August 2003
- A potential best-seller? Richard A. Bartle
- Identifying Players Scion Altera
- Identifying Players Crosbie Fitch
- Metrics for assessing game design David Kennerly
- ADMIN: Crunch thread J C Lawrence
- Mapping real money into MUD money Alex Chacha
- Mapping real money into MUD money Katie Lukas
- Mapping real money into MUD money David Kennerly
- Mapping real money into MUD money Kent Peterson
- Mapping real money into MUD money Peter Tyson
- Mapping real money into MUD money Matt Mihaly
- Mapping real money into MUD money Paul Canniff
- Research in the Gaming Industry Damion Schubert
- Research in the Gaming Industry Kerry Fraser-Robinson
- Research in the Gaming Industry Richard A. Bartle
- Research in the Gaming Industry Matthew S. Ayres
- Mapping real money into MUD-Money Henrik Johansson
- Java or LPC (DGD)? Ben Chambers
- Java or LPC (DGD)? Ammon Lauritzen
- Java or LPC (DGD)? T. Alexander Popiel
- Java or LPC (DGD)? ceo
- Java or LPC (DGD)? Lars Duening
- Java or LPC (DGD)? Torgny Bjers
- Java or LPC (DGD)? Ryan Underwood
- Reputation systems: a possible path for investigation J C Lawrence
- Reputation systems: a possible path for investigation david.l.smith@mail-x-change.com
- Reputation systems: a possible path for investigation Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Reputation systems: a possible path for investigation Andrew L. Tepper
- Reputation systems: a possible path for investigation Matt Mihaly
- Reputation systems: a possible path for investigation Vincent Archer
- Reputation systems Castronova, Edward
- Reputation systems J C Lawrence
- Mapping real money into MUD-Money Ren Reynolds
- MudDev Faq - part 2 Marian Griffith
- PHP muds Peter Harkins
- PHP muds Torgny Bjers
- Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book Christer Enfors XW {TN/PAC}
- Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book Dave Rickey
- Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book Evan Harper
- Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book Richard A. Bartle
- Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book Tamzen Cannoy
- Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book Kerry Fraser-Robinson
- Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book Richard A. Bartle
- Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book Dave Rickey
- Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book Marc Bowden
- The lack of Creativity and Beauty a game user james_nesfield@nesfieldcapital.com
- Artists and Copyrights Derek Licciardi
- Artists and Copyrights Paolo Piselli
- Artists and Copyrights Marian Griffith
- Artists and Copyrights Paul Dahlke
- Using Windows Scripting Host Owen Matt
- Using Windows Scripting Host F. Randall Farmer
- Using Windows Scripting Host Karl Dyson
- Using Windows Scripting Host Tess Lowe
- Better Game Design through Data Mining David Kennerly
- Better Game Design through Data Mining Chris "Diamonds" Stewart
- When Will Player-Avatar Integrity Be a Feature of Persistent Worlds? vladimir cole
The text below started off as a bit of a rant on my guild website
(www.scienceofwar.net) but I've tweaked it for this list and added a
few questions pertinent to the design of MUDS/MMOGs/PWs (whatever
you want to call 'em) at the end of the post.
---
Issue: Integrity doesn't exist in online environments yet.
What is integrity? What does it mean to have it? The usual
definition for it is "Moral soundness; honesty; freedom from
corrupting influence or motive (used especially with reference to
the fulfillment of contracts, trusts, and the like)." Or, in a less
high-falutin' definition that comes directly from a private message
sent to me by a guild member, "I gave my word, and try to keep my
word. It's all I have that will really ever be totally mine. No one
can take it away from me, and only I can make it worthless."
Unfortunately, integrity doesn't exist in Everquest. Too many people
consider the promises that they make in this game as ethereal and
easy to break as an End-User License Agreement (EULA) and too many
people treat the relationships that they develop with others in this
game as easy to ditch as uninstalling the Everquest client software.
