It seems often that I see two extremes where population is concerned in MMOs. I have seen both extremes: massive overpopulation (the ‘zerg’) and the player-less wasteland.

Although such extremes may be rare, actually often you are left with very few player controlled characters around you. This seems to be the norm with MMOs, a result of having levels and areas dedicated to bands of levels.

This had me wondering what the ‘optimal’ population is for a good community and also for good grouping opportunities when desired. In Vanguard I’ve been playing a new Shaman in the Varanjar starter area, which I really love as it’s mountainous so plenty of climbing challenges! However I’ve not seen a single other player character so far, a combination of not playing the Isle of Dawn starter area and playing on an US server from an EU timezone.

Personally I want to see other player characters while I’m playing, even if I’m soloing quests it’s nice to have someone to /nod or /wave to as you run along. Also I usually drive-by-buff people if I’m not in combat already and they’re not obviously trying to kill-steal or hog all the resources in the area.

But it can quickly become ‘too much’ if you’re constantly seeing other characters and having to compete for mobs or quest items. Star Wars in the early days after launch was very hectic. The Mists beta is unplayable at present (hello, one EU beta server Blizzard? Only one!????). I remember in Rift having problems with competition for mobs and quests as well, though at least there the public grouping made it much easier to avoid certain issues.

This affects many aspects of the game experience, not just combat or quest progression. There is less incentive to harvest or craft, other than self-sufficiency, if there is no healthy player-driven economy. Very popular games, especially where botters are not controlled, however can have such an overcrowded economy in which general players can barely compete.

Simply encouraging high level players back to low level areas is not the best solution, yes you see other people around, but LoTRO is a clear example of the negative effect this can have. If you ‘missed’ doing a deed in a low level area you can go back with much higher abilities and farm the necessary creatures quickly and efficiently. This, however, can lock out low level players who need those same creatures for kill quests.

It seems to me that games designers do not necessarily put much thought into player population management, beyond perhaps the max model count that the engine can cope with. They look at performance issues but not at the playability issues that too many or too few other players can bring.