[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] MMO's are for Newbies

[Richard A. Bartle]

On 27 September 2006, Sean Howard wrote:

>But it seems like what you are saying - that virtual worlds are designed
>by newbie desires - seems extremely counter to my experiences with them.
        No, I think that your experiences actually support my argument.

>I mean, if you sat a new player down with Everquest 2, where many of the
>features are undocumented, have undocumented side effects, and even work
>in an unpredictable and counter-intuitive manner. It seems to me that in
>order to even play Everquest 2, you've got to have experience with other
>MMORPGs and know certain terms and concepts up front.
        That's right. Therefore, any newbie who approached EQ2 without a
background in virtual worlds would be put off. Only the most dedicated
would stick with it. Thus, EQ2 loses newbies because of its
newbie-unfriendly
attitude. EQ2 needs a constant stream of newbies to survive, and its player
numbers are related to how many newbies it actually gets. Therefore,
unless it changes its approach, it's limiting its overall competitiveness
by not pandering to newbies.
        Should those newbies come across a different virtual world that
is easier for them to get into, they'll play that instead. That other
virtual world will be more successful as a result.

>When you say that online worlds are being designed around newbies, do you
>mean casual players?
        I mean players who are new to virtual worlds.

>The way I see it, online worlds could only be improved by listening to the
>newbies instead of the usual obsessive genre fans...
        Yes, they are improved, but only at the level of understanding that
newbies have. Some of these newbie expectations are good in the short
term but bad in the long term, and virtual worlds as a whole will pay
for it in the end.
        You really need to read the article to find out where I'm coming
from here.

                Richard