[Meta] Re: [MUD-Dev] Future of MMOGs

[Ted L. Chen]

amanda at alfar.com
> "Ted L. Chen" <tedlchen at yahoo.com> wrote:

>> And what about other types of data?  Damage rates, XPs, etc.
>> Unless you lock all zones down to a single type of system, then
>> it is something you still need to think about when coming up with
>> the protocol.

> Yes and no.  I've written before that I don't think XP and
> levelling are crucial to MMO games.  There's no reason a
> particular server (or set of servers) couldn't track skills and
> other attributes (in geekspeak, attributes with local scope but
> persistent extent).  Nothing says that a raygun from one zone has
> to work in a dungeon in another.

Fair enough.  Unless explicitly stated otherwise, I have a bad habit
of assuming everybody else talks about MOGs using the contemporary
template: with XPs, trolls, and stuff.  Despite the fact that I
believe otherwise myself.  :)

> Neither one has the right sort of linking.  My mention of NWN was
> aimed mainly at the content production tools.  Rather than having
> people design stuff in a CAD system, let people build content
> using prefabs and existing idioms--let them design on a "town"
> level, not a "poly/NURBS patch/texture/python/java" level.
> Creating VRML content is like writing web pages line by line on
> punch cards :).

Not trying to be too argumentative here, but I'm not convinced that
prefab tools will really be a big sticking point in the future of
MOGs (graphical ones - since we're talking about VRML/NWN).  The
analogy with the WWW is uneven at best because the web content
exists primarily on a text level.  Layout programs like Frontpage or
Dreamweaver are just glorified text editors that insert transparent
HMTL between the content.

Text, as many on this list know, is abundant and is cheap.  What we
have is about 26 base units, configurable in an almost limitless way
(of which we probably know at least 2000 very well), which are then
combined into the idioms.

Graphical prefab editors on the other hand, have a few rudimentary
base units (poly/NURBS/patch/texture), which can be combined into
prefabs, and then the idioms like 'towns' as you mentioned.  Sadly
though, a reasonable number of prefabs I would gauge at around 300
or 400.  Most of that count goes into variations on a single item
(i.e. barrel(s) is different from barrel) Sure, there's content in
the layout, but it really doesn't take long before you get the
feeling you've seen this level before.

You can take a look at the downloads sections of The Sims or the
architecture buildings of the SimCity sites to see how limiting such
tools have on the creative aspects.  The Sims is it's own
architecture tool, while SimCity has a Architect Builder Plus which
works on the prefab blocks concept.  In any case, 99% of the stuff
there looks and feels just like the each other.

The problem isn't really with the use of editors though, its with
the level of control they give the users.  The prefab editors I've
seen so far would describe my computer desk as a wooden table, but
it would continue on and list the papers, penciles, keyboard, and
all manner of stuff that's on it right now.  It frees me from having
to do that detail yes, but then your computer desk would look
exactly like mine, which is very jarring.  I also know the technical
limitations that keep them from itemizing every single thing on my
desk so the future looks bleak from my point of view.

On the other hand, why worry too much about it?  It takes us all
approximately ten years to be reasonably proficient at words to
write a rambling diatribe like I just did above.  One to three of
which were spent just learning how to use the base letters.  Why do
we expect people to create graphical representations of towns
overnight without learning the basic principles of 3d geometry?

TLC


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