[MUD-Dev] Focus vs. Scope (WAS: Homogeneity and choice)

[HRose]

cruise wrote:

> Both WoW and CoH seem to have chosen to focus on one particular
> play style and make sure that is as polished as possible, in
> contrast to the "do anything" style games of earlier generations
> of MMORPG's. Guild Wars has distilled the core combat even
> further.

> Predictably, some people hate the apparent restrictiveness and
> one-dimensionality, while others enjoy the accessability and
> efficiency.

What I think is that the accessibility isn't a type of quality that
"must" be restricted to that.

The point is elsewhere, though. If you want the players to play
together and, well, participate in a multiplayer environment, you
HAVE to build common grounds. In WoW this exists. The fact that the
gameplay is focused isn't only a gameplay element. The focus defines
also a target. The aim and purpose. So the players will be together
against very precise (and shared) goals: gain levels, finish quests,
complete instances.

Open ended games not only may be less accessible (but I disagree
that this is costitutive), they also shatter the common ground.

> This is presumably a deliberate choice, and it certainly seems to
> be a good decision in the current market. Is it possible that
> gradually we'll return to the broader, deeper games as the gaming
> proles get used to this style of game? Or are we on a never-ending
> spiral of reductionism?

I think that broader, deeper games can exist (and be successful) if
they learn how to deal with their problems. They should follow an
experimental process where you keep adding layers to a structure
that works already.

It would be fun to slowly work on WoW to give it depth and
breadth. But without forgetting why it was so successful.

-HRose / Abalieno
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