[MUD-Dev2] Players are shallow [was: The Future of Quests]

[Mike Sellers]

Cruise wrote: 
> I too would love a deeper, more engaging world, but I fear 
> such a thing will always be doomed to obscurity, simply 
> because most people would not be willing to put in the extra 
> effort required to access the content.

This is a point that's vital to remember.  It makes you decide clearly what
it is you're trying to create: the equivalent of "lite" TV fare that is
accessible by just about anyone (woohoo, commercial success!), or the
equivalent of obscure arthouse film that makes the audience work, but
delivers great rewards for those who do (woohoo, obscurity except in certain
literate circles!).  And over time, these approaches can blended too.  

George Clooney, as one movie-based example, has said that he agrees to make
movies like "Oceans 13" so that he can make others like "Syriana" and
"Michael Clayton."  Neither of these latter two are terribly difficult
films, but neither reached anything like the audience that the "Oceans"
movies do (but still not bad: $92M for Michael Clayton vs $311M revenues for
O13, and better in terms of ROI).

The fact is, no one really knows what a well-executed, deeper, more engaging
world would bring in terms of players, especially as online worlds have
become more known in the mainstream.  We know the forms of MMOG gameplay
that have now become tried-and-true, and we know the audience we havee.  And
sometimes it's wise to stick with that.  But we shouldn't make the mistake
of assuming that the audience we have is the only audience we could have.

Mike Sellers