[MUD-Dev] Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server)

[Jeff Cole]

From: Koster, Raph Saturday, February 01, 2003 12:07 PM

> If seen as a social network, muds are scale-free and therefore
> immune to destruction via random attrition of nodes. In other
> words, there's mathematical reasons to suppose that these games
> last indefinitely unless actively killed.  

Immune is a bit optimistic.  Resistant (highly, even) is more
accurate.

But to assume random attrition is even more dubious.  In many
respects, the hubs are the nodes most susceptible to attrition.
What's more, the game doesn't just lose the hub, it also likely
loses many of the nodes connected to the hub as these nodes migrate
with the hub.

I have always been amazed at how effectively MUDs and MMO*'s can
transcend the real world transaction costs associated with social
networking only, then, to impose more draconian transaction costs in
the name of "gameplay" and in the form of unwieldy interfaces.

Yrs. Affcty,
Jeff Cole


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