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

[Daniel James]

On Sat, 12 Jul 2003, Sasha Hart wrote:

> Suppose subscriptions to Puzzle Pirates went into the
> stratosphere.  Does that mean it is easier to get money for ANY
> original idea - say, "Dairy Tycoon Online?"

Well, obviously not. Nothing could make it easy to get money for ANY
idea.  But if PP does very well I would expect to see people fund
similar ideas, hopefully ones that innovate in new and original
ways. Moo Cow Online (MCO? hah!) might be an example. I don't think
that PP would have been funded by a publisher two years ago, but if
we clear a profit on PP and wanted to, we could probably get a
publisher deal or investors for our next game, or someone else for a
similar one.

> The players certainly do not dump EQ and buy up Puzzle Pirates and
> BeatDance, which is a poor practical showing for originality.

Uh, I don't know about BeatDance, but we're not available to buy,
yet, so this conclusion is pre-emptive. That said, EQ players are
not really our market, we are explicitly trying to reach a new
audience for MMPs, and so what the EQ players do is not indicative
of originality's showing.

I am reminded of the useless mmp phanboi reviews of SWG that
complain about how it's not EQ. This is not necessarily relevant to
SWG's chances.

> Yes - originality, as incarnated in the games listed above, failed
> to triumph over any other factors standing in the way of runaway
> success (or, as far as I know what qualifies as success here,
> solvency.) It is a practical demonstration that originality is not
> a no-brainer, nor even does it seem particularly promising.

Again, this is a completely unfounded statement at the present
time. In two years you might be able to say, 'Look at originalGame,
it's only got XXk subs and EQ has XXXk' but that still wouldn't tell
you how promising originality is; you can't draw conclusions about
innovation from a few products, and besides, our business is such
that XXk subs == bohnanza.

Arrr!

- Daniel
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev