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
- [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
"Tess Snider" <malkyne@gmail.com> wrote:
> The number of innovative MMO projects out there hasn't decreased at
> all. What has decreased is their visibility.
Not to me. When I say that innovative MMO projects are less now, I'm
talking about my experiences which are broader and deeper than the average
WoW player's.
> To the extent that discourse has been "killed," I don't think it has
> anything to do with WoW.
It's not WoW's fault directly, anymore than the homogenization of the FPS
genre is Halo's fault. It took years for the genre to move out from under
DOOM's shadow, and now it's just crawled right back into Halo's. Years
later, FPS will once again leave Halo behind, risk a bit for a few years
with many successes and many more failures, and then some other game will
come out that collects all the successes under a single polished roof and
the FPS genre will be locked in that format for a while.
WoW's "inspirational reign" on MMOs is just about over and now it's time
for those few years of risk and experimentation, lest we lose the genre
completely.
> These days, between the growing population of MMO
> developers and the secrecy of the companies involved, there just isn't
> as much of a core community, anymore.
So, you are saying that people who live and breathe MMOs just stopped
being interested in talking about them? If that's even remotely true then
it is because MMOs have become less interesting to talk about, period.
> Are we all supposed to go advocate permadeath now, because resurrection
> is the dominant paradigm?
YES! EXACTLY! That is exactly what we are supposed to do! We are supposed
to look at what is out there and make a purposeful, intellectual decision
to find a different solution. More importantly, we need to find a
different PROBLEM.
Can you make permadeath work? What problems can you think of in which
permadeath would be the perfect solution? What if the player didn't die at
all? What if there was no risk to combat? Only success and failure,
equally valid advancement paths? What if there was no money, no experience
points, no levels? What if a player running out of hitpoints instead
killed someone else? What if there was no threat-tank-dps-healer model?
What if players had no physical impact on the world and instead
manipulated natural forces to influence the world? What if, instead of
fighting and dying, player advancement is based on exploration and
scientific advancement?
WoW has a bunch of really eloquent solutions, but it does so largely based
on the problems introduced in the hundreds of games that came before it.
Would WoW have such a perfect resurrection solution had it not been for
Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, and every single Aber, Diku, and LPmud
that came before it? We may not be able to solve THOSE problems better,
but we can certainly come up with better problems to solve. We can make a
better WoW simply by rethinking basic assumptions.
> My Prius has the same number of wheels as the wildly successful Model
> T. It has headlights, contains an internal combustion engine, and was
> even made on an assembly line. Does this represent a stagnation in
> automotive design?
No, but when you look at vehicles, you don't just have sedans. You have
planes, trains, horse drawn wagons, SUVs, trucks, hybrids, electric cars,
golf carts, skateboards, and even rickshaws. You just want to create
another Prius - which is great, if you like that sort of thing, but it
ain't going to deliver a payload into space and it is going to look mighty
out of place in colonial Williamsburg.
Beating WoW at its own game is going to be difficult because eventually
you reach a point of diminishing returns. How much nicer can you make a
mini-map? What class can you add to warrior, cleric, wizard, and rogue
that will be a meaning addition to a game built on tank, healer, dps?
Don't change the solution. Change the problem. Fallen Earth is doing
exactly that, and I have no doubt that they will find success. They've
already sewn up the pre-NGE SWG crafter market.
> Blizzard chose to build a sidewalk, because it looks better than bare
> dirt, and it makes it easier for the pedestrians to do business with
> them. If the guy in the next shop over doesn't build a sidewalk, the
> pedestrians may be less inclined to drop by his shop, next.
IF the guy is selling the exact same thing as Blizzard's shop. If Blizzard
is selling candy and the next shop over is selling health food, sidewalk
or not, both shops will be visited. More importantly, there's room for
two.
--
Sean Howard - Fallen Earth Tess Snider
- Fallen Earth Siege)
- Fallen Earth Tess Snider
- Comparing Worlds (was: Fallen Earth) Christopher Lloyd
- Fallen Earth Sean Howard
- 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