📝 Dev Discussion #70 - Music in MMORPGs 🎶

Absolute unparalleled peak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Nl7CmdwUU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akd-3VcxhVI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdSwHhd_VeA

Music is very important, especially if you can tie it to specific locations/events/encounters.

Generally I believe that if it's good enough, beloved music will connect itself to the emotion of first doing something.

And usually, I think that's the thing that people are loving/connecting to, moreso than the specifics of the music itself, but I have four counterexamples to my own point:



I am Windurstian. This is the theme of the starter zone outside San d'Oria, an area I did not reach until at least 35 hours into that game, and had no experience other than arrival in the zone and walking through it. It's a nice zone but not my style. Yet the music gives me goosebumps every time I hear it outside of game, to this day. For me, this is one of the best MMO music scores ever created, period .

I have learned from my time in TL that I actually strongly prefer music to be active and 'strong' (if it suits an area where I personally would be active and trying to feel 'strong'). Ambience is nice, but sometimes music needs to be 'up where this one is' for me.

First part only of:


A similar situation here, I don't start in the town that this is the music for (the first part, the rest are other areas). And honestly I don't like this piece of music much in itself , similar to how I don't love the L2 town themes I've listened to mostly. But it definitely fits and that's important to me, will come back to something about that later.

I have the player-emotional memory for the piece at 3:33 of that, which I also don't 'like a lot', it's too 'much'. But fairly fitting for a lot of reasons too.

(The version of the below that I hear in game is different, without any vocals, and shorter'/arranged differentl maybe)


I could just be a massive fan of this style of music ('Riverdance'-ish stuff) but this has a lot of elements of things I associate with the exact type of event it plays during (Lantern Seed Festival). On the 'music as an emotion language' level, it's conveying a specific thing to me, urging me on to do the thing, but I think it's that the music is creating the mood of the event, not the other way around. Which is lucky for me because I like that event for Economic reasons, and I look forward to whenever I 'need' to do it, because I know I will get to hear that theme while also 'doing' the things. But I think, as noted, the music is the driver, and it's 'carrying me along' through the event (it helps that I'm playing Dagger-Wand and the rhythm of exactly how to do the event matches up with the music pretty well).

The counter to even that? Giran theme from L2 doesn't seem like it should be in a town. I like it probably for the same overall reason, but it feels like 'sailing cutscene' music or something. It doesn't have a 'place' in most MMO playtime for me.

Other minor notes:
I have strong opinions on the theory of how music affects feelings, on the level of stuff like keys and chords, I'm not the composer of my group but I spend a lot of time talking to her about the musical design language of areas for mood and stuff.

I therefore have a really specific, maybe helpful, note about Lineage 2 music, having only listened to it and never meaningfully played. I feel/know(?) that L2 music is the way it is because L2 is a game that is somewhat designed such that the areas in it 'feel good when viewed from almost bird's eye', and the emotional-language of the music is tuned to this.

Unfortunately I play TL from a much closer camera view in the areas where the music matters a lot. So I end up wishing that for town zones, it had more 'FFXI' style music, or that they had let a certain subset of composers follow through on some things.

If you go out to a specific island on the west side of TL map (I really hope this isn't 'just me' somehow), and wait a LONG time, you can sometimes hear 'riffs'. I don't know why they're there specifically, I'd guess they were the equivalent of 'doodles' for the composer(s) and the designers decided not to 'waste' them. They're really nice and technically my 'favorite' part of 'standard' TL music, because they have more of the FF11 'energy', which I believe I desire because of the 'camera angle'. I don't dislike the TL town themes per se, but they're usually a bit more 'grating' or feel 'unfinished' or occasionally 'uninspiring' because they sound like L2 themes, but I'm not 'in the air' for TL.

There is an exception to this in L2. The 'Hipster Lord of the Rings Theme':


But that probably has nothing to do with it's MMO-appropriateness tier and is likelier to be emotional/nostalgia combined with the overall feeling.

And finally, the closing thoughts/pieces. When you wanna introduce me to a boss like Firebrand, here's what I am hoping for:



And here's what my mind 'expects to hear' when I start fighting:



I had a whole other explanation about how I like the FF11 Conflict Theme for the PvP better when my team is losing than when winning, but I can't be sure that wasn't because my better memories might be from healing my team up for a comeback, so I'll leave those be.

Also, if we're talking solo games as well, Genshin hasn't been beaten in terms of its music for me (well, except for the times it beats itself )
The first 2 are the PEAK of tracks with vocals and the other two are good representations of proper "theme" of locations for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu_I8boQxoI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDj0minlucQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhjCyv6wulA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABW6ueWVSq0

We have not received permission from Vaknar to share the quoted post.

Music is incredibly important, and is something that can significantly raise (or lower) the quality of a game's experience.

Music binds memory and emotion. It provides both the impetus and emotional focus to help you engage with whatever it is that you are doing. Good music will also almost automatically pull you into the feeling of the place and situation that you are in.

