April 2004

• [BIZ] Playas Pay to Spread the Luv Michael Tresca
• Mogi from Newtgames Olivier Lejade
• Client side simulation dienw
• • Client side simulation Nate Combs {Home}
  • • Client side simulation Thomas Tomiczek
  • Client side simulation Amanda Walker
  • Client side simulation Artur Biesiadowski
  • Client side simulation Byron Ellacott
• [Devops] Initial meoww cleanup J C Lawrence
• Middleware (was Sun's Sim Server and Gordon's 10 Reasons (thefirstone :)) Michael Sellers
• • Middleware (was Sun's Sim Server and Gordon's 10 Reasons (thefirstone :)) Tess Snider
  • • Middleware (was Sun's Sim Server and Gordon's 10 Reasons (thefirstone :)) Amanda Walker
  • Middleware (was Sun's Sim Server and Gordon's 10Reasons (thefirstone :)) Derek Licciardi
• Announcement: Community Work Symposium - May 21 T.L. Taylor
• Middleware ceo
• [NEWS] Final Fantasy XI debut on PS2 in US kennerly@sfsu.edu
• Random Placename Generation Matt Chatterley
• • Random Placename Generation Joshua Hughes
  • Random Placename Generation Ben Hawes
  • • Random Placename Generation Matt Chatterley
  • Random Placename Generation Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
• Sun's Sim Server and Gordon's 10 Reasons (thefirstone :)) Mike Rozak
• Middleware Luca Girardo
• Habitat Redux Mirjam Eladhari
• MUD-Dev Convention Report David Kennerly
• Licensed setting MMOGs Matt Mihaly
• • Licensed setting MMOGs Michael Sellers
  • Licensed setting MMOGs Matt Mihaly
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Matt Mihaly
• • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! John Buehler
• Player Justice Freeman, Jeff
• Licensed setting MMOGs Taylor Daynes
• Licensed setting MMOGs Christopher Allen
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Jeff Fuller
• Dangers of Middleware Mike Rozak
• Licensed setting MMOGs Christopher Allen
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Matt Mihaly
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! John Buehler
• • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Amanda Walker
  • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! John Buehler
  • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Marian Griffith
  • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Jeff Fuller
    • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Douglas Goodall
    • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Eric Random
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! John Buehler
• • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Matt Mihaly
  • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! John Buehler
    • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Stone, Jason
      • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Douglas Goodall
• Sun's Sim Server and Gordon's 10 Reasons (the firstone:)) Thomas Tomiczek
• • Sun's Sim Server and Gordon's 10 Reasons (thefirstone:)) David Kennerly
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Jeff Fuller
• • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Matt Mihaly
  • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! J C Lawrence
  • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! John MacQueen
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Brian Hook
• • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Travis Casey
  • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Jeff Fuller
  • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Brian Hook
    • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Jeff Fuller
      • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Kevin N Shallow
• Paranoia Ragnar Lonn
• Player Justice Amanda Walker
• • Player Justice Paul Schwanz
• Less constrained environments Chris Duesing
• • Less constrained environments John MacQueen
• MMOG money-making clients ceo
• • MMOG money-making clients Koster, Raph
  • MMOG money-making clients Valerio Santinelli
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Otis Viles
• • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Paul Schwanz
  • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Paolo Piselli
    • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Otis Viles
      • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Amanda Walker
      • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Vincent Archer
        • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Jeff Fuller
          • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Thomas Tomiczek
            • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Steven King
          • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
          • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Vincent Archer
            • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! J C Lawrence
        • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Brian Miller
        • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! John Buehler
          • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Chris Duesing
      • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Paul Schwanz
      • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Paolo Piselli
        • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Amanda Walker
      • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Matt Mihaly
      • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! baar@imperian.com
• Middleware (was Sun's Sim Server andGordon's10Reasons (thefirstone :)) Matt Chatterley
• MudDev FAQ - part 2 Marian Griffith
• Gay Characters in Videogames Michael Tresca
• • Gay Characters in Videogames Tess Snider
  • • Gay Characters in Videogames Darksuit
  • Gay Characters in Videogames Matt Mihaly
  • • Gay Characters in Videogames Michael Tresca
    • • Gay Characters in Videogames Jon A. Lambert
      • • Gay Characters in Videogames matt@ironrealms.com
  • Gay Characters in Videogames Douglas Goodall
• MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 11, Issue 10 kihyun {GTA Interactive}
• Player Justice Freeman, Jeff
• • Player Justice Paul Schwanz
• Licensed setting MMOGs Ian McDonald
• • Licensed setting MMOGs Christopher Allen
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Ryan S. Dancey
• • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Otis Viles
  • • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! baar@imperian.com
  • [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! J C Lawrence
• R: [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Ghilardi Filippo
• [BoardGameDesign] Fog of War (to Robert & dr1010xltd) (fwd) J C Lawrence
• Online economies was [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Brian Hook
• PvP vs. PvE was [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Brian Hook
• [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy! Eric Random
• Kaczynski's Law Freeman, Jeff
• • Kaczynski's Law Michael Sellers
  • • Kaczynski's Law Freeman, Jeff
    • • Kaczynski's Law Michael Sellers
      • • Kaczynski's Law Jon A. Lambert
        • Kaczynski's Law jfreeman@soe.sony.com
        • • Kaczynski's Law Robert Flesch
          • • Kaczynski's Law Freeman, Jeff
            • Kaczynski's Law Freeman, Jeff
    • Kaczynski's Law J C Lawrence
    • Kaczynski's Law Mike Rozak
    • • Kaczynski's Law Michael Sellers
  • Kaczynski's Law cruise
  • Kaczynski's Law Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
  • Kaczynski's Law Mike Rozak
• Playing catch-up with levels [WAS Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy!] Byron Ellacott
• • Playing catch-up with levels [WAS Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy!] Steven King
• PvP vs. PvE Rob C
• notes from MUD Dev conf and GDC Mirjam Eladhari
• • notes from MUD Dev conf and GDC matt@ironrealms.com
  • notes from MUD Dev conf and GDC Luca Girardo
  • • notes from MUD Dev conf and GDC Jonas Heide Smith
  • notes from MUD Dev conf and GDC Ren Reynolds
  • notes from MUD Dev conf and GDC Brian 'Psychochild' Green
• Playing catch-up with levels Byron Ellacott
• • Playing catch-up with levels Amanda Walker
  • • Playing catch-up with levels Craig Huber
    • • Playing catch-up with levels Michael Sellers
      • • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
      • Playing catch-up with levels Ben Hawes
      • • Playing catch-up with levels Amanda Walker
        • • Playing catch-up with levels Kwon J. Ekstrom
          • Playing catch-up with levels Hulbert, Leland
        • Playing catch-up with levels John Arras
        • Playing catch-up with levels jfreeman@soe.sony.com
        • • Playing catch-up with levels Matt Chatterley
          • • Playing catch-up with levels Kwon J. Ekstrom
            • • Playing catch-up with levels Matt Chatterley
              • • Playing catch-up with levels Kwon J. Ekstrom
          • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
          • • Playing catch-up with levels Matt Mihaly
          • Playing catch-up with levels Vincent Archer
          • • Playing catch-up with levels Kwon J. Ekstrom
            • Playing catch-up with levels cruise
            • • Playing catch-up with levels Stephen Routledge
              • • Playing catch-up with levels cruise
            • Playing catch-up with levels Lars Duening
            • Playing catch-up with levels ext.Christer.Enfors@tietoenator.com
            • • Playing catch-up with levels Vincent Archer
              • • Playing catch-up with levels Kwon J. Ekstrom
                • • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
                    Kwon J. Ekstrom writes:
                    > Vincent Archer wrote:
                    >> According to ext.Christer.Enfors@tietoenator.com:
                    
