[MUD-Dev] believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation)

[Tracy Lee]

"Michael Sellers" <mike at onlinealchemy.com> wrote:
> Jeff Freeman wrote:

>> Sorry, what is it we're supposed to learn from that?

> That despite your disbelief and derision, millions of people with
> many disposable dollars go there every year and spend thousands of
> dollars because they find it to be an enjoyable, meaningful
> experience worth repeating.

> And that, in contrast, we in this industry know almost nothing
> about how to attract and keep that sort of attention.  If we did,
> we'd be doing it.

There's another significant difference between the Disney World
model and a MMO.  When you go to such a theme park, you spend $200
for tickets for a family of 4 for a week, $200 for lodging, $240 for
airfare, $50 a day for food, $100 for souveniers, for a rotal of
about $1100 for a week for a family of four.  Of that $1100, $300
minimum goes directly to the theme park, sometimes up to $900 if you
get a package.  (The airlines will still probably get a large cut of
the airfare.)  Multiply that by the 50,000 families a week that go,
assuming an average of $500 per family directly to the park, and you
have a weekly income of $250,000.  Over the course of a year, that
adds up to well over a million per year.

But one doesn't see most of the locals go more than occasionally --
certainly not the 40+ hours a week one seems many people online on a
MMO game.  After awhile, the novelty wears off.  And a young child
is going to be much more likely to find these actors believeable.
The teens who go aren't nearly so enthralled with the characters --
they're there for the rides, which a MMO has without the actors.

Just an thought...

Tracy Lee
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