What makes a boss monster strong?
“Well, it’s probably high stats, right? Like attack power, health, and defense.”
“A monster that summons a lot of minions.”
“Spamming debuffs can be really annoying too.”
“Constantly using AoE (Area of Effect) attacks.”
The answers may vary, but most people will talk about the boss’s abilities—things like stats and chanics.
But what about a well-designed boss monster?
“A good backstory makes the boss more compelling.”
“I think the concept is more important.”
“The difficulty should challenge the player’s spirit.”
“No matter how well it’s designed, if it doesn’t look good, it kind of loses its appeal, right?”
“Even if it’s tough, the patterns need to be fair.”
When asked about a well-designed boss, you’ll likely get a wider range of answers than when asked about a strong boss.
The reason is that a “well-designed” boss ans it has a certain appeal, and what makes a boss appealing can vary from person to person.
So people find a boss’s appearance captivating, while others might be moved by the boss’s backstory.
All these elents co together—or sotis conflict—to create a more appealing (or well-made) character.
That’s why, when soone asks,
“Isn’t this boss really well-made?”
it’s not unusual for soone else to respond,
“Hmm… is it really?”
And then there are people who just love to stir things up with comnts like,
“Honestly, I could make sothing better than this.”
However, in an MMORPG, especially in a raid where many players work together to defeat a boss, the standards for what makes a well-designed boss are sowhat established.
Appearance, story, and concept.
These are certainly important.
When players feel invested, their imrsion in the ga increases, and the more imrsed they are, the more likely they are to stick with the ga.
But that doesn’t an all players will quit the ga if those things are lacking.
The way people enjoy gas varies, and so players simply enjoy the challenge of clearing raids, gathering gear, and making their character stronger.
So, what does a well-designed raid boss need?
According to a man with about five years of MMORPG experience, the most important thing is, “Can the players see it as fair?”
Let’s take an example.
Depending on the chanics, so raids differ, but most raids focus on surviving the boss’s attacks and depleting its health without dying.
That’s why almost every RPG ga has a way to recover health.
In so gas, it’s potions. In others, it’s a specific role, known as the Healer.
In other words, the Healer acts like a logistics unit, making it a crucial role that allows the battle to continue.
On the flip side, if you kill the Healer, wiping out the party becos significantly easier.
So, wouldn’t it be efficient for the raid boss to focus on killing the Healer first and ignore everyone else?
But would players consider that reasonable?
The reason the boss doesn’t imdiately target the Healer or spam instant-kill attacks from the start isn’t because the boss is stupid—it’s because the ga developers designed it that way.
If the boss imdiately killed the backline or killed the players the mont they entered the boss room, would anyone be happy, exclaiming, “Wow, this boss is really strong!”
Or what if a boss with a “general” concept summoned hundreds of minions to fight for it?
You can only appreciate the appeal of a boss if the gaplay allows you to experience it. If unreasonable chanics prevent you from playing, no one will feel that appeal.
Therefore, in the man’s opinion, before a boss can be attractive, it must first be reasonable.
A well-made boss can be both attractive and strong, but just because it’s attractive and strong doesn’t an it’s well-made.
***
“Ah, damn it!”
Bang!
From this man’s perspective, the boss he was currently challenging fell into the category of “poorly designed.”
No, even more than that, it could be categorized as “terribly designed” or “Why did they make it like this?”
A boss room? Sure, there is one.
If a boss room ans a place where you have a higher chance of encountering the boss than anywhere else.
The boss moves all over the place, so even initiating a fight is challenging.
***
“Did you die again?”
“No, seriously, does this make any sense? It ignored my taunt, ran straight at , and killed —how am I supposed to survive that?”
“Who forced you to play a Healer?”
“You’re the one who chose the role, don’t take it out on us.”
***
In most MMORPGs, there’s an aggro system.
This system, also called threat, builds up when players deal damage or use skills, and the monster attacks the player with the highest threat.
Tanks usually have skills to drastically increase their threat or pull aggro from others.
However, this boss ignores the taunt skill and runs straight for the Healer.
On top of that, its attack power is so high that one hit sends you to the afterlife.
The boss is also packed with unreasonable features like only allowing one party to challenge it at a ti.
***
“Okay, from now on, take a different Healer to the raid. I’m going to join another group.”
“No, no, that’s unfair! If you leave, we’ll spend all day looking for a new Healer.”
“Not my problem.”
“I didn’t say anything! Let’s just kick the people who insulted you, or just take with you when you raid… heh.”
“Traitor!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please don’t abandon us….”
***
The man let out a bitter smile as he watched his party mbers quickly change their attitude, as if they had never tried to push him away.
Contrary to the playful atmosphere and banter, the man’s party was steadily heading toward total annihilation.
After he died, the boss’s next strike brought the fellow Healer to his side.
At the sa ti, the boss turned and swung its sword, taking down three incoming damage dealers in one blow.
In a continued motion, the boss pushed away a tank and sent a sword beam to finish off the last distant damage dealer.
Ignoring the sturdier tanks and focusing on the fragile Healers and damage dealers first, the boss had efficiently wiped them out.
The only ones left were two tough, but now useless, tanks who couldn’t heal and couldn’t deal enough damage to defeat the boss.
Monts later, the last tank fell, leaving only the boss, wearing a tattered hooded cape, standing alone on the battlefield.
Watching the familiar light envelop the fallen party mbers, the man muttered,
.
“Trash ga. I can’t do this anymore.”
.
One, two, three… seven.
.
“And now eight.”
***
Is there so rule about always attacking in groups of eight?
Once again, today I’d cut down eight people—no, eight moths—before I staggered over to sit on a conveniently sized rock.
It wasn’t difficult.
How much energy does it take to deal with enemies who fall with one swing of my sword?
But the flying moths have their own level of annoyance…
Especially when the moths can wield swords and magic.
So yeah, it’s a bit tiring.
I pressed my eyes with my fingers, sighing deeply.
It’s been so long since I started my life in this world…
How many years has it been again?
I began counting on my fingers but gave up after folding them twice.
It’s been more than ten years, I think, but who cares about that?
.
“I just want to eat chicken…”
.
Once again, I swallowed my unfulfilled desire and could only smack my lips longingly at the thought.
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