Examples are numerous. Here's a recent example. We have one dude who
writes, "You are all the coolest, smartest, and fun to be around
individuals I have ever met in my life, and I truly consider you
friends." (Dec. 2002) but who silently guildremoves and puts in a
server movelog without telling a soul. Is that how you'd bid
"friends" goodbye if you had been out drinking with them five nights
per week for eight months in a row? That's not integrity. That's
cowardice and dishonesty of a level that's only possible in an
online game. I could list numerous examples here, but the theme is
the same: people making promises that they do not keep.
It's a primal flaw in the social fabric of the game. At *any* time
someone who has promised to pay back that loan, return that favor,
or simply stay with your organization for a minimum term may go back
on that promise and slink away in the darkness, secure in his
anonymity. There are exceptions to this rule, but unfortunately
they're a rare breed that becomes increasingly jaded (and less
likely to trust anyone) as each subsequent liar abuses the natural
tendency of humans to believe a statement when the words "I promise"
precede it.
Questions:
When will players be able to expect other players to act with the
same level of integrity that they would act with out of game? Will
there need to be some sort of cross-game Avatar disbursement system
that allows individuals to register avatars across a number of
current and future systems? Think of an app like Microsoft Avatar
(not yet created) that embodies the functionality of Microsoft
Wallet with avatar management features and that works for all
current and future MMOG's. Imagine boxes on storeshelves touting the
merits of being able to carry your UO or AC avatar over to EQ6 and
bragging about their UniversalAvatar compatibility.
Think about the cottage industries that would spring up around the
idea of persistant, cross-world avatars. Numerous companies would
jockey for the opportunity to provide an online reputation system
modelled on the ebay seller feedback system.
Would this ever happen? Is the population of players who want a
solid reputation system that they can trust of greater monetary
value to game designers than the segment of players who want simply
to escape their dullard real-world personnas and act out their
psycho-griefer fantasies online? (That's harsh -- I know -- so to
put it another way, would a game developer's support for a
persistent avatar standard net more accounts than it would lose?)
When will the first MMOG launch that mandates biometric
identification in order to control and use an avatar? Selling your
level 200 toon that's been buffed to the gills might be a tad bit
more difficult if that toon is tied to a retina scan. Biometric
verification seems to be a natural choice to quash the deleterious
effects of ebay on informal, in-game trust systems. I'm guessing
early 2007 on this just to throw out a date.
When will the first MMOG launch that supports avatar names that were
created in a different MMOG system? (2015 is my guess.)
And when will people feel that it's the right thing to do MORALLY to
behave in these worlds in the same way that they behave outside of
virtual worlds? Right now, I'm seeing quotes from players that they
feel completely absolve them of all responsibility towards their
fellow players. Here's a pretty typical sentiment. The quote's only
been edited to remove profanity:
--<cut>--
News Flash...Its a game. The reason people buy the games and play
them is to relax and have a break from responsibility. People dont
pick up the latest game so they can add another job to their
plate. Sorry, never ever should a game make you feel like you
"have to" do anything other than play the game when you want
to...end of story.
--<cut>--
Problem is, the person that wrote that promised his guild that he'd
play for two months AFTER the date that he looted a particular
item. He played for two more days after the transaction before
ebaying. He felt no remorse for this broken promise and he felt no
need to be consistent with it.
Are virtual worlds doomed to this level of disconnection forever?
Thanks for letting me ramble.
