[MUD-Dev] New Bartle article

[Brian Hook]

At 03:39 PM 3/13/01 -0800, Azeraab wrote:

>  2.  One thing that turned me off from all the ORPGS I've played is
>  the lack of a victory situation.  In my ethical code you dont quit
>  until you've won.

This presumes that an ORPG is actually providing a game experience as
opposed to a world.  The model for most, if not all, commercial
MMORPGs is to provide a world where you have things to do (as opposed
to, say, just hanging out on IRC).  Activities are provided that form
a pretense for people to socialize with each other.

I don't think the goal of most ORPGs is "provide a winnable scenario"
for the reasons stated -- once you win, you may as well leave.

>  and ORPGs fail to attract even close to the numbers of single
>  player games.

I believe that UO, EQ and PSO have very respectable numbers when
compared to single player titles.  Granted, not necessarily to the
massive hit levels, but definitely enough to be considered hits even
in the single player realm.  And that's not counting any extra monthly
revenue.

The direction I would take if doing an MMORPG today would consist of
an unfolding story followed by a "stasis period" where no major
changes would happen.  The story and associated content would be done
ahead of time, unfold over (say) 18 months, during which time the
players could have a chance to change the outcome.  When the story was
complete, the world enters stasis, which is similar to what EQ is like
today.  All the balancing is done early on, before the stasis period.
And if you want to get extra saucy, you can have PvP enabled once
stasis is reached =)

Brian

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