[MUD-Dev] Meta-games (not META list ;))

[ceo at grexengine.com]

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Original message: http://www.kanga.nu/archives/MUD-Dev-L/2003Q3/msg00825.php

On Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:43:20 -0700
Mark Cheverton <sparky at ecafe.org> wrote:
> On Tue, 2003-09-16 at 09:42, ceo wrote:

Hi Mark :).

>> OTOH, there are clearly people who are happy in such an
>> environment. For instance, There. Simple because of it's critical
>> mass (mainly from it's first-mover advantage) it becomes more
>> attractive - several of the questions above are answered
>> positively because it now has a gravity of it's own in attracting
>> and retaining players. But when there's another couple of
>> There's, they'll quickly turn into chatrooms as far as *I* am
>> concerned: entered and exited on a whim. And pretty boring to
>> stay in any particular one for a long time.

> In some respects a chat room is a game.

Exactly. I see "objectiveless games" as being very close to
chatrooms.  Sufficiently advanced chatrooms are indistinguishable
etc...;).

> In the online multiplayer arena the most important factor is your
> interaction with others.

..hmm. I'd be very careful with statements like that :). I'm arguing
(at the start of this thread) that though it may be true of 60-75%
of players, say, the other 25-40% have sufficiently different
meta-games to play that actually the interaction with others may
only be window-dressing. E.g. the tourists (those who like enjoying
the immersive qualities that exist irrespective of the presence of
other players).

> I'd be careful about dismissing chatrooms as not important, they
> are in my mind very similar to games in their purposes, use and
> mechanics, supplying what people want but coming at it from the
> community side first rather than the game mechanics, often with
> the result that the users have more freedom and possibilities than
> in a game centred system.

Just to be clear: I don't at all dismiss chatrooms in general; the
emphasis was carefully put on the fact that *I* (being whatever type
of player that I am, who prefers to play games in whatever ways that
I do) find them dull. I'm agnostic: fully appreciative of their
continuing value to others.

I was heavily into chatrooms in the FIDO net days (and even
pre-fido), and through into IRC. But over time I grew tired of them,
and now generally find them to be dull. Contextually they were more
interesting in the days of BBS's, but that aside I suspect the
quality and diversity of conversation was higher when communication
was more difficult (and you were usually paying heavily by the
minute). Shrug.

Adam M (travelling; unable to use SMTP :( )
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