[MUD-Dev] Q&A with Ken Troop, Lead Designer at Turbine

[Michael Tresca]

From:

  http://www.silven.com/dndonline/dndonline.asp?case=show&id=80

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  Finally, too many MMORPG's have lost sight of the community
  dynamics present in MUDs, the games that spawned MMORPG's. Players
  in MUDs felt like they were part of a social fabric because of the
  relative small size of a server population, not in spite of
  it. When you play on a world with several thousand other people,
  you usually won't know the majority of the other characters that
  play there. Your actions and experiences in-game get lost in the
  churn of thousands of other players. We're making sure that D&D
  Online recreates that sense of a close-knit community. This is a
  world where you definitely won't be anonymous. The actions you
  take - and bonds you make - become very important.
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Bravissimo!  Ken must be on this list somewhere. :)

Mike "Talien" Tresca
RetroMUD Administrator
http://michael.tresca.net

Full text:

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  Q&A with Ken Troop, Lead Designer at Turbine

  We received answers to a couple of the more pressing questions
  regarding the upcoming MMOrpg by Turbine. Ken Troop is the lead
  designer on the D&D Online project at Turbine.

  Q1: How will D&D Online differ from other MMOrpg's available
  today?

  Ken Troop: First, D&D Online is the real thing. Almost all
  MMORPG's derive their character systems from a D&D model, but only
  D&D Online will offer players the opportunity to create a
  character that plays and feels like your original D&D character.

  Also, combat in most MMORPG's tends to be very static and
  turn-based you press an attack button and sit back and watch the
  show. Combat in D&D Online is intense and real-time, requiring
  tactical decisions at each moment of gameplay. You actually have
  to play the game to succeed in combat, instead of just watching
  the action go by.

  Finally, too many MMORPG's have lost sight of the community
  dynamics present in MUDs, the games that spawned MMORPG's. Players
  in MUDs felt like they were part of a social fabric because of the
  relative small size of a server population, not in spite of
  it. When you play on a world with several thousand other people,
  you usually won't know the majority of the other characters that
  play there. Your actions and experiences in-game get lost in the
  churn of thousands of other players. Were making sure that D&D
  Online recreates that sense of a close-knit community. This is a
  world where you definitely wont be anonymous. The actions you take
  and bonds you make become very important.

  Q2: Which aspects and areas of D&D Online are you most excited
  about?

  Ken Troop: So many current and upcoming MMPs focus on being
  expansive with an abundance of landscape to explore, but there
  really is nothing to see just endless dreary settings filled with
  random creatures to fight. Turbine and Atari are making sure you
  feel like you're adventuring and exploring a real place when you
  play D&D Online. We want players to recapture that sense from the
  best D&D campaigns where you're getting glimpses into this other
  world, one no less real than our own, instead of just playing a
  game. In D&D Online, the city and dungeon spaces don't exist in a
  vacuum there is a story and motivation for everything youre
  interacting with. And there is far more density of content in
  these spaces. Every square inch of D&D Online is worthy of
  exploration.

  Out of all the MMPs that are currently out or coming out, Dungeons
  and Dragons Online is the world I'd most want to play in and not
  just because I am the lead designer. Long before we teamed up with
  Atari to create D&D Online, nearly everyone on our development
  team had spent countless hours playing and thinking about D&D
  Dungeons and Dragons is the epitome of what our expectations of a
  fantasy role playing experience should be. D&D Online will be the
  game for hardcore players who have a life!

  Q3: What can you tell us about dungeon adventuring in D&D Online?

  Ken Troop: Dungeon exploration is the central theme of adventuring
  in Dungeons and Dragons, and we want to make sure we do it justice
  in D&D Online. These dungeons are built on the premise of, Only
  the wary shall survive. They are scary, malicious places, full of
  tricks, traps and monsters. The deeper you go, the more
  frightening it gets. Proper planning will be a priority for making
  it through the dungeons with your head still attached you'll need
  to prepare a strategy, keep on your toes and work well with your
  adventuring party if you want to emerge victorious at the end.

  We thank Turbine for taking the time to send us these answers, and
  we will be working at getting the answers to even more of our
  questions from Turbine at the earliest available opportunity.
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