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

[Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu 
> [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> Freeman, Jeff
> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 2:48 PM
> To: 'mud-dev at kanga.nu'
> Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] Why are we all making RPGs?
 
>> From: Andrew Kirmse [mailto:akirmse at pacbell.net] Are there new
>> online-only genres that no one has thought of yet?  Is it
>> possible to develop a commercial-quality online game in a new
>> genre, especially considering the ever-growing sizes of
>> development teams?  I think so.  There are several ways really
>> new online games might develop:
 
> Like "Majestic"?

And the viral marketing "A.I." game.

> Console game designers might get around to making some sort of
> persistent state world (aka MUD), too.

Yep. And I bet it will have avatars and be an RPGish thing, at
first. ;)

>> What parts of today's RPGs have we learned to be so essential
>> that they should also be present in non-RPGs?
 
> Avatars.  End of list. :)

That's not quite accurate--I think that there's a bunch of more
abstract things, some of which are intimately bound up in avatars,
and some of which just have to do with retention.

>> What single-player genres could make a natural or interesting
>> transition to online?
 
> Well, all three of them.

Strategy, action, RPG? What about puzzle? :)

>> What totally new genres might work only with large numbers of
>> people, and how can we realistically go about building them?

> The "community building game", which cannot be played offline or
> single-player at all.  Sims Online might be just that, depending
> on how much it focuses on building communities versus teaching
> virtual people not to poop in the kitchen.

In Sims Online you control your guy directly. He's an avatar. And
the game is very much built around communities.

-Raph
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