                    >> And, finally, there is the problem of the chicken and the
                    >> egg. How do the characters initially get money to create the
                    >> trainers? You need to create "basic trainers", who make
                    >> essentially free classes. Those free classes must not be
                    >> competitive with player-designed classes (otherwise, people use
                    >> the basic trainers), yet efficient enough that people can earn
                    >> enough to create the first set of trainers.
                    
                    > Well, you could also ask "how do the players get the money to
                    > visit trainers", obviously there are other sources of wealth.
                    > Also, I'd suggest making a couple of dummy guilds with basic
                    > trainers and allowing the playtesters or event the morts of imms
                    > to run them. This would reward people for playing the game, and
                    > prevent the need to balance player-run vs basic trainers. If you
                    > choose the players to reward wisely, it would encourage a growing
                    > player-base. Choose poorly and they'll simply strangle what few
                    > players you have. (smart players would encourage growth because
                    > it advances their cause... more players = more people using their
                    > trainers)
                    
                    Alternately, make players the trainers. I'm sure this has been
                    considered before and/or implemented, but it's not something that
                    I've seen other than in teaching a language in EverQuest. The twist
                    is to make the process of training another character a skill itself.
                    
                    So if I choose to make training a priority and I'm willing to expend
                    skill resources on training others, then I can train other
                    characters in the skills that I have. The speed at which I can
                    teach and the level of skill competency that I can communicate
                    depends on my skills at teaching.
                    
                    What this really brings to a game is mobility of education, and
                    separates education from money. Good will can be enough to gain new
                    skills. Trading skills becomes a form of barter.
                    
                    A character out in the middle of nowhere can teach advanced
                    wilderness skills to another character that hasn't been properly
                    prepared (shades of "Jeremiah Johnson").
                    
                    A character can visit a foreign land, learn skills, then bring them
                    back to teach others.
                    
                    If teaching is a difficult thing to master, then I may only be able
                    to teach you basic competency in the skills that I possess. This
                    works as a governor on having every Tom, Dick and Boffo spreading
                    perfect instruction of every known skill to every character in the
                    game. Thirty percent competency in Spinning Kick might be a
                    significant advantage against those who are unskilled in martial
                    arts.
                    
                    This makes the trading process more interesting because my character
                    might have 40% Short Sword Riposte competency while your has 30%
                    Spinning Kick competency. While I may also have some Spinning Kick
                    ability and you may have some Short Sword Riposte ability, we may be
                    able to boost our competencies by trading in some instruction.
                    
                    So a second thing that this brings to a game is a new form of
                    currency - learned skills. Depending on the variety of skills and
                    their applicability (desireability) in the pursuit of a good time in
                    the game, the currency of skill swapping could be an effective way
                    of getting players to interact.
                    
                    An aid in that interaction would be flagging a character when your
                    character sees it using a skill that it has never seen before - or
                    that your character has seen before, but that you've told your
                    character to seek out.
                    
                    It seems like there would be a fair bit of potential return here.
                    All characters would be seeking out new skills. Political,
                    economic, crafting, military, hobby, you name it.
                    
                    Player sponsored NPC trainers could be a way of storing skills so
                    they can be transferred to other characters, except that the NPC
                    would probably be limited to a certain location.
                    
                    Game sponsored NPC trainers (e.g. NPC sponsored NPC trainers) could
                    serve as the starting point for the basics in training any set of
                    skills. For example, the NPC blacksmithing guild may be the
                    starting place for learning blacksmithing skills. If you're not
                    interested in blacksmithing, you don't have to have the
                    blacksmithing skills show up in your skill list/tree/display.
                    
                    Want to extend this farther? Make monsters have skills that they
                    can teach. Get in good with a certain tribe of monsters and you can
                    learn a trick or two from one of them.
                    
                    Skills have become an item of trade. Little variations on skills
                    would then be common in the game, meaning that instead of all
                    spinning kicks using the exact same animation, little variations in
                    the animation (and the characteristics of the kick) would be
                    present.
                    
                    Effective skill management tools would have to be available to the
                    player, just as effective inventory management tools are needed
                    today.
                    
