[MUD-Dev] Something in the water

[Koster]

Recently I've noticed a certain level of press and media interest in
where online games are going in the future. For example, I've been
approached about being interviewed for two separate documentary
films on online worlds.  And then there's recent press stuff, some
of which hasn't been on the list.  There was the Lineage article
that was previously passed around. I thought I'd throw some of these
other press items on the list, since there's potentially interesting
stuff to talk about.

Mark Asher recently did a very long overview of the history of
online worlds which was published in Computer Games Magazine. It
appears to use the Online World Timeline on my site as a source as
well as other sources, and it offers a decent overview of the
history of various commercial online worlds.  It also gives a great
overview, with some critical commentary, of many of the games that
are out now and all the games that are supposed to come out.
There's also an interview with me, wherein I get to try to fall on
my face when I make absurd predictions.

  http://www.cgonline.com/features/010717-f1-f1.html (the past)
  http://www.cgonline.com/features/010717-f2-f1.html (the present)
  http://www.cgonline.com/features/010717-f3-f1.html (the future)
  http://www.cgonline.com/features/010718-i1-f1.html (interview with me)

Then there was Shift.com. The Shift.com interviews were called
"Gaming the Matrix" and dealt with the the topic of whether we'll
ever end up with the Matrix scenario, where we're plugged into giant
VR muds and don't know it.

  http://www.shift.com/web/columns/column003.asp 
    (the columnist, Chris Shulgan)
  http://www.shift.com/web/columns/column004.asp 
    (Neil Young, former GM of Origin and now leading the Majestic project)
  http://www.shift.com/web/columns/column005.asp 
    (me)
  http://www.shift.com/web/columns/column006.asp 
    (Steven Poole, author of _Trigger Happy_, one of the best
    histories of videogaming)

Hope someone finds some of this speculative stuff interesting. I
found it odd that Poole thought that the top category of online
world would be wargames. I think that virtual tourism (of real,
imaginary, and historical places) is probably a larger category, for
example.

-Raph
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