[MUD-Dev] MMORPGs & MUDs

[Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Tresca
> Koster, Raph posted on Wednesday, December 19, 2001 10:47 AM
 
>> That's not a player, that's an industry critic and consultant. :)
 
> D'oh!  Okay, going forward, I'll be sure to ignore the opinions of
> anyone who plays a MMORPG and is:
 
>   1) a developer 2) game designer 3) industry critic 4) consultant
>   5) role-players...
 
> because they don't represent the "average" player.  Hmm, that
> pretty much invalidates everyone's opinion on here. >:)

Well, I think my point (and Jeff's) was that by and large, there WAS
no "art vs fun" debate going on among the MMO players until that
article came out.  It just wasn't a hot issue. Players weren't
debating high and lofty abstractions like that. At the time the
article came out, they were arguing over the DAoC beta. The way your
post was phrased, you made it sound like it was a major beef among
players, and it wasn't.

It doesn't mean "don't listen to Jessica"--I'd never say such a
thing. I've worked with Jessica, known her for several years now,
and I have the utmost respect for her knowledge and her desir eto
improve the medium. Just realize the perspective she's coming from
and remember to account for it when you read her articles. She's
above all an online games CS specialist, and almost all her articles
can and should be filtered through that lens.

> Of course, part of the problem is how can anyone take any
> criticism of any MMORPG seriously when the only screen is a credit
> card.

That's more screen than what most muds have. Of course, the single
biggest screen muds use is actually the technology, specifically the
lack of graphics.

> I think I should turn this into a song.  I'm getting delirious
> saying it over and over.
 
> Normally, from a customercentric perspective, I'd say every paying
> customer's opinion is awfully darned significant.  But when
> there's millions playing them, it gets easier to ignore the
> dissenting opinions.  It's not like they'll be prevented from
> playing.

Of course every customer's opinion is significant. And lest anyone
forget, half her examples in that article were ME personally, and it
certainly kept me up nights and led to much soul-searching.

But also, yes, in any service, you also have to try to satisfy the
largest number of customers possible, and some will not be
happy. You can't please everyone all of the time, I believe the
saying says. :)

-Raph
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