January 2009

• [Design] on the game mechanics of open questing Siege)
• • RANT: The Future of Quests Mike Rozak
  • • RANT: The Future of Quests Amanda Walker
    • • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] cruise
      • • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] Amanda Walker
        • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] Mike Sellers
        • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] John Buehler
        • • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] cruise
          • • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] John Buehler
          • Wikia MUD project Raph Koster
          • • Wikia MUD project Nabil Maynard
            • • Wikia MUD project Raph Koster
            • Wikia MUD project Peter Harkins
        • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] Mike Oxford
        • • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] cruise
          • • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] Damion Schubert
            • • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] Threshold
                Damion Schubert wrote:
                > MMOs are different yet again. Yes, you can tell good stories, and
                > yes, you can have good quests, but one primary problem is that
                > your stories are competing against the interest and drama that
                > comes from being in a shared social space. Nothing your NPC
                > is going to say is going to be as interesting as the fact that your
                > raid leader is cybering your guildmaster's girlfriend, and everyone
                > knows but him. Creating an interesting context to make the
                > space sticky is great, but at the end of the day, an MMO's real
                > content is other people. If it's NOT -- well, then your MMO
                > probably shoulda been a single player game. Woulda saved
                > a lot of money.
                >
                
                That is a brilliant point. Developers have to be aware of this and not
                get their "feelings hurt" when players do not really care about the
                various NPC relationships in the game. Those NPC relationships are just
                going to pale in comparison to the ones players form with other players.
                Can you imagine someone saying to an in game friend "Sorry, I can't help
                you. Glorthok the Usurper is about to murder my favorite shop keeper,
                Blimpo the gnome, and I need to save him." Among other things, the
                friend is doing to say "wtf, Blimpo will respawn 10 minutes later. Help
                me now!"
                
                
                > So my hypothesis: MMOs are a unique art form and genre,
                > with a unique set of rules for helping its users find fulfillment.
                > The next obvious question is: what are those rules? And are
                > NPCs really necessary and/or central to that? WoW says
                > 'yes'. Games like Eve and Tale in the Desert say 'no' - they're
                > not about the quest, and much more about game mechanics
                > creating interesting social dynamics. Overall, though, I think
                > we're still at the 'Bonanza' stage of this journey of self-exploration.
                >
                I think the NPCs provide "filler" entertainment when players cannot find
                interesting things to do with other players. And that is a worthwhile
                role. But if you expect much more from them, I think you will be
                continually disappointed.
              • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] John Buehler
              • • Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests] Mike Sellers
    • RANT: The Future of Quests Mike Sellers
    • • RANT: The Future of Quests Damion Schubert
      • • RANT: The Future of Quests Mike Rozak
• [DESIGN] How big is enough? Ian Hess
• • [DESIGN] How big is enough? Mike Rozak
  • • [DESIGN] How big is enough? Mike Oxford
    • • [DESIGN] How big is enough? Vincent Archer
      • • [DESIGN] How big is enough? szii@sziisoft.com
  • [DESIGN] How big is enough? Siege)
  • [DESIGN] How big is enough? Threshold
  • [DESIGN] How big is enough? David Johansson
  • [DESIGN] How big is enough? Roger Durañona Vargas
• Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Tiago
• • Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Jon Mayo
  • Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Jeffrey Kesselman
  • Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Chris White
  • Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Mike Oxford
  • • Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Tiago
    • • Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Jeffrey Kesselman
      • • Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Mike Oxford
        • • Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Tiago
        • Persisting a MUD state with plain binary serialization Tiago.matias@gmail.com
• [DESIGN] Clojure? Matt Cruikshank
• • [DESIGN] Clojure? Richard Tew
  • • [DESIGN] Clojure? Matt Cruikshank