[MUD-Dev] forced grouping/coop play

[Koster, Raph]

Tamzen Cannoy wrote:

> And here's mine. I am a 48 year old woman who, with the exception
> of people who are already my RL friends, has nothing at all in
> common with pretty much the rest of the player base on the WoW
> beta. I hate grouping except with people I already know.

Aside from the issue of whether WoW is the right game for you (games
do have cultures, after all), there is also the interesting question
of whether people like you are good target markets for MMOs. You
are, essentially, a timespan-limited subscriber. You came with
friends, and you will depart with friends. And we are very unlikely
to tie a pre-existing group of friends to the game very tightly. You
guys "bounce" off of games.

In terms of social network theory, you're a cluster who will depart
as a unit. In terms of MMO parlance, we'll see guild
migration. Either way, we're less likely to extract as many dollars
from you as from the person who forms richer and broader (notice, I
did not say "deeper") ties to the game's community.

The ties do not have to come in the form of friendships, but those
are among the strongest. Some form of virtual property or investment
is the commonest route--typically just character development. But
people tend to value that stuff mostly because of the emotional tie.

>>From a design point of view, it is desirable to find ways to retain
you--and I think that's true for commercial and non-commercial games
alike, mind you. Free games also should place a high premium on
player continuity for many many reasons. The more isolated you are
from the rest of the game, such as sticking to a clique, the less
likely we are to retain you. That's why pushing interaction on
players has been such a successful tactic for retention, even as it
chases away those who lack the time to participate.

-Raph
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