[MUD-Dev] When will new MMORPGs that are coming out get originalwith the gameplay?

Travis Nixon tnixon at avalanchesoftware.com
Wed Jul 9 11:17:33 CEST 2003


From: "J C Lawrence" <claw at kanga.nu>

> Not exactly, that's just a significant force when combined with
> the high risk of failure.  If I were to attempt to isolate the
> single largest problem in the field it would be:

>   We have no external objective metrics which can either detect or
>   demonstrate a "good game design" (where good is defined as fun,
>   large enough player base, profitable, sustainable etc) without
>   implementing and thus sustaining the costs of that game.

You know, I've wondered about this quite a lot lately, because this
seems to be true in the non-MUD side of the gaming industry (where I
hail from) as well.

What I wonder more than anything though is if its because "good game
design" is so mutable and elusive that trial and error and
refinement are the only realistic methods of getting there, or if
its because we simply don't understand all of the factors that are
required.

The answer on this side of the fence seems to be "prototype quickly
and comprehensively".  But then, we primarily only deal with one
person at a time, which makes that a reasonable, achievable
objective.

:)
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