[MUD-Dev] The Future of MMOGs... what's next? (fwd)

[Brian Lindahl]

From: Sasha.Hart at directory.reed.edu (Sasha Hart)

> call my bluff on this). I still maintain that a substantial number
> of your requirements for this ideal game could be accomplished by
> the use of elements from multiple of the games I mentioned - but
> there are probably indeed certain ways that it can be done, and
> certain that it can't. At strictest they involve taking the exact
> compromises from your ideal that these games have taken. I find it
> more likely that the compromises you'd have to use would be more
> modest by far, but certainly not nonexistent.

Actually, I'm not really talking ideals here. The genre I was
talking about was massive roleplaying in general. One of which
requires two concepts:

  1) massive online game

  2) deep seated roleplaying, where hack 'n slash and combat isn't
  the center, but rather the roles of the players in the theme,
  whether it be politics, guilds, crafts, etc.

I think I should mention that graphical is in no way a requirement
for the genre I'm talking about.

> You are wrong that the money isn't there to "do anything
> profound."  Why you are wrong is that "anything profound" does not
> necessarily entail all of the aspects of what you described.

You're right, 'anything profound' was an incredibly vague
statement. What I meant by that statement is that there isn't enough
money yet in the genre to create any profound massive online
roleplaying-centered game (graphical or not).

>    - "massive" (game must support 500+ players and actually
>    attract them)

>    - inclusive of "heavy roleplaying"

These two are the requirements that I'm talking about. Not the other
two. 500+ was just a number, I'd probably call large at about 100+,
huge at 250+ and massive at 500+. Average seems to be around 30-40.

I think to get numbers of 500+, or even 250+ requires sufficient
funds for a modest amount of advertising. Something that cannot be
generated by word of mouth alone, in the intensive/heavy roleplaying
genre, I believe.

> flexibly deals with the mundane requirements in order to
> accomplish the real work, doing a game which is "deep" or
> "innovating" or whatever description you are applying.

I think these comments branch off from my 'anything profound'
statement, which was not specific enough for anyone to really get
what I was talking about in the paragraph. Deep or innovating comes
from design, something that doesn't take money, but a stroke of
genius, be it temporary or engrained and I completely agree with you
here, although it is getting off the topic, somewhat.

-Brian Lindahl, coder of 'The Cathyle Project'
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