[MUD-Dev] Why are we all making RPGs?

[Baron]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Trump [mailto:trump at vividvideo.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 3:23 PM
> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Why are we all making RPGs?
 
> I would have to say it's because RPG is the genre the really lends
> itself best to being played on a massive scale.

It depends on what you mean by RPG.  I cannot think of a less
scalable form than the MUD style fantasy RPG.  The reason?  It's
centered on individuals, and individual advancement, rather than
group achievement.  An RPG like the old EGA Multiplayer Battletech
was very scalable because it was group based, and had no role for
individuals operating on their own.
 
> A fighting game like Tekken or something is best with 2 players,
> therefore will probably never really be MM.
 
> A racing game like NASCAR is best with 4-8 more than 20 would be
> too many, so it wont be MM.

To look for scalable MM games, it's probably not a good idea to look
at current computer gaming genres because they were not originally
created with that in mind.

> FPS might work well as a MM.  These games are heading in that
> direction.  20-60 players seems to be the norm and Planetside is
> on the way.  The thing with the FPS is that they are generally
> light on story, and multiplayer matches are generally a bunch of
> players in an enclosed area duking it out over a flag.

Built in story is among the least essential attributes of a
massively multiplayer game.  Rather, the aim is to create an
environment that best engenders the development of story out of
players own motives and actions.  This is why group based MM games
are so powerful - the interaction of groups creates a narrative on
its own that's shared by a large number of people.

When we ran Big Week, employing Air Warrior and some fundamental
grouping and player channeling code, we opened it up to everyone -
no fee, come one come all.  We were testing a server and some new
host code that could handle up to 1000 players participating in the
same mission in the same airspace.  Players had to first choose a
side, then choose a group.  They were taken to a briefing room with
a map featuring that group's objective.  Individual scoring was
third in importance, behind how well your side did, and how well
your group did.  Thus, during the time before mission launch,
veteran players counseled new players because it was in the shared
interests of everyone to do so.  Players who had no air combat
knowledge, skill, or interest served as crew members aboard bombers.

There was no solo player role.

Night after night players returned, and more came.  The bombers and
their crew members would often have to fly for an hour or two, all
of them praying to god that nothing happened - an intense experience
that kept these crews together night after night.

There was only one griefer incidence the entire time.  On one
occasion a gunner started shooting at a friendly aircraft in the
bomber formation.  Its pilot banked his bomber away from the group
without further incident.

Four years later the Big Week newsgroup remains on ongoing active
online community.  Few play Air Warrior, many play Everquest, UO, or
Aces High.  Their strongest bond remains those Big Week missions,
because group focused MM gaming has a power few have yet tapped.
And they're all waiting for an online game that is as group oriented
as well.
 
Sorry if I rambled there, folks.

	Jonathan
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