[MUD-Dev2] Comparing Worlds (was: Fallen Earth)

[Christopher Lloyd]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tess Snider
> > Maybe you prefer one model over another; but within that model 
> > line, there isn't as much variation as we'd like to think.
> 
> WoW IS our Model-T.  It was that wild breakout success that 
> made all of the previous successes look tiny.  We hit a 
> point, eventually, when half the cars on the road were 
> Model-Ts. 
> 
> I'm not against innovation.  I'm just saying, it's not wrong 
> to learn from success.  We should all pick the battles that 
> make sense for the projects we're working on.
> 

There are exceptions to the mold. Motorcycles were developed around the same
time for very different purposes, but the two types of vehicle shared a lot
of traits and the designers learnt a lot from each other.

For example, I look at games like Oblivion and Morrowind and think, "Wow...
This is such an amazing world." The level of immersion, detail and
customisation in these two titles alone is incredible. Why are they not
multiplayer games? They have sold millions of copies and won Game of the
Year awards. There are at least two wikis dedicated to the games, and many
many fansites and mods. The game worlds are big enough to accommodate plenty
of players, and the dungeons could easily be randomly generated instances. I
would love to be able to share adventures with fellow heroes in the Elder
Scrolls worlds.

The only answer I can see is that as a successful roleplaying game where
there is such a big world to explore, it's specifically designed NOT to have
other people in, because they would mess it up. It's a truly consistant
world - When you die, you're dead. The trainers and shopkeepers aren't
uber-powerful NPCs who will rip off your own legs and beat you with them if
you try to attack them. They can be befriended, annoyed, robbed, killed and
then later avenged by their neighbours. Players love that level of
"realism", but it would be instantly lost if the shopkeepers respawned every
hours. Similarly, I'd soon tire of the game if the shopkeepers or quest
givers that I used always got killed by someone just when I needed them.

These games are utterly unlike World of Warcraft and City of Heroes.
Although they share many of the same basic traits (engine, paintwork,
steering column), the experience is very different yet just as successful in
their own way.

Early roleplaying games like Myst and Riven were Daimler-Maybachs, to make a
comparison. Fine, fine craftmanship, but a vehicle that's not mainstream.
Like the Elder Scrolls, Deus Ex and Baldur's Gate, no matter how much you
love them, talk about them with friends, modify them and respray them, it's
still a solo experience.

C.