Johansen Quijano (Tarrant County College)
Study of the Middle Ages highlights literary and historical documents demonstrating that they were mired with juxtaposing practices and ideologies that led to conflict (Hodgson et.al., 2020). These conflicts existed at both the macro and micro levels, from the sociopolitical and economic systems that underlie feudalism and monarchy to the daily relations between neighbors and relatives (Clark, 2007). At the same time, the literature shows a spirit of togetherness, community, and cooperation – a synergy between conflicting parties (Krotzl, 2022). The literature shows vibrant communities where neighbors work with each other to help improve their material conditions but who will, at times, act in a selfish and purely self-interested manner, often to the detriment of others (Bergqvist, 2020). This also bears out when looking at monarchs and religious figures (Clark, 2007). This ecosystem creates a system of cooperation and conflict that is the theme of this conference – a system that is, interestingly, captured in the Monster Huner World online raids.
Monster Hunter World is a medieval-themed monster hunting game where players embark on quests to hunt dragons. It is one of the most compelling video game interpretation of the dragon-slaying hero originated in myths from antiquity like Perseus’ conquest of the sea monster Cetus in Metamorphoses and Sigfried’s defeat of the dragon Fafnir in in the Fafnismal and later in Beowulf. Unlike the literature, though, which frames the conquest of the dragon as the success of a lone hero, Monster Hunter World encourages a push-and-pull that centers the juxtaposition of cooperation and conflict in the player’s experience.
When playing the online mode, players embark in quests in groups of four people. The goals are the same in single player as they are in multiplayer: hunt a specific monster – Rathalos, for example. Both individuals and teams are given a time limit to achieve their goal, and players can choose to go straight for the target or hunt other monsters in the area – Pukeis and Anjahs, for example – before completing the hunt and returning to base. What changes in multiplayer is the way rewards are allocated: in multiplayer, players will earn additional rewards for finishing the quest faster. This encourages players to go after the target as quickly as possible. At the end of the hunt, the profits are split equally and everyone gets the same quest rewards. This even split might then prompt some players to realize that, since they’re getting the end of quest rewards anyway, they might as well go off by themselves and hunt an extra monster or two. These monsters can then be harvested for additional materials that are not shared with other players. The effect of one person running off by themselves to forage flora and hunt fauna to secure additional goodies for themselves won’t be too detrimental to the quest efforts, but when two or more do so the hunt will take longer to complete, thus diminishing rewards at the end. This mechanic creates a prisoner’s dilemma-like situation where players engage in a push-and-pull that arises from the impulse to cooperate with teammates and conflicting desire to independently scavenge and put the main quest in jeopardy.
These interactions can lead to friendships where players exchange guild cards and team up further – cooperation – or to players kicking others from the session – conflict. What happens is ultimately up to the community of monster-hunting dragon slayers, much like decisions regarding cooperation and conflict in the Middle Ages were made by clerical and knightly orders along with members of the community via self-organization (Corradini, 2003).
References
Bergqvist, Kim, et al. Conflict and Collaboration in Medieval Iberia. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 12 June 2020.
Clark, Linda. Conflicts, Consequences and the Crown in the Late Middle Ages. Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2007.
Corradini, Richard, et al. The Construction of Communities in the Early Middle Ages : Texts, Resources and Artefacts. Leiden ; Boston, Brill, 2003.
Hodgson, Natasha, et al. Religion and Conflict in Medieval and Early Modern Worlds. Routledge, 27 Dec. 2020.
Krötzl, Christian, et al. Negotiation, Collaboration and Conflict in Ancient and Medieval Communities. Routledge, 28 Mar. 2022.
This is a really interesting set of mechanics and I like your comparison with recent thinking around medieval philosophies and practices. Do you have any idea about why these mechanics (and their prisoner’s dilemma) were used in this way here? Were they consciously introduced to foment a tension between cooperation and conflict? And if so, was the link to the Middle Ages in these mechancis which you identify a deliberate decision?
I’d like to believe so, but given the lack of other historical markers it’s most likely a case of happy accidents. From the player’s perspective, the multiplayer component of MH games has always felt like an afterthought. Even in World, when it was first introduced, it didn’t feel like a fully fleshed out system. Rather it felt more like a tacked-on halfway into production kind of system.
What I find interesting is that Helldivers 2 has a similar system – 4 players jump into the world and have a mission, they get more rewards if they finish faster, but one player can go off and scavenge while the other 3 finish the mission and it will still likely be successful while the player who went off exploring gets more rewards – but due to the kind of rewards that you get, the achievements connected to the game, and the way that the maps behave, and maybe even the way other players react, it feels like it was a more purposeful choice. In MHW, if I go off in a multiplayer quest to do my own thing, players will begrudge me because I didn’t help the mission but not because I got some unique loot. In Helldivers 2, however, it’s both a question of “dude you’re not doing anything” and “you got the drops I needed.”
Anyway, it’s always been hard for me to sus out devs’ intentions from mechanics, but even though my heart says “yes, this happy coincident was consciously informed by knowledge of the middle ages” my mind says “no, it’s most likely just a happy coincident.”
Great stuff Johansen! I’d really love to see this sort of mechanic more heavily and consciously embedded within the medieval theme of the game. Have you come across anything that does that? I know John Giebfried was talking about a similar system in his Fourth Crusade game: https://middleagesinmoderngames.net/mamg24/roleplay-and-empathy/a-collaborative-crime-against-humanity-creating-the-siege-and-sack-of-constantinople-in-the-remaking-of-the-medieval-world-1204/
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This is a very interresting approach on the multiplayer layout and rules in Monster Hunter, thank you for this paper !
I do think some mechanics used in the series – such as a limited map, with isolated zones – originally used for technical purposes do find some interresting parallels with the social themes of medieval hunting (rules like “if the prey leaves the defined area, the hunt ends”). Do you think the cooperation and conflict themes “played” during noblesmen hunts in the Middle Ages could find other parallels with Monster Hunter ?