[MUD-Dev2] Importance of emoting (Was: A rant against Vanguardreviews and rants)

[Tess Snider]

On 4/4/07, Mike Sellers <mike at onlinealchemy.com> wrote:
> TSO as you know was nothing like The Sims in its gameplay: same graphics,
> same types of actions, but completely different games.  I was the lead
> designer on The Sims 2 for the first year of its life, and was briefly lead
> on TSO... the two really are nothing alike.  TSO was a train wreck from the
> beginning, I'm sad to say, in large part because the psychological and
> social models inherent in The Sims *weren't* extended to TSO.  That game
> quickly became the worst parts of Jr. High School -- sociality as empty
> achievement.  Definitely what we're trying to avoid in creating social
> gameplay -- what we're calling "relational" as opposed to "achievement"
> gameplay.

Ah, good, well, at least you're coming at this with a good background, then!

When I said that TSO brought in "too much" of the Sims, it would have
been more accurate to say that it brought in the wrong things. There
are events that may make you laugh from schadenfreude in The Sims, but
instead make you feel shame, when they happen to YOU.  It's just not
funny when your avatar pisses himself.  And how am I supposed to be
social when my character has to go to bed?  Those things really didn't
belong in an avatar game, in my opinion.

Anyway, now you've got me curious what you're up to. :P

Tess