December 2003
- DGN - Method of controling NPC's. Tony Hoyt
- DGN - Method of controling NPC's. J C Lawrence
- DGN - Method of controling NPC's. Sean Middleditch
- DGN - Method of controling NPC's. Vincent Archer
- DGN - Method of controling NPC's. Sheela Caur'Lir
- First Everquest Server Closure? Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- First Everquest Server Closure? Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- First Everquest Server Closure? Vincent Archer
- Game Designer and Senior Engineer Positions Adam Carpenter
- Spike TV"s Video Game Awards Michael Tresca
- Spike TV"s Video Game Awards Zach Collins {Siege}
- Spike TV"s Video Game Awards Rayzam
- Spike TV"s Video Game Awards Otis Viles
- Spike TV"s Video Game Awards Michael Tresca
- Spike TV"s Video Game Awards Daniel Anderson
- R: DGN - Method of controling NPC's. Ghilardi Filippo
- MDC 2004 - Call for Speakers mdc-proposals@kanga.nu
- MDC 2004 - Call for Papers mdc-proposals@kanga.nu
- Current State of MMOG's? Chris
- Current State of MMOG's? Jason Murdick
- Current State of MMOG's? Chris
- Current State of MMOG's? Jason Murdick
- Current State of MMOG's? Jeff Crane
- Current State of MMOG's? Sheela Caur'Lir
- Current State of MMOG's? Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Current State of MMOG's? Scott Jennings
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 7 Chanur Silvarian
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Brent P. Newhall
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Ammon Lauritzen
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Nicolai Hansen
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death John Buehler
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Paul Schwanz
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death ghovs
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Chanur Silvarian
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death J C Lawrence
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death J C Lawrence
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Sheela Caur'Lir
From: "J C Lawrence" <claw@kanga.nu>
> J C Lawrence <J> wrote:
>> On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 10:04:44 -0700 Chanur Silvarian
>> <chanur@guildsite.com> wrote:
>> Where are the dreams? Where is the embarrassment? Where are
>> the Cheshire Cats, the old father Williams, the Emperor's of
>> America?
> Much more simply:
> What about whimsy?
> Whimsy begets play, play in the sense of 4yr old children on a
> beach running about with their arms out pretending to be airplanes
> or cowboys and indians, or space fighters doing strafing runs over
> the Death Star. Ad hoc tissue thin whimsy. Terribly fun stuff.
> If whimsy is in fact necessary, or even valuable, how can it be
> encouraged, created, fostered? What does it require? The history
> of systems like Alphaworld, Habitat, and the early days of
> SecondLife suggest it is possible but poorly understood and not
> explicitly targeted as a desirably attribute.
I think one of the most important properties of whimsy is
spontanious opening for doing something you don't do normally. It
actually happens pretty often in many graphical multiplayer games.
A few examples:
EverQuest, I was in Freeport and had managed to get high enough
level to cast the levitate spell and had the sudden urge (whimsy?)
to try and get up on that roof next to me - So I did ... and the
next, and the next. Someone else passes by and wants to do the
same and within the next half there was 10+ people climbing around
on roofs !
EverQuest, If you get a runspeed increasing buff on you and have
high swimming skill, you can dive into the ocean, and then go up
fast, in a sinus- like curve and for a few steps, it will look
like you are actually walking on the water ! Much fun for some
people. ... heh heh.
Anarchy Online, for a short while, there was a bug, where you
could stand on certain types of heavy armor, even while people
were wearing it. There was people who used hours trying to make a
human pyramid, just like you see them done in a circus and
stuffs. They never got higher than the 2nd layer though, but it
was still quite fun.
In all 3 cases people where doing things in a whimsy when the fancy
struck. Did they aquire anything ? Nope Did they gain anything in
the game ? Nope Did they have fun ? You bet !
This offcourse also means that the game have to be fairly open ended
in some areas and support a multitude of things, which means lots of
odd programming, which equals money in the end.
Climbing stuff seems to be a particular common whimsy, but also
falling from stuff. You'd be surprised at how many people have
kiled their characters from a fall because they thought it was
pretty fun to so.
---
Jens L. Nielsen
(aka. Sheela Caur'Lir)
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Sheela Caur'Lir
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Ben Kirman
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Sean Middleditch
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Sheela Caur'Lir
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Jason Murdick
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Scott Jennings
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death games@anthemion.org
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death John Buehler
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Paul Schwanz
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death games@anthemion.org
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death John Arras
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Corpheous Andrakin
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Edward Glowacki
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Sean Kelly
- Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death Scion Altera
- Thought Experiment: Permanent MonsterDeath John Buehler
- Utopian World (Removing access to entertainment) Sheela Caur'Lir
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 8 Chanur Silvarian
- The Skaff Effect Michael Tresca
- The Skaff Effect Sheela Caur'Lir
- The Skaff Effect Ryan S. Dancey
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 9 Chanur Silvarian
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 9 Paul Schwanz
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 9 Rayzam
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 9 Tom "cro" Gordon
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 9 Freeman, Jeff
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 9 Paul Schwanz
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 9 Sheela Caur'Lir
- MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 9 Sheela Caur'Lir
- [ANNC] new list for technical discussion Bruce Mitchener
- The Mind's Eye Matt Mihaly
- [BUS] Browser-based games ceo
- Online gamer in China wins virtual theft suit David Durant
- Alternate Level Mechanics (was: ghost mode) Eli Stevens
- FW: Socialization in Online Games Christopher Allen
- Whimsy Patricia Pizer
- TECH Looking for light graphical clients Ian McDonald
- TECH Looking for light graphical clients Mats Lidstrom
- Simulated societies (Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- [BIZ] The Web's New Currency Michael Tresca
- [BIZ] The Web's New Currency Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- [BIZ] The Web's New Currency Chris Duesing