- vlad - When Will Player-Avatar Integrity Be a Feature of Persistent Worlds? Martin Bassie
- When Will Player-Avatar Integrity Be a Feature of Persistent Worlds? Craig H Fry
- When Will Player-Avatar Integrity Be a Feature of Persistent Worlds? Matt Mihaly
- When Will Player-Avatar Integrity Be a Feature ofPersistent Worlds? Michael Tresca
- When Will Player-Avatar Integrity Be a Feature ofPersistent Worlds? Baar - Lord of the Seven Suns
- [Fwd: Metrics for assessing game design] ceo
- Examine/Look Elia Morling
- Examine/Look Ammon Lauritzen
- Examine/Look Marc Bowden
- Examine/Look Lars Duening
- Examine/Look Eamonn O'Brien
- [BUS] Account-management systems ceo
- [BUS] Account-management systems Rayzam
- [BUS] Account-management systems Christopher Allen
- Job opportunity on Star Wars Galaxies Koster, Raph
- NCSoft yearly report Mathieu Castelli
- MUD using the .net framework Norman Beresford
- MUD using the .net framework John Buehler
- MUD using the .net framework James F. Bellinger
- MUD using the .net framework Linder Support Team
- Virtual property lawsuit in China Koster, Raph
- Virtual property lawsuit in China Nicolai Hansen
- Virtual property lawsuit in China Daniel Anderson
- Virtual property lawsuit in China Kerry Fraser-Robinson
- Virtual property lawsuit in China Vladimir Cole
- Virtual property lawsuit in China Ren Reynolds
- Virtual property lawsuit in China Nicolai Hansen
- Virtual property lawsuit in China ren@aldermangroup.com
- Expected value and standard deviation. Jeff Cole
- Expected value and standard deviation. Scion Altera
- Expected value and standard deviation. Jeremy Hill
- Expected value and standard deviation. katie@stickydata.com
- Expected value and standard deviation. Ben Chambers
- Expected value and standard deviation. Zach Collins {Siege}
- Expected value and standard deviation. Ben Chambers
- Expected value and standard deviation. Robert Zubek
- Expected value and standard deviation. Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Expected value and standard deviation. Eamonn O'Brien
- Expected value and standard deviation. Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Expected value and standard deviation. Freeman, Jeff
- Expected value and standard deviation. Zach Collins {Siege}
- Expected value and standard deviation. Bernard Graham
- Expected value and standard deviation. Freeman, Jeff
- Expected value and standard deviation. Jeff Cole
- Expected value and standard deviation. Koster, Raph
- Expected value and standard deviation. Katie Lukas
- Expected value and standard deviation. Fidelio Gwaihir
- Expected value and standard deviation. Katie Lukas
- Expected value and standard deviation. Matt Mihaly
- Expected value and standard deviation. Martin Bassie
- Expected value and standard deviation. Katie Lukas
- Expected value and standard deviation. Matt Mihaly
- Expected value and standard deviation. Paul Schwanz
- Expected value and standard deviation. Matt Mihaly
- Expected value and standard deviation. Koster, Raph
- Expected value and standard deviation. Paul Schwanz
- Expected value and standard deviation. Amanda Walker
- Expected value and standard deviation. John Buehler
- Expected value and standard deviation. Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Expected value and standard deviation. Jeff Cole
- Expected value and standard deviation. Paul Schwanz
- Expected value and standard deviation. Dr. Cat
- Expected value and standard deviation. David Loving
- Expected value and standard deviation. Pat Ditterline
- Expected value and standard deviation. Michael Chui
- Expected value and standard deviation. Matt Mihaly
- Expected value and standard deviation. Kwon J. Ekstrom
- Expected value and standard deviation. Chanur Silvarian
- Expected value and standard deviation. Katie Lukas
- Expected value and standard deviation. Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Expected value and standard deviation. Oliver Smith
- Expected value and standard deviation. Daniel Anderson
- Expected value and standard deviation. Koster, Raph
- Expected value and standard deviation. Nicolai Hansen
- Expected value and standard deviation. Dark Lamenth
- Expected value and standard deviation. Fidelio Gwaihir
- Expected value and standard deviation. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Expected value and standard deviation. gbtmud
- Expected value and standard deviation. Tom "cro" Gordon
- Expected value and standard deviation. Sheela Caur'Lir
- Expected value and standard deviation. Roger Hicks
- Expected value and standard deviation. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Expected value and standard deviation. Freeman, Jeff
- Expected value and standard deviation. Matt Mihaly
- Expected value and standard deviation. Tom "cro" Gordon