[MUD-Dev] Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server

[Marc Fielding]

[Matt Mihaly]

>> You just deprecated a valid playstyle! Powergamers are as much a
>> part of the MMOG universe as socializers, explorers, and
>> roleplayers. From your statements, you seem to be a passionate,
>> experienced roleplayer.  However, a game needs to appeal to all
>> types in order to be successful.

> I don't buy this. A game does not have to appeal to all types in
> order to be successful. These are all niche games to begin with,
> and even within the niche, there are plenty of niches to
> successfully fill. Achaea, for instance, is very successful for
> the context it is in, and certainly doesn't appeal to the
> traditional power-gamer. Achaea's financial success is certainly a
> couple orders of magnitude below Everquest's, but then, there is
> no online game software that can make as much as, say, office
> productivity software. It's all a matter of the context you're
> speaking of. I fully expect that as the market for graphical MUDs
> matures, we'll see financially-successful games that specifically
> cater to different playstyles. Shadowbane is attempting to go that
> way it sounds like.

Context *is* important...and in the context of today's large,
commercial MMOGs, combining development costs in the tens of
millions with a relatively small target market requires attracting
as many new consumers as possible. These players, unschooled in the
ways of MU*s and MMOGs, will be enticed by the populist, accessible
nature of these products. As the new players mature, some will
hunger for a more personal online experience. At that point, they
become a part of the target market for Achaea, RetroMUD, etc.

Large-scale MMOGs that cater to specific playstyles will succeed
some day, but first the market needs to be expanded to support them.
Shadowbane and Sims Online are appropriate first steps because they
emphasize the most intuitive playstyles for newbies: powergaming and
socializing.

Large, generalist MMOGs: the new gateway drug. ;)

-Marc
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