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

[Jeffrey Kesselman]

FWIW I think you have a semi-valid point.

Valid, but overstated.   I don't think multi-player is goign away nay
time soon.  Nor do I thin kthe appeak of a alrge pool of players is
going away.

HOWEVER I also have seen eniough in MMOs to know that any massive
audience will self-select into sub-units who enjoy playing with each
other and, for the most part, away from playing with those who do not
appreciate each others' company.  Those that DONT so self-select are
called 'grtiefers" and they do so because what they enjoy is
inflicting themselves upon those who *don't* want to play with them.

Movies work s mass entertainment because there is one set of rules of
behavior and media consumption that, though both scoietal pressure and
fear of removal, are enfroced  on all ina draconian style.  Onlien
this is 9currentl;y) impossible and thus the selection tend to be in
smaller units.

Finding others to join those unist ghowever still takes meeting and
sifting through a larger community.

I'd argue in return that claiming that MMOs are becoming not-massive
is and over-simplfication and woudl suggest de-evolution to a previous
form. Instead I DO think they are evloving, but into game environments
that support people finding "their crowd" within the larger milieu and
then self-dividing into the size units and groups they most enjoy
playing with.

And this is not a new phenomenon.  Its been going on sice the first
MMOs,.  Its just that the MMOs are starting to provide better tools
for that purpose, be they larger environments where you can go off on
your own more easily or filter functions to add and remove other
people from your personal play experience.