March 2003
- MMORPG/MMOG P2P design Steven J. Owens
- Dinner, Conference and BBQ J C Lawrence
- Dinner, Conference and BBQ J C Lawrence
- Wow, Jessica's working on Ac2? Chris
- Small Worlds, GDC talk Koster, Raph
- Small Worlds, GDC talk Peter Tyson
- Better Game Design through Data Mining, MDC talk David Kennerly
- MUD-Dev conference and dinner report J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev conference and dinner report J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev conference and dinner report Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- Fighting Lag Elia Morling
- Fighting Lag Nicolai Hansen
- Fighting Lag Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Fighting Lag Ian Macintosh
- Fighting Lag Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Fighting Lag Travis Nixon
- Fighting Lag Nicolai Hansen
- Fighting Lag Vladimir Vukicevic
- Fighting Lag Jo Dillon
- Fighting Lag Mike Shaver
- Fighting Lag Bruce Mitchener
- Fighting Lag Brian Hook
- Fighting Lag Paul Schwanz
- Fighting Lag Elia Morling
- Fighting Lag Ian Macintosh
- Fighting Lag ceo
- Fighting Lag arch stanton
- Fighting Lag Tom Hubina
- Fighting Lag Steven J. Owens
- Fighting Lag Amanda Walker
- A Founding Father Forgotten Scott Miller
- A Founding Father Forgotten Travis Casey
- A Founding Father Forgotten Richard Aihoshi aka Jonric
- A Founding Father Forgotten Travis Casey
- A Founding Father Forgotten Adam Dray
- A Founding Father Forgotten Travis Casey
- A Founding Father Forgotten Adam Dray
- A Founding Father Forgotten Michael Tresca
- A Founding Father Forgotten Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- A Founding Father Forgotten John Robert Arras
- A Founding Father Forgotten Michael Tresca
- A Founding Father Forgotten Matt Mihaly
- A Founding Father Forgotten Michael Chui
- A Founding Father Forgotten Matt Mihaly
- A Founding Father Forgotten Michael Tresca
- A Founding Father Forgotten Sean Kelly
- A Founding Father Forgotten Michael Tresca
- A Founding Father Forgotten Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- A Founding Father Forgotten Michael Tresca
- A Founding Father Forgotten Paul Schwanz
- A Founding Father Forgotten John Robert Arras
- A Founding Father Forgotten Thomas Tomiczek
- A Founding Father Forgotten Paul Schwanz
- A Founding Father Forgotten Ryan Arthur
- A Founding Father Forgotten Threshold RPG
- A Founding Father Forgotten David Kennerly
- A Founding Father Forgotten eck@wizards.com
- A Founding Father Forgotten Ben Hoyt
- A Founding Father Forgotten Paul Schwanz
- A Founding Father Forgotten Bad Mojo
- A Founding Father Forgotten Matt Mihaly
- MDC and talk John Robert Arras
- More on Small Worlds Koster, Raph
- More on Small Worlds Ted L. Chen
- More on Small Worlds Lee Sheldon
- More on Small Worlds Jeff Cole
- More on Small Worlds Boyle, Paul
- More on Small Worlds - Simulation of behviours in populations ceo
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Daniel James
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Diamonds
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Chris Holko
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers szii@sziisoft.com
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Rudy Fink
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Threshold RPG
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Damion Schubert
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Chris
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Lee Sheldon
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Baar - Lord of the Seven Suns
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Christopher Allen
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Scott Jennings
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Threshold RPG
- BIZ: MMP subscriber numbers Lee Sheldon
- Massively Multiplayer Game Development (Game Developmen t Series) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Massively Multiplayer Game Development (Game Developmen t Series) Jeremy Noetzelman
- Massively Multiplayer Game Development (Game Develo pment Series) Koster, Raph
- Massively Multiplayer Game Development (Game Development Series) Jessica Mulligan
- Massively Multiplayer Game Development (Game Development Series) Damion Schubert
- Massively Multiplayer Game Development (Game Developmen t Series) Ted Milker
- Winnable MMO apollyon
A friend and I were discussing the non-winnable nature of PvP MMOs
currently on the market or soon to be released. DAoC, Shadowbane,
SWG, they all have a strong PvP element but none are truly winnable.
The games are specifically designed such that the conflict will
continue unendingly until they just fade away into obscurity as
players abandon them for the next great game. Anarchy Online comes
close with its prefabricated story spanning a discrete timeline at
the end of which they will determine who wins, but there is no game
out there (at least that I've heard of) that actually leaves the
fate of that game up to the players.
There is a portion of the MMO player base that is frustrated at the
current lack of anything on the market that offers the opportunity
to actually overcome the foe that you are predestined to battle. If
a game will not allow a player to either win or lose the long-term
conflict, then how long will that game sustain it's playerbase? EQ
has shown that they can sustain it for quite some time with
effectively no PvP conflict at all, but for those who play the game
to sustain that conflict, would a winnable war lead to greater
player retention? The most commonly cited excuse I've heard for why
a given player left a game is, "I got bored with it." My contention
is that this boredom is directly related to the inability to
actually accomplish something monumental, to win. Not that every
player will win, but people will walk a long mile for a carrot if
they know that they CAN get it.
So, what if you designed an MMO that was made to be winnable? Most
games are winnable. No one plans to play a single game of Monopoly
for the next 5 years, but when the game is over they are more than
willing to play another game to see if they can win this time. What
if you designed a game that was made to be winnable over the course
of maybe 1 to 6 months and when one side won the game would be
played again? The timeframe would not be so long that people would
feel as if they had made too great an investment to think about
starting over again, but long enough that players could feel as if
they had striven against a worthy opponent and would be anxious to
try again.
The biggest obstacle I can see to such a proposal is that it's
risky. MMOs are expensive and no one wants to lay down that much
money for a game that people can "beat". My friend suggested that,
much like the Unreal engine, the future of MMOs will likely be paved
by the licensing of a prefab engine that people can then skin to
suit. Doing so will likely reduce production costs substantially.
If production costs get low enough, producers will begin taking
risks that might otherwise never see the light of day.
Another obstacle is the fact that every time a given conflict ends
there's a finite chance that a given player will simply set the game
aside and not pick it back up again. To help alleviate this, such a
game would need to include rapid power advancement so players can
quickly get back into the swing of things after a concluded
conflict. Perhaps even an advantage to continuing play once you
have concluded one conflict.
At any rate, just some thoughts that got stirred up. Curious to
toss them around and see what opinions people might have regarding
the concept as a whole.
Shannon
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
- Mahatma Gandhi - Winnable MMO Edward Glowacki
- Winnable MMO Vincent Archer
- Winnable MMO kat-Zygfryd
- Winnable MMO Miroslav Silovic
- Winnable MMO eric
- Winnable MMO John Robert Arras
- Winnable MMO Diamonds
- Winnable MMO Threshold RPG
- Winnable MMO Vincent Archer
- Winnable MMO Diamonds
- Winnable MMO Chris Nielsen
- Winnable MMO Sara Jensen
- Winnable MMO Chris Holko
- Winnable MMO Chris Mancil
- Winnable MMO szii@sziisoft.com
- Winnable MMO Mike Shaver
- Winnable MMO Threshold RPG
- Winnable MMO shren
- Winnable MMO Threshold RPG
- Winnable MMO Matt Mihaly
- Winnable MMO Talies the Wanderer
- Winnable MMO Steven J. Owens
- Winnable MMO John Buehler
- Winnable MMO Larry Dunlap
- Winnable MMO Jonathon Duerig
- Winnable MMO ceo