals.

How about it, have I left anything out?