May 2009
- MUD-based Articles for Hartford Gaming Lifestyle Examiner Michael Tresca
- opensim and muds in general bristle2008@yahoo.com
- [NEWS] mischief & opensim Bristle Mischief
- Since when has MUD-DEV become MUD-MARKETING Jeffrey Kesselman
- Since when has MUD-DEV become MUD-MARKETING Caliban Darklock
- Since when has MUD-DEV become MUD-MARKETING Sean Howard
- Since when has MUD-DEV become MUD-MARKETING Nathan Yospe
- Since when has MUD-DEV become MUD-MARKETING Nabil Maynard
- Since when has MUD-DEV become MUD-MARKETING Threshold
- Since when has MUD-DEV become MUD-MARKETING bristle2008@yahoo.com
- Getting the word out about your game Threshold
- Getting the word out about your game Ilia Malkovitch
- [Technology] Lend your ears to science! Mike Rozak
- [Technology] Lend your ears to science! Jeffrey Kesselman
- [Technology] Lend your ears to science! Mike Rozak
- [Technology] Lend your ears to science! Jeffrey Kesselman
- [Technology] Lend your ears to science! Mike Rozak
- [Technology] Lend your ears to science! Benjamin Tolputt
- [Technology] Lend your ears to science! Mike Rozak
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Mike Rozak
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Matt Owen
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Mike Sellers
Mike Rozak wrote:
> Most people WANT to play a single player game. Or, they want
> to play a game with their close friends.
*Most* people want what they already know, if in slightly different
packaging from the last time. They want cheaper buggy whips, crisper black
and white TV, better text games, or shooters with more textures.
(And I'll pause here to note once again that in terms of MMOs, we haven't
begun to touch "most people." For a sense of scale, in the US there are
more active birdwatchers than there are people playing MMOGs. Our "most
people" is far from a broad audience -- so far.)
A few people are willing to try something new, and sometimes that catches
on. Even then, we're talking about varying degrees of presenting something
like what people already know.
Beyond this though, I think you're seeing MMOs through a particular lens
that isn't entirely accurate. Many people like playing "solo" in MMOGs, but
that doesn't explain the games' success. It is the *potential* for
meaningful contact with others, even if it is for some people rarely
realized, that is part of the success of MMOGs.
This has some common roots with how we watch movies. Watching a thriller,
comedy, or romance by yourself does not have nearly the same impact that it
does when you watch it in a theatre full of people -- even if they're people
you don't know and will never really interact with. It's even a different
experience from watching the same movie at home with family or friends --
all three provide a different kind of social experience that most people
continue to find compelling.
In addition, I think your assertion about what most people want in an online
game doesn't stand up to experiences ranging from the sprawling and hugely
successful Chinese MMOGs -- where acting as part of a group is a necessity
at anything beyond the lowest levels -- to the more casual but nonetheless
compelling groupings occuring in many lighter games, from those like Mob
Wars on Facebook (extremely casual, dead simple gameplay, hugely
multiplayer, staggeringly successful commercially) to web-games like the
RPG/RTS-ish Ikarium. That's where to look for how MMOGs are evolving, not
into re-treads of old concepts like Free Realms.
On that note, what I think your assertion most clearly points out,
interestingly, is that "what MMOs are" is not what they will be. On this
mailing list, people have said things like "MMOs are basically combat
simulators" (Damion, I think, a while back) or "MMOs are primarily about the
pursuit of individual goals" (Joe Buehler, just recently). Prior to the
unexpected rise of browser-based MMOs, people were (and many still are)
striving to create even more graphically heavy MMOs that were also about
individual goals realized mainly through combat.
MMOs right now have the potential to become like the hugely popular
hex-based wargames of the 1970s and 1980s -- hugely popular, that is, until
they were supplanted by something that more people liked even better. Will
they "shrink into chickens" and become MSOGs as a result? Possibly some
will. My bet though is that more people now have more avenues for
entertainment and socialization that grow beyond the current ponderous MMO
structures (classes, races, quests, defined combat roles, etc.), and that
these will become the next cool thing for playing games in online worlds
together (even if they're not called MMOGs).
People in current popular MMOs "want" single-player gameplay because that's
what the games reward -- working with other people is just a way to achieve
individual goals (again, some of the Chinese MMOs aside). This isn't
necessarily what people truly want; it's just a reflection of what current
games provide. Change the games, change the apparent set of "what people
want."
Mike Sellers - [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games John A. Bertoglio
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Damion Schubert
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Richard A. Bartle
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Mike Rozak
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games cruise
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolveto massively single-player games Mike Rozak
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolveto massively single-player games Mike Sellers
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolveto massively single-player games cruise
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolveto massively single-player games Dana V. Baldwin
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolveto massively single-player games Threshold
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolveto massively single-player games Dana V. Baldwin
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolveto massively single-player games Threshold
- Fallen Earth John A. Bertoglio
- Fallen Earth Threshold
- Fallen Earth Mike Sellers
- Fallen Earth Sean Howard
- Fallen Earth Mike Sellers
- Fallen Earth Amanda Walker
- Fallen Earth Vincent Archer
- Fallen Earth John A. Bertoglio
- Fallen Earth Mike Sellers
- Fallen Earth Benjamin Tolputt
- Fallen Earth Mike Sellers
- Fallen Earth Sean Howard
- Fallen Earth Mike Sellers
- Fallen Earth Aurel
- Fallen Earth Damion Schubert
- Fallen Earth Sean Howard
- Fallen Earth Jeffrey Kesselman
- Fallen Earth Threshold
- Fallen Earth Aurel
- Fallen Earth John A. Bertoglio
- Fallen Earth Dana V. Baldwin
- Fallen Earth Sean Howard
- Fallen Earth Tess Snider
- Fallen Earth Sean Howard
- Fallen Earth Tess Snider
- Fallen Earth Siege)
- Fallen Earth Tess Snider
- Comparing Worlds (was: Fallen Earth) Christopher Lloyd
- Fallen Earth Jeffrey Kesselman
- Fallen Earth John A. Bertoglio
- Fallen Earth Mike Sellers
- Fallen Earth Matt Owen
- Fallen Earth Threshold
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Vincent Archer
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Threshold
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games cruise
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Aurel
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Amanda Walker
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Jeffrey Kesselman
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games John Buehler
- [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games Bristle Mischief
- [Design] is home-base networks not possible? Bristle Mischief
- [Design] is home-base networks not possible? Jeffrey Kesselman
- [Design] is home-base networks not possible? Siege)
- [Design] is home-base networks not possible? Nuno Silva
- [Design] is home-base networks not possible? Jeffrey Kesselman
- [Design] is home-base networks not possible? Jeffrey Kesselman