[MUD-Dev] EQ RPG

[Michael Tresca]

Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com posted on Wednesday, March 13,
2002 4:02 AM

> Definitely an interesting move, I wonder how much of the rule set
> from the online version they will migrate. I also wonder whether
> people will want to play it when there are richer D&D campaign
> settings, and if you like EQ that much, won't you be playing the
> online version? Still, it will be interesting to see how this
> plays out.

I was so caught up in marveling at the cross-marketing possibilities
that I didn't bother to ask the most important question:

WHY?

Wired's got an interesting article that sheds some light on it:

  http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,51032,00.html

<quote>
  While it seems like a step backwards -- the most popular
  role-playing game stepping off the PC and onto pen and paper --
  Sony Online Entertainment VP Scott McDaniel said there's still a
  market for this style of gaming.

  "You'd be surprised at the fans of pen-and-paper gaming out
  there," he said.  "With the Lord of the Rings movie, there's been
  a resurgence in all elements of fantasy gaming, not just
  online. Gen Con (an annual gathering of D&D players) is expecting
  30,000 to 50,000 people to show up this August.  There's a lot of
  people out there still playing pen-and-paper games."

  McDaniel said Sony made the move to expand EverQuest beyond its
  current customer base of 424,000 players, while at the same time
  giving its current players a new way to play it.

  "We did our survey and asked our users, when you don't play EQ
  what do you do? And the number one response is surf the Web for
  EverQuest info," he said. "So now there's another way to enjoy EQ;
  and if there's a family or people who don't play, perhaps this is
  a way to get people interested."  
</quote>

Hmmmm.  Sony's stance on this issue is quite interesting.  It
certainly implies that pen-and-paper players are a worthy target
market (including the Gen Con numbers).

What I don't agree with is that somehow, "surfing the Web for
EverQuest info" translates to, "I'll play a RPG instead."

If the game does well, it just might validate the (supposedly dead)
pen-and-paper RPG market.

Mike "Talien" Tresca
RetroMUD Administrator
http://www.retromud.org/talien


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