<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Back to the Future (was Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun) --> <!--X-From-R13: X Q Znjerapr <pynjNhaqre.rate.ftv.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 18:43:04 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199807090142.SAA01481#under,engr.sgi.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 199807012313.SAA23592#rgate2,ricochet.net --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Re: Back to the Future (was Re: WIRED: Kilers have m</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00096.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00098.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00021.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00022.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00097">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00097">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00097">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: Back to the Future (was Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun)</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: Back to the Future (was Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun) </LI> <LI><em>From</em>: J C Lawrence <<A HREF="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Wed, 08 Jul 1998 18:42:13 -0700</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On Wed, 01 Jul 1998 15:54:58 -0700 Mike Sellers<mike#bignetwork,com> wrote: > Actually, that brings to mind a question I've been meaning to ask > for a bit: what do you all think comes *after* UOL? It's lifespan > isn't infinite (I saw the UOL box on the bargain shelf at the local > EB, I believe), and yet none of the other potential contenders has > emerged. Is Everquest or Asheron's Call the heir apparent? What > about dark horses like The Rubies of Eventide, Azaria, or any of the > other smaller operations (that may or may not ever actually see the > light of day)? UOL is going to have reinvent itself to stay alive. No surprises there. Fresh blood, both of the steaming flowing red variety in the game, and the intellectual variety out of game and in the game world and design are needed. Mebe their next release will do that, mebe not. As for who is next? Dunno. I would be extremely surprised if either Asheron's call or Everquest see much success. In essence they are both attempting to deliver a pre-canned experience and seem to have lost sight of the service they are attempting to offer, which isn't "fun" per se (cf prior thread), but the ability for players to __create__ "fun". Similarly, while both, in different ways, claim to be aiming for open ended game play, the game descriptions they've released/discussed seem narrow. Very rich and detailed (Asheron in particular), but also narrow and constrained. Nice safe, well known, well charted, well defined experiences and game plays along pre-defined and predicted recipes. I just don't see narrow games generating much excitement. Certainly not enough excitement to overcome the pain of having to play across low bandwidth laggy net connections. Read the UOL player pages and sites. Where is the real quivering wild-eyed, "Omigodman, ya really gotta try this thing!" frenzied excitement coming from? It sure as heck isn't in how to be a good miner, carpenter, or killing monsters. Its in the, "Look at what I can DO!" areas. Odd thought: Possibly the most crucial difference UOL and other prior and later attempts is that UOL seemingly did not define any purposes or goals in the world, either in code or their documentation. The seemed to have worked very hard to keep the game open ended. Then again, I make my living writing code for OS vendors, not MMPOG's. > M59 has stabilized with a small population but > strangely enough a profitable (current terms, don't know about ROI > for 3DO) setup. I don't know about UOL, but I'd bet drinks at next > CGDC that they're going to be _barely_ profitable if that. I note the careful ambiguity as to *who* will be barely profitable, M59 or UOL. > Are commercial, graphical muds and mud-like games here to stay, or > are they just an interesting experiment? I'll stick my neck out and say that we're going to see the graphical MUD-like game market undergo a fairly significant collapse and consolidation within the next 3 years, possibly down to the level of only one or two hangers-on. It would be typical of such newly developing fields if it did. -- J C Lawrence Internet: claw#null,net (Contractor) Internet: coder#ibm,net ---------(*) Internet: claw#under,engr.sgi.com ...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith... </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00021" HREF="msg00021.html">[MUD-Dev] Back to the Future (was Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun)</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Mike Sellers <mike#bignetwork,com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00096.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: An Introduction</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00098.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Back to the Future (was Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00021.html">[MUD-Dev] Back to the Future (was Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00022.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00097"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00097"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00001" HREF="msg00001.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 01 Jul 1998, 16:57 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00002" HREF="msg00002.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</A></strong>, Mike Sellers <a href="mailto:mike#bignetwork,com">mike#bignetwork,com</a>, Wed 01 Jul 1998, 17:07 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00020" HREF="msg00020.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 01 Jul 1998, 22:21 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00021" HREF="msg00021.html">[MUD-Dev] Back to the Future (was Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun)</A></strong>, Mike Sellers <a href="mailto:mike#bignetwork,com">mike#bignetwork,com</a>, Wed 01 Jul 1998, 23:14 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00097" HREF="msg00097.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Back to the Future (was Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun)</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Thu 09 Jul 1998, 01:43 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00022" HREF="msg00022.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</A></strong>, Mike Sellers <a href="mailto:mike#bignetwork,com">mike#bignetwork,com</a>, Wed 01 Jul 1998, 23:15 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00131" HREF="msg00131.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Thu 09 Jul 1998, 23:08 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00032" HREF="msg00032.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</A></strong>, Joel Kelso <a href="mailto:joel#ee,uwa.edu.au">joel#ee,uwa.edu.au</a>, Thu 02 Jul 1998, 06:54 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00004" HREF="msg00004.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: WIRED: Kilers have more fun</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 01 Jul 1998, 18:07 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>