Personal Interest vs. Marketing Decision WAS RE: [MUD-Dev] dealing with foul language

[Zak Jarvis]

Sorry to split this off into a separate discussion, but this is a subject I find
quite interesting and worthwhile, especially since I tend to have pretty
non-commercial tastes when it comes to some aspects of game design.
(Non-anthrocentric world design, heavy emphasis on role-playing, unusual social
structures).

> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> Koster, Raph
> Sent: Monday, April 10, 2000 4:20 PM

> If you mean, you don't think I can avoid thinking about what "matters," I
> don't try to think about it in terms of a large abstract. If I am preparing
> designs oriented around "community" it isn't just because community
> "matters." It's because it matters to a lot of individual people who are
> likely to play the game. It's because it matters to me personally. It's
> because it's likely to retain players, leading to greater revenues, leading
> to my getting to make another game. But I am not going to make a value
> judgement about it. For example, I am not into PKing in muds. I've engaged
> in exactly two PK fights in all my years of mudding. Yet I put PK in my
> designs. Not because it "matters" in the abstract. Because it matters to
> people in the audience.

Raph, do you think some of the early problems (and I gather lingering ones to
some extent as well) stem from UO's PK design not being one you had much
invested in emotionally?

My belief these days (and largely unspoken, and therefore not very fleshed out)
is that content which matters to the developer will be the more successful
aspect of any given design, which can become an obviously difficult issue in a
commercial venue. Most especially in a large scale one.

I got a brutal taste of this on a previous project I worked on. We spent about a
year, maybe a year and a half developing content for a world, and designing the
mechanics. I had a lot of influence on much of the mechanical design of the
game, and I'd just come from a place where I felt role-playing had been
de-emphasized (I later came to a different conclusion, but that's another topic
in and of itself). So, with this project, I (and the friends and fellow
designers) proceeded to design a game which emphasized role-playing. We designed
stuff with a level of detail that isn't likely (and no sane person would bother
attempting) to be matched. We literally could have items which smelled different
based on time of day, season and the race of the person smelling it. Not only
COULD we have them, our design more or less mandated that level of detail on all
world objects.

It seemed like a great idea at the time.

Then, finally, we let players in... To our dismay, the players immediately
recognized what we didn't. Without a game, all the role-playing we'd designed
didn't mean a damn thing. They were impressed with the completeness of the
environments we'd made though. It didn't save the project however, and it sunk.
(Though it has been revitalized now in a modified form, for which I am very
glad!)

My current project is going much better, thankfully. Our initial testers like
what we've done, and we make efforts to see that things get designed and
implemented by people who have a passion for them. We're very small-scale,
text-based and commercial. Because we don't have any backing of any sort, work
is currently being done on a volunteer basis, which means that some things get
done 'because they need to be' and not because they light someone's fire. I
don't think that will be a fatal issue, but I do think it means those features
and mechanics may ultimately be underutilized (or need a redesign <grimace>).
Hopefully they won't be exploited, but that's a possibility we have to be aware
of.

I would name names, but I doubt most on the list would have heard of the failed
project, the leader of it is still around in the industry and I wanted to speak
candidly about the experience without impugning anyone involved. As for the
current project, it's still early and we don't want publicity on it yet. If I've
come across cagey or aloof about my experience, it's largely for those two
reasons. Plus, I'm more on the periphery of the current project and I feel like
it isn't exactly my place to discuss it in detail.

Yes, this post has drifted from the topic as it's gone on, but I felt like it
was a useful way of informing both where I'm coming from and illustrating my
thoughts (I hesitate to call it a point).

-Zak Jarvis
 http://www.voidmonster.com






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