I'm a big fan of hub spaces in cooperative multiplayer games. Hubs create a social space for players to interact in before they begin a lobby and provide more opportunities for character and level design in what might otherwise be relegated into a simple menu. I feel that I cannot talk about hubs in video games without bringing up the Red Moon Inn from Warhammer: End Times -Vermintide in both how it innovated and floundered in some aspects.

An Alternative to Menus

Early on in the life of Vermintide the Red Moon Inn served as both a social space and as a real space in which to interact with menus. You want to start a mission? Interact with the map in the middle of the Inn,You want to change your character's equipment? Interact with the chest by the wall over there,You want to recycle weapons you don't use/need? interact with the anvil in the corner by the forge. It's an approach to opening menus that encourages players to truly live in the environment of the hub. It builds appreciation for the space itself and can spur discussion between players as they discover smaller details of the space which might otherwise go unnoticed.

After 100 hours of gameplay walking to the forge is a chore. You've hopped down the stairs hundreds of times before and it's necessary that you do it again. Your inventory is full and needs to be adjusted and you're required by the space to walk to an arbitrary location in order to access a menu that might otherwise be accessed by a single button press. There is no doubt that the hub is a joy but the hub for any game is an element semi-independent of the core gameplay elements that the player actually comes to the game for. Accessibility to menu-ing shouldn't be an afterthought.

Player Progression: Visible Spaces and Passive Interaction

A sense of progression and a long term objective to work toward is what keeps many people playing games. In multiplayer games especially it becomes necessary to have multifaceted reasons to play apart from the pure gameplay alone in order to keep player numbers at a level that will continue to propel the game. The hub as the player first encounters it in Vermintide is a dark dingy place. As the player goes through the levels of the campaign, which are rather disjointed from one another, the space of the Red Moon Inn begins to change. More candles appear bringing light, a previously sparse bar counter finds itself filled with food, a door opens up to a foyer that serves no purpose other than to expand the space. The functionality of the Red Moon Inn never changes throughout this transformation but the aesthetic progression of the space ultimately makes the players journey throughout the campaign more impactful as they see the space change.

Completing the campaign grants the Inn with a final decoration taken from the last boss to show that the host has completed the game. As the player continues to replay the game through increasing difficulties banners become visible in the Inn to showcase the hosts accomplishments(These can be seen in the picture attached). In the absence of character customization the hub becomes a space to indicate the skill and taste of the host instead of some gaudy cosmetic stapled to whoever they're playing. The compulsion to fully complete your hub in this way can also drive a more completion driven player who might otherwise just be focusing on things like achievements or beating the campaign alone.

NPCs within the hub can also play a role in building the comfort of the space ,clue-ing the players into the world, and indicating to the player their progression. Different voice lines queued to the events of a previous or upcoming level, comments on team composition, player interactions with some element of the hub itself. NPCs help make the hub feel more lived in as long as it isn't too crowded.

Personal Character Spaces

Characters are themselves independent of the player and have their own spaces. Each of the sleeping rooms of the Red Moon Inn is decorated to the tastes of its character. When a player spawns into the game or swaps to a different character they respawn within the room of their respective character. Having allocated,decorated, spaces specific to individual characters  within your hub can help visually communicate to the player individual aspects of the character outside of dialogue. Having these spaces progress as something is achieved with the character in terms of their story or development also drives player interest and involvement. 

Fun and games

People go AFK in lobbies and in order to retain players the hub has to function as more than just a waiting room before the real game starts. The Red Moon Inn had no games or minigames in it but that didn't stop it from having amusements. Mild platforming to the rafters filled time but the presence of a simple physics object always attracts player attention. The Chandelier in the Red Moon Inn reacted with the player model and attacks. It collided with the player model stopping it from swinging to its resting position, it responds to player attacks swinging and reacting to them, etc. It was a simple physics punching bag that universally attracted the love and attention of the community due to its central location in the hub and ease with which it was played with.

mini- games or other such interactions in hubs can also be fun. Whether it's mildly competitive arm wrestling against NPCs or other players or just chairs the player is capable of sitting and posing the character in. Small elements of interactivity outside of the main gameplay loop provide a respite that keeps players in the game while still satiating their need for variety.

Testbed

No one fully understands the mechanics of a game before playing it. Often times you need a decent amount of hours in a game in order to fully comprehend it. Hubs can provide ideal spaces to safely show off abilities to other players as well see real numbers and test behaviors against training dummies or more passive enemies. Maybe the bartender and have a durable little pet to throw things at or maybe there just so happens to be a firing range with some live captured subjects. Spaces to test abilities help players to learn about the game more which can help them fall in love with it all the easier.

Player customization of the hub

Player customization of characters or spaces is always a hard line to walk. You want what you design to remain true to its general creative vision but player expression often helps them feel more at home. I don't see much real player customization of hubs in the games I play but it's an interesting concept to look at as long as it doesn't get too goofy or obstructive.

Conclusion

No real final thought. I heard some details about the Saloon mentioned in the Bunker reveal live stream and it got me thinking about doing a write-up on hubs using the Red Moon Inn from Warhammer: End Times -Vermintide as a sort of case study. Not specifically asking for or voicing disinterest in any features. I could write a little bit more detail on things from the Red Moon Inn in Vermintide like the Lore Book or Bounty Board but that really falls more into avenues of game progression and forms of stabilizing against poor RNG outcomes.