[MUD-Dev] MMORPG Cancellations: The sky is falling?

[zgj22 at drexel.edu]

:: squish, flop::

a lurker once again drops out of the woodwork. (I've really got to
stop doing this). ;)

----

Now, I am not a commercial game developer, as of this moment. So, if
anyone wants to say that I am unqualified to speak of what I speak,
you can just ignore me. However, Raph, I see your "other than
graphics" argument as excluding the prime difference between text
muds and commercial MMOs.

From: "Koster, Raph" <rkoster at soe.sony.com>
> From: Paul McInnes

>> The medium is still very new and raw[1]

>>   [1] I realise that the text side of things is very well
>>   established but I'd argue that the 3D commercial games are
>>   different enough to be a different medium. Lots of overlap and
>>   some deep differences.

> Like what? Seriously, I keep hearing that there are deep
> differences and I have yet to see them.

> The single biggest difference I see right now other than graphics
> [...]

Text muds use (obviously) text to describe what is happening within
a scene. Emphasis is placed more on roleplaying and description of
what is happening, because other players need to imagine what is
going on in a scene. Inside of an MMO, what is being experienced can
be *seen* by the user, and thus the use of text to connote actions
is not emphasized. In many cases that I have seen (as a player),
ignored. Furthermore, if a user has to "read a window" it is
interpereted (by the user) as a deficiency in the game.

This is perfectly understandable from a user's point of view. Many
video game players come from the viewpoint that if a "character"
does something, than it should be displayed. (When I fire the bow, I
expect to see the arrow... When I pick the lock, I expect to see the
lock-picking animation.) This makes that user will naturally not
want to look at a text box to find out what is going on.[1]

The best way to look at it, IMHO, is from the viewpoint of a book
versus a movie. The book (as a text MMO) allows more description and
depth of character or action, because you can describe things that
may not be physically possible, or known to be able to happen at a
particular time. Meanwhile, a movie has the limitations of
technology to work with. It is a specific realization of the script
(or book) that it is based off of, and is seen through the eye of
the director (i.e. it is more static, in a sense). [2]

Text MMOs, since they describe actions of characters (rather than
displaying them) allow a person (given they have the experience to
do so) a large variety of actions to choose from. Modern MMOs can
only handle so many different textures, skeletal animations,
etc. The difference, while slight from your point of view, does
create a different medium to express oneself.[3]

What I am really trying to say is, don't discount the argument
because they are similar in "every way but one". Maybe the one way
you discount is the difference he was referring to. It does exist.

----

  [1] If my character's concept was "That cool dude from
  Ninjagaiden" and the game resources do not include the
  "Wall-Jumping animation", then I can't fully realize my goal,
  because my character can't "do it". Sure, I can describe it, but
  that takes time to type, then time to read again.

  [2] Aside: An example- Think about independence day as written as
  a book, and the same story as realized by a director during the
  1970's. In the 70s, they just didn't have the technology/ingenuity
  to realize id4 the same way as they did when it was released in
  the late 90's. Hence, the book could explain the alien death rays
  in much more detail than the 70's directors, with their (sic) pie
  pans and flashlights.

  [3] There may be tricky ways to realize "the vision" using the
  graphical medium as it stands, but such ideas only surface once in
  a long while. Furthermore, I fear they also take considerable
  genius to produce in the first place.


--
Zachary Jensen
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