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
- 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
apollyon writes:
> So, what if you designed an MMO that was made to be winnable?
> 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".
> 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.
Another obstacle is that if you bill your game as having one final
goal, the most goal-oriented types will be hell-bent-for-leather to
achieve that final goal. If the design accounts for this by making
the final goal achievable only by a group of size N, it suggests
that the N most hell-bent-for-leather types will have to band
together and cooperate towards that goal.
In any case, I advise against a single goal in a multiplayer game.
In a traditional board game, you select your competition knowing
that you will have an entertaining competition ahead of you. In a
massively multiplayer environment, you are competing against an
unknown quantity. You may be hopelessly outclassed. And in an
environment where time played is the final arbiter of success, not
even your personal skill can make the difference.
More likely, I would think, is having an experience which contains
many traditional style games which may or may not contribute to an
overall plot progression. And even that plot need not ever end.
There can always be another battle, another challenge of nature,
another intrigue, etc. The important point is to have the world
state change such that players have the perception of the world
being a dynamic place. When the bad guys are forced from their
mountain stronghold, they don't just reappear overnight. NPCs that
are killed are dead and stay that way. And so on.
This says nothing about the fact that repeatable entertainment can
still exist in the environment. Climbing the same cliff over and
over again might be entertaining because of different paths taken up
the face, or different conditions in which the climb is attempted.
The short of all this is that there can be many wins available to
the players during the course of the game experience, and they need
not have any impact on the world's overarching plotline.
One last comment would be that power advancement is one style of
entertainment. It is not axiomatic to all entertainment in these
games. For the most part, I'd rather not have power advancement to
deal with. Only occasionally do I want to fool with it.
JB - Winnable MMO Larry Dunlap
- Winnable MMO Jonathon Duerig
- Winnable MMO ceo