[MUD-Dev] Advertising Thread

[Russ Whiteman]

From: "Koster, Raph" <rkoster at soe.sony.com>

> It wasn't actually designed for 2800 players (capacity of each
> world at launch). The game design was done for 300. Nine months or
> so before ship, we got the order from on high to make more players
> fit into the game, and Rick Delashmit basically made it happen by
> hook or crook.  

Thanks, that was a factoid I didn't know...but it explains quite a
bit to me about the initial design of the game.  At 300, the
continent wouldn't have been overcrowded enough for the global
synchronization to be a major issue, and possibly even the
player-controlled PvP would have worked fairly well (although that's
approaching the range where it seems to break down, IMO).

> It's sold over a million copies thus far, and is past "relative
> killing" at this point. Indubitably a HUGE amount of its success
> is attributable to the license. Had it not been an Ultima, I doubt
> it would have had nearly the level of success that it did.  

I only used relative killing to avoid someone attacking my
definitions.  <g> I agree that UO has proven to be a resounding
success, in spite of the problems it had at release.  And I'd have
to agree with your second point, especially considering that after
the new wore off, the lack of an "Ultima" feel was one of the
primary complaints I heard.

I don't want you to feel I was attacking you, your design, or the
game...it was just a perfect example to me that having designers who
-are- familiar with the MUDding world doesn't mean the game design
is going to be perfect.  And, conversely, having a good (or bad)
game design doesn't necessarily mean that the game is going to do
outstanding well (or poorly).  As much as I hate to admit it,
marketing appears to be the king, when it comes to making a hugely
successful game...


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