[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN} Who to design for?

[Damion Schubert]

On 5/17/07, John Buehler <johnbue at msn.com> wrote:
>
> In reading the recent articles about permadeath and food, combined with
> the
> post of the interview with the ex-Sigil employee, I'm wondering if there's
> value in some discussion about who MMOs really should be designed for.
>
> I can well imagine that the very idea of claiming that anyone should be
> told
> that they should be designing for any particular demographic will incur
> rancor from some folks here, but I'll pursue the notion anyway.
>
> Many posters here have experience in building and/or running multiplayer
> games.  I assume that essentially everyone here plays.  We all have our
> anecdotes based on our experiences.  In my case, I rely a bunch on "ivory
> tower theoretical BS" to work my way towards a game design that I think
> will
> be popular.
>
> What do people think really is the experience that people are likely going
> to be drawn to in monstrous numbers?  Clearly World of Warcraft has drawn
> the masses.  But why?  I ask that not to analyze World of Warcraft as a
> panacea, but to ponder the value of things like permadeath, food, realism,
> treadmills and so on as a means of drawing people to a game.
>
> Twice I said "people" instead of "players".  I said that because I like to
> think that there remains some kind of online experience that can draw
> billions of people to it.  The World Wide Web has done this already.  I
> wonder if an online entertainment venue can approach that appeal.  Would
> such a venue have permadeath?  Food?  Realism?  Elves?  Spaceships?  Guns?
>
> Would anyone here care to take a stab at characterizing the person that a
> vast entertainment venue would be designed for?  Is that person computer
> literate?  Well-educated?  Religious?  Prone to
> addiction?  Hardcore?  Care
> bear?  Tall?  Tends to cross their eyes a lot?
>
> Who do YOU design for?  Are you trying to reach "the masses" with your
> designs or are you interested in designing the game that you want to play,
> and you're assuming that there are enough people like you that it could be
> financially successful?  Or are you going by what you know about games
> that
> have been financial successes, and trying to think up a favorite variation
> of that that "fixes its problems"?
>

1) Your game design should have a central theme or activity that everyone
gets and understands.  (In most games, this is fantasy-based combat, but
by no means is this the only possible alternative)
2) Your game design should have appeal to the hardcore, which is usually
done by taking the central theme as far as it can go (raids and sieges in
most
classical MMOs), with higher time requirements, etc.
3) Your game design should have casual appeal, which is usually about
ensuring that the central theme or activity is not alienating to the casual
player
the first time he logs in, and is actually easy and fun without unnecessary
roadblocks.
4) Your game design should result in a culture where hardcore players are
evangelizing the game to casual players.  WoW's success comes largely
from classic EQ players finally being willing to recommend an MMO to their
wives and girlfriends.
5) Your game design should have subtle ways and means for players to
increase their investment, so that casual players become more hardcore
as time passes.

--d