                    JB
                • Playing catch-up with levels ext.Christer.Enfors@tietoenator.com
                • Playing catch-up with levels Eli Stevens {WG.c}
          • Playing catch-up with levels Zach Collins {Siege}
          • • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
            • • Playing catch-up with levels cruise
              • • Playing catch-up with levels Amanda Walker
                • • Playing catch-up with levels cruise
                  • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
                  • • Playing catch-up with levels Amanda Walker
                    • • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
                      • • Playing catch-up with levels Jason Downs
                • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
                • • Playing catch-up with levels cruise
                  • • Playing catch-up with levels Steven King
                    • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
                    • • Playing catch-up with levels Chris Duesing
                      • • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
                    • Playing catch-up with levels Travis Nixon
                • Playing catch-up with levels Steven King
                • • Playing catch-up with levels Amanda Walker
                  • Playing catch-up with levels Travis Nixon
                  • Playing catch-up with levels cruise
                  • • Playing catch-up with levels Amanda Walker
                    • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
                  • Playing catch-up with levels Douglas Goodall
                  • • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
                    • • Playing catch-up with levels Douglas Goodall
                      • Playing catch-up with levels Harrok
          • Playing catch-up with levels Valerio Santinelli
        • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
        • • Playing catch-up with levels Amanda Walker
          • • Playing catch-up with levels Kwon J. Ekstrom
      • Playing catch-up with levels Jeff Fuller
      • • Playing catch-up with levels Craig Huber
      • Playing catch-up with levels Jeff
      • Playing catch-up with levels Byron Ellacott
      • • Playing catch-up with levels Craig Huber
        • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
      • Playing catch-up with levels Amanda Walker
    • Playing catch-up with levels cruise
    • • Playing catch-up with levels Zach Collins {Siege}
• DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Freeman, Jeff
• • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Edward Glowacki
  • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency baar@imperian.com
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Ian McDonald
  • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency baar@imperian.com
    • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Pileborg Joachim - FMT
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Paul Schwanz
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Matt Chatterley
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Rayzam
  • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Freeman, Jeff
    • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Rayzam
      • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Freeman, Jeff
        • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency John Buehler
          • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Freeman, Jeff
            • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency John Buehler
              • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Freeman, Jeff
                • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency John Buehler
              • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Matt Chatterley
              • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Freeman, Jeff
                • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency John Buehler
                  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Matt Chatterley
            • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Douglas Goodall
          • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Paul Schwanz
          • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Rayzam
          • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency John Buehler
            • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency sziisoft
            • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency cruise
              • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Steven King
                • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Matt Chatterley
            • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Douglas Goodall
            • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Rayzam
              • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Douglas Goodall
                • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Rayzam
                • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency baar@imperian.com
                • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Eric Random
            • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Adam Helps
          • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Eric Random
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Brian Thyer
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Castronova, Edward
  • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Rayzam
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Eric Random
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Alistair Milne
  • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Rayzam
    • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency John Buehler
      • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Rayzam
        • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Freeman, Jeff
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Kirinyaga
  • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Freeman, Jeff
    • • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency brian@thyer.net
      • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Kirinyaga
  • DESIGN: Active and Inactive currency Arkitan Plu
• Story Generators Douglas Goodall
• ADMIN Changes to the list page J C Lawrence
• MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 11, Issue 19 Chanur Silvarian
• Playing catch-up with levels Jeremy Gaffney
• MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 11, Issue 19 Threshold RPG
• Bringing in friends Pat Ditterline
• • Bringing in friends Amanda Walker
• [biz][tech][dgn][soc] Ten MMOG's you don't want to do... ceo
• • [biz][tech][dgn][soc] Ten MMOG's you don't want to do... Freeman, Jeff
  • [biz][tech][dgn][soc] Ten MMOG's you don't want to do... Eli Stevens {WG.c}
  • [biz][tech][dgn][soc] Ten MMOG's you don't want to do... Sean Howard
  • [biz][tech][dgn][soc] Ten MMOG's you don't want to do... Mike Rozak
  • [biz][tech][dgn][soc] Ten MMOG's you don't want to do... Nathan Yospe
• Playing catch-up with levels Steven King
• • Playing catch-up with levels Byron Ellacott
• Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
• MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 11, Issue 23 Alex Chacha
• Playing catch-up with levels Sean Howard
• • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
  • • Playing catch-up with levels Matt Mihaly
    • • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
      • • Playing catch-up with levels Matt Mihaly
        • • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
          • • Playing catch-up with levels Matt Mihaly
        • Playing catch-up with levels Amanda Walker
        • • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
    • Playing catch-up with levels Sean Howard
    • • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
      • • Playing catch-up with levels Sean Howard
        • • Playing catch-up with levels Matt Mihaly
          • • Playing catch-up with levels Ola Fosheim Grøstad
          • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler
          • • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
  • Playing catch-up with levels Zach Collins {Siege}
  • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
  • • Playing catch-up with levels Sean Howard
    • • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
      • • Playing catch-up with levels Sean Howard
        • • Playing catch-up with levels Threshold RPG
          • • Playing catch-up with levels John Buehler