September 2007
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Damion Schubert
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Aurel Mihai
- [DESIGN] Where massive? John Buehler
- [DESIGN] Where massive? Damion Schubert
- [DESIGN] Where massive? Aurel Mihai
- [DESIGN] Where massive? Richard A. Bartle
- [DESIGN] Where massive? Damion Schubert
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Michael Hartman
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Roger Hicks
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Christopher Lloyd
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Damion Schubert
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Michael Hartman
Damion Schubert wrote:
> On 9/14/07, Michael Hartman <mlist@thresholdrpg.com> wrote:
>
> I didn't necessarily say that raids were evocative. Just that the IDEA of
> raids are evocative. And they are, extremely so. Players want games
> that take advantage of what massively multiplayer means. Designers are
> still struggling to do so, usually because end game content is the first
> to get cut when deadlines get tight.
That is true. I have memories of relic/keep raids in Dark Age of Camelot
that were so spectacular that my wife and I still reminisce about them.
They did massive content very, very well. It was the details
(class/realm balance) that bit them in the butt. :)
The idea of very large scale, meaningful content is awesome. It is a
shame that it is very rarely done well.
City of Heroes recently tried with their Rikti Invasions and they were a
gross failure. They are totally repetitive. Nothing about them ever
changes. If you beat an invasion, nothing good happens. If you ignore it
completely and just let the Rikti run amok, nothing bad happens. They
spawn the same way every time. They are very easy to defeat. There are
no interesting rewards. You can earn an "accolade" from participating in
a handful of them at most. After this time, they are utterly pointless
and just a frame rate killer. As an added bonus, they interfere with
normal play of the game without adding anything.
> As for your commentary on raids: while its true that most WoW/EQ
> fanbois tend to be overly exuberant on how cool or important raiding is,
> it is equally true that far too many designers dismiss raiding is inherently
> lame without examining what's actually cool, successful, interesting
> or compelling about the experience.
I don't really see designers dismissing raiding as inherently lame. It
seems like every designer out there is enthralled by the concept of
raiding and makes sure to include raiding in their games. Unforunately,
they just copy what they have seen before instead of trying to improve
upon it. But I definitely do not think we are in danger of raiding going
away. The tiny minority of players who really get into raiding are also
the types who dominate the forums of every MMO out there. The developers
always listen, and end up focussing too much on this aspect. So they get
into the idea of items that only 5 people per server can ever hope to
obtain, and then wake their epeens at others in whatever public space is
most common for gathering. The net result is pretty darn negative in my
view.
--
Michael Hartman, J.D. (http://www.frogdice.com)
President & CEO, Frogdice, Inc.
University of Georgia School of Law, 1995-1998
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, 1990-1994 - Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Damion Schubert
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Michael Hartman
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore andMMOs) Mike Sellers
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Vincent Archer
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) John Buehler
- Activity Duration in MMOs (was: [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs) Michael Hartman
- [DESIGN] Character Growth Models (Was: Removing the almighty experience point...) Ian Hess
- [BIZ] Community-building books Mike Rozak
- [MEDIA] Intel Purchases Game Tools Firm Havok Mike Rozak
- [MEDIA] Intel Purchases Game Tools Firm Havok Jon Mayo
- [MEDIA] Intel Purchases Game Tools Firm Havok Peter Keeler
- [DESIGN] Factor of 16 Mike Rozak
- [DESIGN] Factor of 16 Aurel Mihai
- [DESIGN] Factor of 16 Michael Hartman
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content cruise
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content Lachek Butalek
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content Darryl Woodford
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content cruise
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content John Buehler
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content cruise
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content John Buehler
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content Damion Schubert
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content John Buehler
- [DESIGN] Player skill vs. Character Skill [was: Player-generated content] cruise
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content John Buehler
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content cruise
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content Tom Hudson
- [DESIGN] Player-generated content Matt Chatterley
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace cruise
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Caliban Darklock
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Ammon Lauritzen
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace cruise
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Bristle
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Shannon Sullivan
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Dave Scheffer
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Raph Koster
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Morris Cox
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Matt Chatterley
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Dana V. Baldwin
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Matt Chatterley
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Morris Cox
- [ANNOUNCE] MetaPlace Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Spore and MMOs Michael Hartman