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

[Sean Howard]

> 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 agree, but only because conventional wisdom is always wrong and it is
always beneficial to question one's assumptions. However, I don't think
we'll find an answer to "who" other than "everybody!"

> 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.

Maybe from me, but that's only because I always seem to be in the minority
opinion so things are NEVER designed to my demographic... but that's what
gives me my uniquely adorable charm.

> 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?

Nothing gameplay related. I won't even quote accessability, since that
intial ease of introduce wears off pretty quickly and is replaced by a
hardcore mentality. Instead, I'll say that WoW simply achieved a critcal
mass by launching with an absurd amount of hype, came from a strong brand,
didn't screw anything up too obviously, and arrived at a time when the
market was ready for it (largely in part due to Everquest in the first
place).

If WoW had been a new property, had been by a different company, had been
released even a year earlier, had show stopping bugs, required too high
computer specs (Vanguard, I'm looking at you), or any other very minor
differences, it wouldn't have made nearly the difference that it did.
Simply put, right place, right time, right product.

Frankly, you don't even have to sell a MMORPG. All you have to do is not
screw it up. Blizzard simply didn't screw it up.


> 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.

Yeah, it's called the internet. It succeeds because we are allowed to be
creative, locate information on our own, and to have our own social
cliques. If the internet ever started forced grouping, you'd see some hell
go down, let me tell you - though, no doubt, some people will say that
it's the internet, so you should be forced to socialize with complete
strangers that share nothing in common because by golly, nobody should
surf the internet solo!


> 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?

I would LOVE to be able to generalize. For instance, I'd love to say that
MMORPG gamers are well-educated and literate! If only that were true. But
all of us here know that it's not true.

I think one thing you CAN say is that the playerbase of gaming tends to be
overwhelmingly non-religious (or at least, non-practicing). As an atheist
in real life, but one that lives in the Bible Belt, I live in constant
fear that my religious views will come out at the wrong time or in the
wrong company. Where I live, being an atheist is worse than being gay
(we'll have an openly gay president before an openly atheist one). But
online, it's VERY different.

For instance, on my LOTRO server (Firefoot), someone started announcing
that they were trying to put together a Christian kinship (guild). The
resulting trash talking that started immediately afterwards on the general
channels most likely ended with a few people being banned. If it were
Florida, after suggesting a Christian guild, somebody would probably go,
"Why? Aren't they all Christian?" Not so online.

And it's not fair to single out LOTRO. I've noticed this behavior many
places online - other MMORPGs, game message boards, MUDs, whatever. The
online communities I participate in (almost exclusively game-related) are
overwhelmingly atheist (and liberal). But I can't make the same claims
about other places on the internet. I would say that gamers are more often
than not non-religious, or even anti-religious (I'm not exception).

When they were doing that interview with Brad McQuaid from Sigil, who is
very openly religious, they even flat out accused him, "Did you distribute
religious materials and offer promotions based on people who took you up
on it?" We've got senators who were elected precisely because of that sort
of behavior, but for a company that creates MMORPGs, it's the worst sin
you could commit.

I did not mean to offend anybody with the preceding paragraphs. If you are
religious and we share opposing viewpoints, please don't think that it
means I think any less of you personally. I'm just saying that in the
gaming community and especially in online games, I've noticed that to be
overwhelmingly the case.


> Do you start your design with the game or do you start with your target
> player?

One of my favorite ideas is the anti-MMORPG. It takes away all personal
possessions and wealth, all personal progress and achievement, and even
all personal identities. Permadeath, non-persistant characters, no groups,
guilds, friend-lists, or even character names. You wouldn't even be able
to ask other players for clues, because they wouldn't be able to help you.
There's more to it, but the idea essentially started there. Everything
that MMORPGs think they have to have, I wouldn't have. In fact, I'd go one
further and personally punish those assumptions. Everybody is equally
nobody.

I didn't have anyone in mind when I designed it, but after posting the
full idea in my blog, I've had, and I'm not kidding here, literally about
a hundred people beg me to make this game. And some of these people were
hardcore gamers obsessed with reward, achievement, and competition.

I think what this shows is that if you target a particular group of
people, you'll end up making their behavior worse. You make them elitist
and proud. However, that doesn't mean they'd hate a game not like that.
It's like they say they like cookies, and so that's all they are fed.
Cookies. Every day. They may like carrots. They may love broccoli. But
nobody ever risks it. They know cookies work. And now you've got a bunch
of kids on a sugar high with no teeth left who won't try anything
different because they've somehow convinced themselves that cookies are
what they deserve.

-- 
Sean Howard