One of the most memorable tracks for me personally, from FFXI, is the soundtrack for Sarutabaruta. This is the starter field zone just outside my starting city (you get a choice of three). It's "nothing special", but it is nonetheless a very important part of my journey, and a song I love, from what is still one of my favorite places in the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qexq4rGQaOc

This is what you hear when you step outside for the first time (if you chose to start in Windurst). You're
stepping out into an open field. There are enemies, but they're not extremely dense.




It's a peaceful song for a relatively peaceful area, but it's also something that fits the mood of that open, slightly windy grassland very well.

One thing that's immediately obvious depending on the types of game soundtracks you're used to however, is that this song is very direct. It's not 'subtle ambient', instead it has a clear melodic identity that's put front and center, while at the same time not trying to be more than it is. A ton of FFXI music is like this, and it's something I very much appreciate.

I adore this straightforward melodic style, rather than the more orchestral, blendy background ambience that some games use. It's very effective in instantly giving you the feeling of a new area, or refreshing the feeling of somewhere you haven't been for a while. It also gives you something you can easily remember when you think of a zone (or activity!). I can, immediately, off the top of my head, hum you Sarutabaruta, The Cosmic Wheel, Heavens Tower, Stargazing, On This Blade, Forgotten City, Autumn Footfalls, and any number of other FFXI songs.

Because they're something that you can connect to directly, rather than just letting wash over you or similar, I feel that they are more effective for videogames .

It also means that they're written to clearly represent the core feeling of a specific place or situation, rather than just providing a supporting background ambience. While you can certainly do the latter, I find that it is generally less impactful and less memorable. I remember most of the music in FFXI, and associate it with it's zone.

Despite having played a reasonable amount of BDO, I can't say the same.

BDO is the perfect counter-example, however. I haven't logged in in quite a while, but my and my group's conclusion (supported by some historical data, iirc) was that their bard did a good job... but then the developers somehow at some point seemingly randomly shuffled the songs around between the areas. As a result, not a single one has a clear core identity.

Nothing like a damaged quarter of town on war footing, where you go between deployments to active combat areas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD-TANsKvcw

"Stargazing" perfectly captures the 'quiet' of the area, and the essence of the broader situation while at the same time giving the clear feeling that this is a space where you can rest, recover, and plan, without forgetting the ongoing war. And that's what everyone else here (it's more military than civilian) is doing too. This is where you head to when you're planning to deploy, doing your wind-down or prep, or waiting for a battle to deploy to.

And also nothing like a slightly ethereal ancient forest full of extremely tall trees, full of wandering golems, goblins, mushrooms, and the occasional skeleton at night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smJrVboIOjA

Not like a small town populated by refugees from the fall of a powerful city at the start of the great war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1omGnKhDyLw

An isolated place that time has largely left behind, their town is safe, hidden away in an open-roofed cave, but its population is largely older now, and the areas around it are dangerous, the residents having been been forgotten by the world, thought to have been lost to the war until recently.

My immediate feeling was that Ashes was going to have trouble with this sort of thing, but honestly, I don't really think so. You can easily do the same sort of thing for your nodes, given how those are currently designed. Themes for all 100+ individual nodes might be a bit of an ask, but you could certainly do by region, by type of node, or similar things. It wouldn't be terrible if some similar nodes shared themes, but it would probably be bad if adjacent nodes (or all nodes in a region) usually did.

You've got a few different categories to work with. Things like Riverlands/Mountains/Tundra/Costal; Scientific/Military/Economic/Religious; Kaelar/Vaelune/Dunir/Empyrean.

I'm not sure exactly what combinations you should choose, but I'm sure you can find something that works.

Important things to note however are:

• You have to have different city and field themes. Sorry, but if I leave the built up section of the node, I can't have city music playing out in the minotaur-filled hills, and vice-versa. You can possibly reuse the field music as the lv1 node music, though. It might even be better to do so.
• You absolutely get to give specific POIs (or classes of POIs, this really doesn't have to be hard) their different themes, and this will be hugely impactful when you wander into one, especially accidentally. (TL's music changes to a more 'danger' one when you wander too close to an elite boss.)
• People need to be able to feel the difference in cultures between cities when they travel between them. Even (perhaps especially) neighboring ones. Whether that's racial (but be careful of the more common mixed-race "plurality rather than majority" case), based on development, or ethos (what're we calling Military/Religious/Scientific again?).
• Seasonal shifts would be really cool, but honestly the combination matrix here would become painfully large immediately if you went all-in. Nonetheless perhaps this works for field themes where there are probably less combinations. Frozen Riverlands might be different from Muddy Spring Riverlands, etc.

The tl;dr of it is fundamentally this: Your music needs to introduce the contexts in your world, and help people shift between them as they go about their lives. How many contexts you have and how well the music suits them and is able to do this job is the core determining factor of success, much moreso than the exact style or techniques chosen.

Good examples of these sorts of context shifts include leaving the Kingdom of San d'Oria...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZTtguGoips

...and heading out into the surrounding forest, Ronfaure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNaOpYzKM68

You can hear the Elvaan tradition and culture in both, but the transition from city to forest is also clear, and each has its distinct identity well-represented while maintaining a sense of familiarity with the other.

