[MUD-Dev] RE: GDC articles

[Koster]

And one more, found at

  http://www.joystick101.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2002/3/25/221917/106.

 This one is about a session by Joe Shochet of Toontown, which I
 unfortunately didn't make it to.

start quote-->
  9:00am Friday:

  I'm always surprised at how much sitting and walking you do at
  these conventions. Simultaneously I'm exhausted and tired of
  sitting down. Anyway, I started the day with a session on building
  and maintaining an online community for kids. The session was held
  by a developer for Walt Disney, so I figured they knew how to
  bring children into an online communities. He started out by
  explaining that children had multiple demographics. Young boys
  (5-8) were interested in slapstick comedy, make-believe, and
  competition, but as they get older (9-13) they merge to status and
  increased emphasis on battle. Girl's tastes adjust from nurturing,
  crafting, and make believe to an increased emphasis to
  communication and belonging.

  From there, the presenter went on to discuss what children want
  from online games, and how their needs differ from an adult
  experience. He stressed that kids are more interested in meeting
  friends they already know than meeting with people they don't
  really know. He also claimed that kids didn't feel the need to
  develop deep relationships within a game, and after the play
  session, they often weren't interested in keeping ties to their
  new playmates.

  What I found interesting were his case studies on existing kid
  communities.  Places like Whyville.net was a chatting arena that
  allowed children to design their own avatar and to interact with
  objects within an environment.  An in-game economy also exists in
  Whyville and as a result, costume designers and loan sharks have
  developed.

  Disney is developing their own massively multiplayer game - but
  are wary of the Everquest style of in-game chat. He gave a few
  horror stories about children being abused as a result of talking
  on the internet and stressed the importance of constricting
  communications to ensure the safety of the kids. What Disney came
  up with is similar to the chatting system in a game like tribes,
  where you select a category (like happy) and then select from a
  predetermined sentence through a series of menus. I'm sure it
  helps kids that can't type communicate, but I wonder if
  self-expression is seriously impaired by this design choice.
<---end quote
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