[MUD-Dev] On socialization and convenience

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad <olag@ifi.uio.no>]

"Freeman, Jeff" wrote:
>> From: Koster, Raph [mailto:rkoster at verant.com]

>> Jonathan Baron calls them microcommunities; he always wanted to
>> make a game where they were centered around a capital ship in
>> space. I would guess they fall under that theoretical magic
>> number of 250 in size.

> What's so great about that number anyway?  As I recall, that's the
> theoretical limit in community size before it breaks into
> sub-communities - which in theory makes it "as big as an online a
> community can get".

Where does this number come from, and under which definition of
community (there is no commonly agreed upon definition), and how
active does the community members have to be in order to be
considered full members (which is important in a virtual context)?

> My feeling is that the size of the clique which achieves the
> mystical function of "retention" is.... (wait for it)... TWO.

Maybe. It is known that groups tend to gravitate towards the dyad
(two).  However, in order to always meet someone to team up in a
casual game you need probably 40 or so. Then you want an outgroup in
order to make your own group more well defined and "superior", then
you probably want a group of potential group members and alternative
groups in case you get fed up with the group you are with. Etc.

Note: When it comes to MUDs, the terms Team, Group and Community
should be treated as different concepts (operating at different
levels).

--
Ola  -  http://www.notam.uio.no/~olagr/

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