[MUD-Dev] NEWS: Why Virtual Worlds are Designed By Newbies - No, Really! (By R. Bartle)

[Richard A. Bartle]

On 4th November 2004, William Leader wrote:

> Since I've seen Richard post here and its already on slashdot

That explains my fuller-than-usual mailbox this morning...

> If your reading this; Nice Work

Thanks!

On 4th November 2004, Ken Snider wrote:

> What I found interesting was to take a step back and read into
> what he was truly /saying/ in his points.

This is why I love MUD-DEV. Most of the /. messages I've received
have been from people telling me that PD is a bad idea because
people don't like it...

> I've seen many times of late that individuals have suggested that
> treadmills, or game mechanics taken from the current leaders
> (EQ/UO/whatever) can't possibly be wrong.. because so many people
> play them..

This is the "why we should eat food from dustbins" argument - a
million flies can't be wrong.

Treadmilling does work, it's just that there are other styles of
gameplay out there that work much better - if only the players would
give it a chance.

> I think, if nothing else, this article (rough though it may be)
> really does present some interesting points, ones I think the
> industry as a whole should consider, as it moves forward with future
> development.

As a rant piece, it paints a more pessimistic picture than the
reality. However, my aim in writing it wasn't so much that I wanted
to be right as that I wanted to alert people in time that they can
prove me to be wrong.

		Richard
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