Comments on: Maybe players really are the problem …

By: spinks

spinks — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:12:11 +0000

Interesting thoughts. I wonder if in future, we’ll also be less wound up about twitch gameplay and less likely to judge someone as good/bad based purely on whether they can press the right buttons in the right order with a very low tolerance for error.

Because although it can be fun, that’s not really a challenge that I find interesting. (But that’s why I like tanking and leading raids, I think). It is fun to work together with other people on a shared goal … I wonder what other ways games will find in future to promote that sense of teamwork.

By: Stabs

Stabs — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:54:48 +0000

Everyone has great potential. David Zindell wrote that “every man and woman is a star” (ie a well of infinite possibilities).

Unfortunately in these games we often see very little of this.

The problem I think with end-game WoW is that people tap so little of that potential. Maybe something more testing is the answer. Raids where everyone works their butt off are just much more fun than raids where people aren’t stretched.

WoW inherits a lot of baggage. It owes a lot to the social structures of Everquest which was about fanatical raid guild officers working their butts off to get mammoth raids co-ordinated. It may be that the reliance on producer types inherent in the system is flawed that somehow the playing field needs to be levelled.

An MMO where you can’t rely on anyone might be interesting. I’m exploring EVE now which is a bit like that.

By: We Fly Spitfires

We Fly Spitfires — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:50:33 +0000

I actually think the communities in MMORPGs are getting worse so it would suggest that maybe we reach a point where it all explodes before it settles down again

Interestingly enough, my wife is studying childcare and learning about the importance of play in children’s development. This is a relatively new concept as before play was suppressed instead of encouraged. This possibly explains why in the 70s people went ape shit in the Tate (almost a very good movie title there) as it was a release from suppressed instincts.

By: Gevlon

Gevlon — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:22:45 +0000

Indeed, it’s just the people.

Just compare the “crazy motorists” of the 30′-es with the modern car drivers. Or the pirates of Sir Drake with the container ships of today.

The first explorers of a field are either visionary people or marginalized figures with extravagant features. When it get into the mainstream, it get both diluted by the ordinary (boring) people and also highly regulated by government.

The next generation will be amazed (but definitely not missing that) grandma was not just leveling up on politically correct monsters but was dodging gankers in STV, tortured captured mage-hunters, massacred Nestingvary’s hunters, and PuGged with idiots who couldn’t find their buttons.