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

[Vincent Archer]

According to Damion Schubert:
> ... But where WoW
> differs from those other games is that they have plenty to do if you're
> alone - including taking your character from level 1 to the cap.  This
> idea would have seemed heretical in 1998, but is actually grounded
> on a handful of simple facts.
> 
> * Sometimes your friends aren't online.
> * Pick up groups often suck.
> * A lot of gaming geeks aren't exactly social butterflies.

And the first one:
* What do I do if I have 30mn before it's time for dinner

One of the biggest barriers of entry to mandatory-grouping was that
you needed to devote lots of time. Building a group requires 20-30mn
(unless it was a pre-arranged meeting). That meant groups were averse
to recruiting a member that would leave in 20mn.

In the end, if you could not devote at least 2h in a continous
manner, then you wouldn't bother logging in. With WoW, you can
log in, do a couple quests, head back to inn and log, all in 20mn.
And you feel like you've achieved something (even if it's 5% of
your xp bar only).

If you're at maximum level, you can do a couple daily quests for
quick cash, gather some crafting stuff, improve your faction
to buy that epic item, whatever.

> my opinion, this is a big one - and may well have been the force
> multiplier that took the classic MMO formula from six figures to seven.

That, plus a large number of other small details that all add up to
the large snowball that rolls and rolls and gather mass. Providing
multiple paths of advancement (you want epic items? do raids, do groups,
craft stuff, get factions, do pvp. Or all of them), aiming at low
system specs to allow litterally everyone with a 4-year old system to
play, etc...

-- 
	Vincent Archer			Email:	archer at frmug.org

All men are mortal.  Socrates was mortal.  Therefore, all men are Socrates.
							(Woody Allen)