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
On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 12:47 AM, Sean Howard <squidi@squidi.net> wrote:
> "Mike Sellers" <mike@onlinealchemy.com> wrote:
>
> > A common mistake in core gamers: thinking the WoW audience is "the broad
> > market" or "the lowest common denominator." ?It's not. ?It's a large
> > market, certainly, but it's *far* from being anything like mass market.
>
> It is the lowest common denominator of gamer tendencies.
I guess I'm a lot less interested in "gamer" tendencies per se than I
am "the interests of people who play games" -- a much larger, more
varied set.
> ...
> Casual gamers, on the other hand, see gaming as a diversion. You can't
> consider them the lowest common denominator because there is no common
> denominator to judge by. They don't reliably play games.
They do, but you have to look at things differently, from a non-gamer
POV. This is a bit like how the auto industry used to say, "women
don't buy cars." It turns out they do, but you have to consider the
product and its sales from a non-white-male POV.
Casual gamers play games *very* reliably, if you provide a game they
like. There are some common factors in the kinds of games people will
play online, though there are areas that remain largely unmapped --
lots of good actual *game design* (rather than refinements on an
existing theme) to be done there!
> You can't predict
> what they'll play. They'll play one game for ten years and never look at
> another one. They play games that are pre-installed on their computer and
> little else. You'd think that with fifty million people playing a casual
> game, there'd be some common thread as to WHY they play it or how to
> replicate its success, but it ultimately comes down to availability and
> boredom and you can't aim for that
That's really just not the case, though I can see how it might look
like it from a core-gamer POV. Many companies have been very
successful predicting what casual games people will play over the past
couple of years. Not 100% of the time, but then that's true with any
entertainment form.
Online games are evolving very, very rapidly, and the more I look at
it the more it looks like "heavy MMOs" (retail box, multi-gigabyte
install, etc.) are, while not headed for extinction, definitely headed
for (if not in) niche status. That's fine, I don't mean it as a
negative; it's still a strong market with a lot left to be done in it.
But the time when MMOs were the primary way people played online
games together is past. The point now isn't making a "WoW-killer" or
even something that can co-exist with WoW.
The reality is that the large majority of people playing multiplayer,
persistent-world online games now have never played WoW and have no
desire to do so. That's a development that I find fascinating. :)
Mike Sellers - Fallen Earth Aurel
- Fallen Earth Mike Sellers
- 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