Or stepping off the Ferry...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyU_6uVrc4I

...from Mhaura...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoNMEWhalxs

... to Selbina.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZmY0nB0BTw

At the same time, not every location needs music, and that transition itself can be powerful. FFXI's open world dungeons have no music at all. When you step from Batallia Downs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9C2FhoSEKo

...into the crypts of the Eldieme Necropolis, you immediately get the feeling that you have stepped into a different sort of place. The relaxing, relatively peaceful hills of the downs are behind you, and you're entering a space that is not a part of normal life. I don't even know how to describe this properly, but once you've gotten used to the music of the overworld, its absence creates a clear and distinct feeling. And if you go for a long enough session, that silence, punctuated only by battle music as you fight, might end up leaving a void that makes you yearn slightly (by the end of your natural time) for the surface world, or certainly at least appreciate that world when you return to it and are hit by that familiar ambience.

Silence plays another important role, however. In FFXI (and other games), the soundtrack doesn't play continuously. You'd get fatigued if you listened to the same song for long enough, whether it was background ambient style or melodic style. There are long (irregular) pauses between loops.

Fairyland's "Indoor" theme, which I remember as the Shop theme is good within its style and context, but you can't listen to it for that long, for example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yJajePwI_4

This is perhaps 'obvious', as I feel like most games do it right these days, but I might as well mention it, at least.

Fairyland is a MMO that I did not play for nearly as long as my main game, and to this day, I do not associate the OST with the specific zones properly, for the most part. I'm not entirely sure why this is, but I feel like it is maybe related to the fact that while they use a melodic style, they're also using the 'drone' and 'shimmer' type effects that guide it into the background. A contrast from FFXI. This could perhaps be a matter of the amount of time I've spent in these areas, but I haven't that much time in Sauromugue Champaign either, and I could probably name this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fibIUw_frI

But as for Fairyland, I believe this is a forest up by Bluebird...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWZI2dY1ZDI

And this is probably Gion, my home/starter town...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ4UJye7IoI

...but it might be this one instead...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w9l6S2SfA8

Some stick, some don't. Even though I remember some of the themes clearly, they're harder to place.

Sadly, however, you can't "cheat" and give the same area multiple themes (in the sense of the "Economic" and "Riverlands" themes alternating in a given node), for the very same reason. You'd be yanking players back and forth between contexts, and leaving them never sure what "version" of their own city they're coming home to.

Longer-term seasonal changes, or even "day and night" are okay however, because these are entirely predictable and consistent, but if you do this you have to be very careful to not create more thematic distance than intended between the different states of the node.

You get leeway with events though! FFXI has no daylight or seasonal cycle in its music, but during the Sunbreeze Festival each year, in all three major cities and their immediately surrounding zones, you hear this wonderful festive song instead of the usual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ-E_mZca9M

A thoughtful listener, however, will notice that this song is very specifically suited to this particular task, specifically because it is for a well-defined festival context, and directly represents that context. It doesn't conflict with the environment any of the types of zones it will play in. The cities, and if you're past the initial levels, their surrounding areas, are all places you can relax and low-key celebrate in. At the same time, this wouldn't work year-round. When this song plays, it specifically creates a new context and shifts the player into it, getting them into the festival spirit. Even if you're not celebrating, everyone else is.

No discussion of music is complete without a mention of Bard songs, however. I didn't really have a problem with what Ashes has in that regard, but I'd be remiss not to mention how FFXI does it. There are effectively three songs: Wind Instrument, String Instrument, and Voice (which is per race). You don't usually hear voice, since that would imply no instrument is equipped, but it had to exist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfzglU239v0

All of these are simple, straightforward melodies which work very well, don't clash with any of the zone or combat music, and honestly do not even get tiring while you play the class. The fact that these melodies are performed during casting, but not then continuously through the entire effect duration helps, of course.

Oof, I haven't even gotten into battle music yet. I think that will have to be for later.

Since my bard seems to be basically throwing the book at you I'll pull to attention something Ashes needs that she won't get to. "Alien"

As my bard explained melodic core is a very important aspect for mmo music because it ingrains a very potent feeling. While you can get away with more orchestral tones, when a place needs to feel fantastical, unordinary, wild, or alien, you need this melodic core even more. Why? Because when you are in an area that is supposed to unnerve you sometimes silence speaks to foreignness best. Nothing can make you feel more unnerved or disquieted more than whatever your mind projects on a strange land. Since you need some amount of 'quiet' or even pauses of pure silence for an effective alien feel, you have less room for 'clutter' and therefore going immediately to the more 'melodic core' is important.

For Ashes corruption, the underdark, and some of the corruption 'demons' and bosses will need a fair amount of 'silence' due to their alien look and feel so that the epicness that will ensue in an important fight can have striking contrast.

So to answer your actual question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYuHBEmlAyE

This is my favorite noncombat song in an mmo. It makes me feel a type of realistic fear and 'disquiet' on the foreign dreamlike landscape it is meant to portray.