August 2008

• [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Soyweiser
• [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Peter Harkins
• • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Daniel James
  • • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Nick Koranda
  • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Christopher Lloyd
  • • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Nabil Maynard
    • • [Design] "Why Pirate Games" Article Nick Koranda
      • • [Design] "Why Pirate Games" Article Tess Snider
        • • [Design] "Why Pirate Games" Article Sean Howard
          • [Design] "Why Pirate Games" Article Caliban Darklock
        • [Design] "Why Pirate Games" Article Michael Hartman
      • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Matt Chatterley
      • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Siege)
      • • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Siege)
        • • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Mike Rozak
          • • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Siege)
            • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Acius
  • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Soyweiser
  • • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game Adam Martin
      > On Mon, Aug 4, 2008 at 9:04 PM, Peter Harkins <ph@malaprop.org> wrote:
      >
      >> On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 11:14:36AM -0600, Acius wrote:
      >> > One style of game that seems appropriate is the Ikariam/Travian style of
      >> > web-based empire building.
      >>
      >> On a tangent, does anyone know of a nice name for this class of games?
      >> ...
      >> I've got a few
      >> browser game designs I've been considering building, I just don't even
      >> know what to call the genre. Thoughts?
      
      "MMO".
      
      Or, if you're afraid of the MMORPG stigma, try:"Casual MMO" or even go
      all the way and just say "Online Games".
      
      But, personally, recalling the Endless War over
      MUD/MOO/MUSH/MMO/G(raphical)MUD/M*/MM*/MMOG/3D-MUD/VisualMUD/etc/etc/etc/etc...
      I'd suggest: pick the simplest term that the largest number of people
      use, worry less about terminology, and just get on with life :).
      
      IME right now the following terms right now are "big" (i.e. used and
      recognized by millions of people):
      - MMO (or MMOG/MMORPG but most people seem too lazy and to have
      devolved to the TLA)
      - VW (for "anything which is not primarily a game")
      - Social Network (for "anything which is user-oriented and primarily
      consists of user-generated content")
      - Online Games (for "any multiplayer game that is none of the above")
      - Casual Games (for "any game which supports drop-in / drop-out
      gameplay of as little as 5 minutes per session, at the PLAYER's
      choice, not the game's")
      
      So, I'd pick the closest and run with it, or a combination of terms
      *if* the thing you're doing genuinely uses the bulk of both those
      genres. Then, if you find you want to explain in more detail, then go
      ahead - explain in more detail! - rather than trying to make a new
      term.
    • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Michael Hartman
      • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Sean Howard
        • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Michael Hartman
          • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Aurel
            • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Caliban Darklock
              • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Jeffrey Kesselman
            • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Mike Sellers
            • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Michael Hartman
            • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Sean Howard
        • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD McDonald, Stephen
        • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Michael Hartman
          • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD John Szeder
            • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Jon Mayo
              • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Crwth
              • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Siege)
              • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Soyweiser
        • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Jeffrey Kesselman
        • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Jon Mayo
          • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Raph Koster
            • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Kerry Fraser-Robinson
              • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD John Szeder
                • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD cruise
                • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Lachek Butalek
                  • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Michael Hartman
                  • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Peter Keeler
                    • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Jon Mayo
                      • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Michael Hartman
                    • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Kerry Fraser-Robinson
                    • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD cruise
                      • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Adam Martin
                        • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Acius
                  • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Morris Cox
                  • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Jon Mayo
              • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Michael Hartman
              • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Jeffrey Kesselman
              • • Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Raph Koster
      • [Design] Design challenge: Bed-time game John Buehler
• Bad Terminology: MMO, MMORPG vs. MUD Jeffrey Kesselman