[MUD-Dev] Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server

[Dubious Advocate]

From: "Matt Mihaly" <the_logos at achaea.com>

>> There are very few personality types that will NOT disregard a
>> rule or law they deem absurd and whose violation does not truly
>> damage others.  Some laws are made to be broken.  This is one of
>> them.  Machiavelli makes this point in "The Prince" when he
>> cautions the wise leader to not pass laws that earn the contempt
>> of the populace.

> Of course it damages others. It increases bandwidth/customer
> service use per account, as Raph pointed out in his explanation.

Not to any qualitative degree.  By definition an account being
timeshared is not a power user account.  Power users own multiple
accounts, and usually multiple PCs running multiple accounts.

The average addict consumes far more bandwidth, and is far less
likely to burden CS because they want to tattle on another player or
want their uber hammer returned "because their account was hacked".

I'd like to see the log analysis that shows shared accounts consume
a noticable percentage of system resources.

>> licenses so they can play concurrently.  Brand loyalty is
>> preferable to legal contract.

> Eh. People have short memories. If major games go towards an SCS
> model, most will forget they ever felt entitled to violate the
> EULA. No harm done.

That has been the traditional developer mindset.

Watch the emus flourish.  Watch respective market share erode as
more and more alternatives flood the market.  Note the consoles are
now competiting for online player dollars.  Watch as each new
alternative becomes more and more restrictive.

Possibly consumers really are stupid.  More likely publishers are
letting reflexive habit take over their business sense.

>> Player vs Developer is always a losing mentality, where the
>> developer as an ongoing commercial concern is always the loser.

> And likewise, the player is also the loser when the game goes
> under because it can't support itself. The games exist to make
> money, after all. (Again, as Raph pointed out.)

Consumers have far more options than ever.  The average computer
game enthusiast doesn't need any one specific product.  The days are
long over when a few publishers dominated the landscape.  Publishers
need consumers far more than consumers need publishers.

For example: I now spend most of my time in an illegal game emu, as
do most of my friends, and their friends, ad nauseum.

I suggest it is not in the interest of individual publishers to
behave like the industry is a completely open & infinite system.  By
the way I'm personally hoping a few of the latest comers to market
go under.  I think the industry shaekout is due.

-----
Dave Scheffer
"Questions are a burden to others, answers a prison for oneself"

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