MMO Communities (was RE: [MUD-Dev] MMORPG Cancellations: Theskyis falling?)

[Jon A. Lambert]

Derek Licciardi wrote:
> J C Lawrence wrote:

>> The 250 number has some grounding.  In particular it partially
>> relates to Dunbar's number.  Dunbar's number itself derives from
>> an academic paper by Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist at
>> University College of London, entitled 'Co-evolution of neocortex
>> size, group size and language in humans".  A pre-publication
>> version of the paper can be found at:

> I'm not disputing that it has a foundation.  Using the community
> definition of socially knowing each member personally, I can see
> all the validity in the law.  The law however very flatly
> categorizes everything into one encompassing law and I disagree
> with that.  I can however, appreciate its heritage and I'll repeat
> my proposed revision of it because I think it includes the current
> law while allowing the exploration of larger communities.

What an odd way to read Raph's page of laws.  I think you put a lot
more stock into them than most of the people intended.

I like this one:

  "Any general law about virtual worlds should be read as a
  challenge rather than as a guideline. You'll learn more from
  attacking it than from accepting it."

I read as...

  "Go ahead, spit into the wind.  Something interesting might
  happen."

>   "The group size is inversely proportional to the depth of the
>   community but that doesn't mean that a larger group cannot
>   exist.  A smaller group can have a deeper connection with one
>   another but large groups can have a shallow, easier to maintain
>   connection."

Lacks pithiness and absolute 'godlike' certitude, IMO.  ;-)

--
J. Lambert
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