[MUD-Dev2] [Design] Where are all the amateur MMORPG devs?

[Sean Howard]

"John A. Bertoglio" <jb at co-laboratory.com> wrote:

> Amateurs don't want to look like amateurs.

Let me respond out of order and start with this statement. In my
experience, this is absolutely untrue. In the world of webcomics, there
are hundreds, if not thousands, of comics which are done in MSPaint or
otherwise cobbled together from videogame sprites. These look and feel
amateur in every sense, and yet there has been no shortage (in fact, they
were the bane of my existence for a while).

It's not that they don't want to look like amateurs, it's that they don't
want to do any work. They want attention, basically, from their peers -
other people who read and create webcomics, and the second the amount of
work is greater than the attention they receive, that's it. They quit.
MUDs were the same way. After the initial wave of MUDs, you started seeing
stuff based on Dragonball or anime or whatever - it's easier to borrow a
universe than create one.

It is entirely about effort needed, which is why I believe things like
Metaplace or whatever are bound to fail. You can empower people all you
want, but 99% of the time, they are just empowered to get attention and
little else. Sooner or later, they'll realize they get just as much time
running around screaming "balls" as they will putting the time and effort
into cultivating a community and world. There's probably a reason why most
of Second Life seems to be dedicated to pornography. If you appeal in
bulk, there's still 1 out of 100 that will do something worthwhile with
it.

> One word: Content.

Well, that's kind of the catch all thing, isn't it. If it isn't
programming (and it is not, since capable engines and engineers are not
difficult to find), then it's content, right? But what kind of content.
The general consensus here is graphics, if I'm reading everybody right,
but I think I agree completely.

If you look at other settings, like amateur RPGs, they tend to steal
graphics wholesale. It's not uncommon to find an epic RPG with all the
bells and whistles, and yet it is using barely edited Final Fantasy 6
sprites with Seiken Densetsu 3 background tiles, with stock RPG Maker 2004
enemies and sound. Likewise, you've got things like 8-Bit Theater and Bob
and George making a living in the webcomic world by stealing Megaman and
Final Fantasy sprites. The indie videogame field (outside of the Flash
mini-game market which still does steal art) is filled with games who's
graphics are minimalist vector art and a collection of basic geometric
shapes.

Long story short, RPG, webcomics, games happen most often when the
graphics barrier is considerably reduced. There are artists out there and
people of vision who are willing to move beyond the borrowed graphics, but
they are the exception rather than the rule. All the other content can be
done by one guy in these fields, and I have no reason to believe that a
MMOG doesn't likewise belong in this category (with the additional caveat
of perhaps some programming support too).

> The skill set to build a
> credible world with custom graphic content is just too broad for most
> potential hobbyists.

I believe the "custom graphic content" to be the focal point. Solve that
issue and I firmly believe that all the other pieces will solve
themselves.

So I guess what needs to happen is that we need to solve the
programmer/artist imbalance. Good luck.

-- 
Sean Howard