[MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP

[Jon A. Lambert]

On 29 Dec 97 at 13:39, JC Lawrence wrote:
> 
> Something that just struck me is that all the commercial
> representatives we have on the list seem to espouse their games as
> being RP games, and discuss their values in terms of the RP values
> generated by their games.
> 
> Is this valid in a commercial sense?  What are its origins?
> 
> Are the commercial games marketed and defined as RP-centric because
> that is what the general market demand is for?  Because that segment
> of the market that might be or is interested in MUDs demands RP?
> Because the game playing populace equates MUD worlds with RP?  Because of
> the greater competition levels from the non-RP DOOM-esqe games? Because RP
> is considered synonymous with MUDs when selling the concept to the
> commercial vendors?  Because the main activists in the commercial MUD
> ventures personally value RP highly and thus have a high personal interest
> in creating RP games as versus non-RP?
> 
> Or, more commercially, are the games RP-centric to encourage longer
> connect times and thus greater billing possibilities such as
> ancilliary profit sources from advertising (more opportunities to
> deliver an advertising message to a player due to the longer connect
> time)?  
> 
> I sense some sort of unrealised synergy here.
> 
I do believe Ola hit on this directly or around the edges. :)  
If you can pick up a sword, cast a spell or fire a phaser, the game will
likely be marketed as a role-playing game in a commercial sense.

The term has about as much clarity/meaning today as those software 
companies who are marketing 4GL languages. (cf. Martin's original 
definition of 4GL)  RPG is a buzzword.   

I do believe that some of those in commercial ventures do value RP highly
enough to move their games strongly away from the arcade style of play like
Quake.  However, the extreme end (which Ola called role-acting) that exists
on many Mushes like Amber and others is not commercially viable.  It's a
smaller slice of the RP market.  Of course I could be wrong, the sheer
numbers of customers on the internet could make this slice commercially
viable if marketed right.  A way I could see this happening is someone with
a very successful commercial game establishing secondary games for
"hardcore" role-players and game-players.

I think if you, JCL, sold your server concept to someone, it would likely
get marketed as a role-playing game. <hehe>

--
Jon A. Lambert
"Everything that deceives may be said to enchant" - Plato