November 2005
- Computer Security for MMOs and Online Games Greg B
- Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation Chris Duesing
- Commentary on Recent PlayOn Blog Social Cohesion Christopher Allen
- quest engine design documents? Johnicholas Hines
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Ghilardi Filippo
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Kiztent
- Effort to produce a quest Vincent Archer
- Effort to produce a quest Damion Schubert
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Damion Schubert
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Randolf Richardson
- Effort to produce a quest Lachek Butalek
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) Sarah Bonner
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) Otis Viles
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? John Mauney
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Sean Howard
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Sam Pointon
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? John Mauney
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? justice@softhome.net
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Lachek Butalek
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs cruise
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Roger Hicks
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains cruise
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lydia Leong
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Dave Mitchell
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lost
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lachek Butalek
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lost
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains jack fredricks
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Arnau Josep Rosselló Castelló
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Damien Neil
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains ceo
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs cruise
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Jaycen Rigger
- (no subject) Koster, Raph
- Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) cruise
- Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lachek Butalek
On 11/17/05, cruise <cruise@casual-tempest.net> wrote:
> This is an idea that has been brewing in my mind for a while now,
> trudgeand many of the recent threads have convinced me enough to
> finally write it all down.
> http://www.casual-tempest.net/think.php?t=6&p=1
You've managed to distill many of the points I've tried to get
across over the last year or so in various discussions, and I
wholeheartedly agree with you. Until MMO developers figure out a way
to use the "Massively" in their favour rather than to their
detriment, they should focus on smaller games targeted to a more
narrowly focused audience (=smaller budgets, but more games) rather
than trying to impose a non-massive element to their MMO by
instancing. One of the selling points of WoW, for example, was that
it was balanced and polished enough that you could solo without any
major issues - indeed, some reviewers claimed it was "playable as a
single player game", and made it sound like a good thing. My
question was, why am I paying $14.95/month for a single player game,
which only differs majorly from Morrowind in that it features
annoying twits running around speaking in l33t?
My two favourite MMOs from a design perspective, Eve:Online and A
Tale in the Desert, both handle the "Massive" element quite well -
in Eve by creating a 95% player-driven economy and a strong,
functional PvP element, and in ATITD by encouraging trading of goods
and services by using a carefully designed tech tree. Both these
games are characterized by very open and flexible gameplay - the
game does not pretend to be *about* something, it just sets some
rules (physics) and throws the player into the world. The imposition
of physics causes the presence of a "game" element (as opposed to
Second Life), and the lack of an imposed vision causes the players
to become creative and set goals on their own. These games benefit
from the "Massive" element for social interaction - WoW, for
example, does not.
The other major difference between Eve/ATITD and WoW/EQ/L2/CoH is
that players are cast as quite common people, not heroes, soldiers,
mercenaries, mutants, etc. In Eve, there are miners, mercs, pirates,
CEOs, researchers, etc. In CoH, there are superheroes who fight evil
(and now, villains who fight good). In ATITD, there are weavers,
lumberjacks, builders, miners, explorers, jewelers, politicians,
etc. In WoW, there is the Alliance, who fight the Horde, and the
Horde, who fight the Alliance. Everyone is an adventurer/soldier -
sure, you may also be a blacksmith, but the only reason for that is
to improve your weapons so you can kill bigger foozles. The
homogenity in CoH/WoW causes "Massive" to work against realism, but
Eve/ATITD is constantly in need of more people to play more nuanced
roles. If anyone has examples of other games where "Massive"
actually works in the game's favour, I'd love to hear of them -
right now, it seems the major companies are working the "Massive"
angle in order to get subscriptions, while providing as close to a
single-player (or at best, multiplayer a la Counterstrike)
experience as possible.
- Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lachek Butalek
- MMO a temporary phenomenon? John Buehler
- Sexism in design lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Sexism in design Marc Bowden
- Sexism in design Louis d'Ambra
- Sexism in design Sean Kelly
- Sexism in design Amanda Walker
- Value Brian "Ayavaron" Ross
- Griefing Brian "Ayavaron" Ross
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Jean, Yannick
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Marc Bowden
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lost
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Damion Schubert
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lachek Butalek
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look)
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Caliban Darklock
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Ryan S. Dancey
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Jeffrey Kesselman
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Ken Sewell
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Joe Ludwig
- Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation Chris Duesing