[MUD-Dev2] [Design] Dinosaurs evolve to chickens, MMOs evolve to massively single-player games

[Mike Rozak]

Damion Schubert wrote: (And others wrote something similar.)
> In my personal opinion, the answer is NOT to make purely solo
> or small-group 'MMO' experiences - you are then competing with the
> people who can make those games faster and cheaper than
> you, because you're not trying to tackle all of the infrastructure
> an MMO requires.  To me, the answer is to provide a solid solo/
> small group backbone to the game, but have those paths lead
> to a truly 'massive' experience that only the MMO experience
> can provide.

Do most people really want "[to be led to] a truly massive experience that 
only the MMO experience can provide"?

In the days of yore, the USPs ("unique selling points" - for those of you 
who don't remember all their TLAs - "three-letter acronyms") of MMOs were 
that (a) you could play a CRPG with your friends, (b) you could meet new 
friends/enemies in the game, (c) you could join massive raids/battles, (d) 
MMOs have 500+ hours of content, (e) etc.

But my point is that MMOs have a new USP to add: Players not only don't have 
to buy the game from a store, they DON'T have to download the entire game 
before they start playing. And, all game updates (to content and code) are 
automagically installed.)And, to top it off, players DON'T even have to pay 
for the game.

This new USP may be a paradigm shifter; it may make some other MMO USP's 
much less relevent.

It reminds me of Cable TV; when cable TV first appeared, its USPs where (a) 
quality of signal, (b) no commercials, (c) adult shows, and (d) lots (aka: 
20) of TV channels.

Cable TV's USPs have changed since the late 70's: The most obvious is that 
the "no commercials" USP was thrown out the window. "Adult shows" became 
irrelevent as soon as VHS rentals became easy. "Quality of signal" just 
disappeared with the introduction of digital TV. Cable's USPs are now (a) 
huge numbers of channels and (b) an included cable modem.


To this, I'll add another idea:

I like to listen to classical music, especially Mozart. I don't care for 
most rock, country, etc. I can't possibly imagine how anyone would like rap.

Having said that, LOTs of people like rap. Probably, more people like rap 
music than like Mozart.

I'd wager that everyone on this mailing list METAPHORICALLY likes Mozart. 
You like MMOs (mozart) because of the way MMOs are now, were 10 years ago, 
or were 20 years ago.

Most people on this mailing list think that single-player games are missing 
the social aspect of gaming, which is why people on this list are attracted 
to MMOs in the first place. This is a self-selecting community. For those of 
you who develop MMOs, your fellow developers/designers/artists are also 
self-selected by the same criteria; you all like Mozart.

To repeat: More people like rap than mozart... Most people play games alone 
(they like rap). Most have tried MMOs briefly, but returned to single-player 
games for various reasons (like griefing, inability to change the world, not 
enought time to keep up with friends, etc.).

Beware your myopathy: Just because you like Mozart and dislike rap, DON'T be 
surprised if rap sells a lot more CDs than Mozart.

The convenience of "not having to download or pay for the game to play it" 
is a very big draw. This may attract a lot of single-player gamers into MMOs 
like FreeRealms. These players might then start demanding more even 
single-player features, like lots of instancing (with their friends). Such 
players might eventually become the majority, and effectively expel raiders 
from "MMOs".

In the future, raiders may be stuck playing indie remakes of WoW, just like 
Ultima IV fans must satisfy their cravings with Jeff Vogel's low-budget 
games, and IF fans lament the death of Infocom.