Mimesis Online from Polish Developer Tannhauser Gate, is a role-playing game which transports you to a world where the borders between reality and illusion do not exist. An unimaginable catastrophe on a cosmic scale transformed this world, playing havoc with the natural order of things, twisting everything, even time itself, wiping out civilisation as we know it. For the Universe itself, everything changed and nothing changed - a new order was established, one where entropy rules, without intelligent beings working to hold it back. The beings who survived the catastrophe have tried to rebuild their world, each in their own way. They once again want to enforce on the natural chaos their order, their ways - authority, money, prejudice, cruelty and conviction of their own superiority. Once again, they are showing the unlimited ability of intelligent races to adapt and survive. The forgotten civilisation is waking up and slowly but surely emerging as the "new" civilisation - and how similar it is to the old one.

On a regular basis we will feature a developer's diary made by the Mimesis Online development team. In this diary Derek Handley looks at conflict handling, both in the game and in the office.

Part 9. "Conflicts"

The Beta Tests are rolling ever onwards, and working pretty much according to plan. There's more people being admitted as testers this week, and we're almost up to stage two. Most importantly of all, the structure of the tests is working for us. So, I'm not going to write anything about the Beta Tests this week, as it would sound awfully self-congratulatory, and I'm sure the last thing you need is a whole page of us patting ourselves on the back. There's been no big disasters or foul-ups, and good news is no news. Right?
Anyhow, I thought I'd move away from Betas and Gammas and stuff like that, and talk about conflict. Different kinds of conflict - in-game and in-studio. This is not an exposé - don't read this looking for juicy details of office punch-ups, because they're not there. These are a few anecdotes and backstage details, and a little preview of conflict resolution, Mimesis style.
Now, I've said repeatedly that Tannhauser Gate is a great place to work (because it is), and has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere (because it has), but that doesn't mean that we all agree about absolutely everything. Our disagreements range from the trivial, completely unrelated to the game, to the serious, i.e. to things that are at the very heart of the game (nothing like being passionate about something to bring the claws out). And some subjects of contention are downright bizarre.

Cats & Dogs
Like cats and dogs. Artur is a dog man - he's the proud owner of a beautiful, silky-black coated Doberman - a real champion class dog. But he can't stand cats. He thinks they're sneaky, untrustworthy and sly; fuzzy little parasites on humanity. While I, on the other hand, am a bit of a cat fan, as you may remember from the diary entry that I wrote from home the day of the move. I don't mind dogs...well, I don't particularly like small yip-yip dogs like Francine's mother in 'Strangers in Paradise' has, but generally I'm an animal fan, with a particular love of cats. Anyway, that diary entry was the cause of the only time myself and Artur crossed swords. He wanted to change the cat (Morph, a tabby) to a dog, despite the illogicality of said animal curling up on a keyboard later in the same diary entry. I dug my heels in; it remains a cat. But every chance we get, we remind each other of the superiority of our respective pets. In a non-confrontational, friendly manner of course...

Music
Now that's a steady cause of conflict. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if the wrong music is playing, you just can't work. And when you've got several people in one room (each room at the studio's two addresses now holds several people - and I can still remember when there were only eight people in the whole studio!), there's bound to be something played that doesn't suit someone. We've tried headphones (interferes with communication), equal-opportunity play lists (worked for a while, but people kept sneaking in more than their fair share), and silence (no-one could get used to it). But the best 'conflict' to be a spectator for is between Waldek (Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath and this frankly weird polish band that play covers of old seventies standards with new lyrics, the kind you wouldn't play for your granny) and Marcin (Cake, Pixies, Radiohead). This was a silent mutual glaring act - neither would stoop so low as to actually comment on what the other was playing (unless provoked), but they'd burn holes in the backs of each others head with the kind of gaze usually reserved by cobras for their prey. Just as well neither of them is Scott Summers.

