[MUD-Dev] Birthday Cake (or Why Large Scale Sometimes Sucks) (long)

[F. Randall Farmer]

> Zak Jarvis said:
> 
> > From: J C Lawrence [claw at kanga.nu]
> 
> > On Wed, 7 Jun 2000 00:00:40 +0000 (GMT)
> > Matthew Mihaly <the_logos at achaea.com> wrote:
> 
> > > I agree they aren't just games, but c'mon, they aren't THAT big a
> > > deal.
> >
> > Could they be?
> 
> I dunno, I think it's almost more pertinent to wonder what confluence of
> events could prevent them from being that THAT big.

I think we should be concerned about AT LEAST the primary effects
of how we design, implement, and sell our work. 

Though I don't know if multi-participant cyberspaces will ever
give TV a real run for it's money, we shouldn't forget the early
(and recent) history and moral debate surrounding that medium.

[I'm thinking of people like Edwin R. Murrow who said things
back in the 50's like "This instrument can teach, it can
illuminate, and yes it can inspire. But it can do so only
to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those
ends. Otherwise it is nothing but wires and lights in a box."
http://www.wsu.edu/Communications/ERM/famquote.html ]

I've read over and over that we're displacing "only" TV time,
as if that is, a priori, a good thing. I think that's damn
smug of us. Even if the statistic were true (and I've not
read any scientific study yet that supports this often
cited hypothesis) ask yourself this:

What did 20 hours of TV a week replace? Do we still believe
that this much TV was a "good thing"? [Objection! Off Topic!
Sorry, they were just rhetorical questions. Withdrawn. :-D]

Content producers _are_ responsible for their content, no
matter what the medium. That's the way I like it. I'll take
the accolades for the good things I do, and the blame for
the bad things I do, even in ignorance. But, if I do something
that harms others with foreknowledge (especially from experience)
that it will cause harm, I think that makes me evil. :-(

I will never intentionally design a product that requires
users to play for large numbers of hours daily, with no
end in sight, in order to succeed. I firmly reject the
notion that MUDs/MMORGs must be that way.


Randy


Afterthought: Dani Bunten Berry PROVED over and over that you
can design games that are 1) amazingly fun, 2) multiplayer,
3) profitable, 4) have a logical end but 5) have massive
replay value.

[ No, I'm not saying that MMORGs should play like MULE. :-P ]














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