Game Aspects
Controversy about aspects of the game is far more vocal. As I said before, if you're passionate about something...we haven't had a 'discussion' like this in a long while (although the programmers sometimes seem to get into these sorts of things - I'm not sure, I've never been able to understand a word they're saying). In fact, this kind of conversation only went on at the beginning, when we were establishing the basic rules of the game. The most memorable concerned a creature that was designed about two years ago, back when we were still kicking around the idea to include magic in the game. I'll tell you the story of that idea at a later date. Anyway, this creature basically looked like a ghost, and months after we'd made the decision to go strictly sci-fi, was still knocking around. And then someone did a screenshot including a couple of the things. And released it. You can see the offending article on our main web site. Some of us were livid when we saw this, because it was no longer supposed to be part of the game, and some of us said 'it's fine, don't have a cow or anything'...

Actually, it all worked out fine, because we managed to think of a way of including the thing in the game without breaking the sci-fi convention. But you'll have to wait a while longer to see what that solution is.
All of these little conflicts have never threatened the integrity of the team - we've always managed to keep the trivial at a trivial level (comments, jibes, etc. - all very good-natured), and calm down in time if the discussions are too intense. There's been no walkouts or slammed doors.

Conflicts in the Game
In 5692, they have a different way of resolving conflicts. Thankfully, we don't use it at Tannhauser Gate, because there wouldn't be that many of us left...
This is taken from the description of the gameworld, and concerns arenas, one of the ways we created for players to 'resolve conflicts' with other players.

The arena system is a controversial aspect of life in 5692, and there are many who do not accept this 'sport'. Arena fighting is a combination of elements from Skirrosian and Human culture, although all historical reports indicate that it was the 'missing race', the Callions, who initially engaged their money and effort in building up this now-thriving 'blood entertainment industry'. In every land there is at least one arena, and the local arena cartels run semi-regular gladiatorial tournaments. Not all arena fighting is to the death, but the most press attention is garnered by the often vicious 'Last Soul Breathing' tournaments (a sport which can sometimes quite literally follow the Skirros maxim: To our goal over corpses and sorrow). Other major sporting events also take place in the arenas, although it should be remembered that with the social and political instability which exists, such organized events follow no set timetable, and are rather the exception than the norm. That said, the arenas and the events that take place in them have become an undeniably integral part of life on this planet.

Besides their 'entertainment' function, the arenas also serve two other purposes. The first is as a 'talent pool' for organizations and individuals looking for employees for security work and other high-risk tasks. If someone is good enough and strong enough to emerge victorious in the arena, then he or she can probably handle a variety of difficult situations, and in an uncertain and dangerous world like this one, that kind of person is the kind you want by your side. The second function is as a place to resolve differences - many have found that involving the governor and the authorities in a dispute leads to an unsatisfactory resolution, and the arenas have been unofficially established as the place to settle a wide variety of disputes the physical way. The authorities turn a blind eye to what goes on during such challenge fights, and some have begun to refer to the arenas as 'blind spots', 'looprings' and 'people's courts'.

In game terms, any fight in the arena is a legal and allowed fight. It doesn't matter who starts such a fight, or who wins - no-one's character will be punished. You can challenge other players' characters to meet you and fight in the arena, and they can refuse or accept. If they refuse, then nothing happens. If they accept, then you can arrange the time you will enter the arena, and go there to fight. You have the same freedom to accept and refuse challenges from other players. You can fight one-on-one, in pairs or teams, to the death or to first blood - you and the other player decide. Other than this, the arenas are places you can send your character to pick a fight with a variety of NPCs, to watch a fight, or to take part in a tournament.

I hasten to add that we're not trying to recommend beating the tar out of each other as a way of resolving conflicts - not how it should be done; as Rex the Runt was wont to say: 'It's not pretty, and it's not clever. Oh, no.' But PC-PC combat is a fact of life in online games, so we decided to create a place where it could go on 'legally', and so that those who don't want to get involved, don't have to. That doesn't mean it's impossible to get attacked anywhere else in the game world. I'll tell you more about that kind of PvP some other time.
Just a thought. Wouldn't it be nice though, if conflicts could be resolved in online arenas? Might make the world a safer place.

Just being naïve. Take care all, and resolve your conflicts peacefully!
Derek Handley.