Random Dialogue: What is Past is Prologue
Dialogue, 2004-01-12

With Hyrrix now off on his newest adventure, the Monday editorial will be my bailiwick from now on. As such, I've decided to rename it. "Random Dialogue" is an apt description of what I'd like to get across in these editorials. Namely, what is on my mind at the time when it comes to the genre we all enjoy a great deal. I'm going to generally speak from a crunchier perspective. My editorial on Questing from a while back is a good example of what I'm going for. Today I'm going to start off with some of my favorite snackable parts from MMOGs that were released in 2003.

"Crush", right? Well, despite the mixed success and flagging subscription numbers of SB, I would chalk those up to business decisions and code problems, rather than attributing the fall of Shadowbane to design concepts. Design wise, Shadowbane took PvP by the snout and shook it for all that it's worth. A world fraught with actual danger which pits you head-to-head with fellow players? The stuff of a marketing writer's dreams and a hardcore player's wish come true. Shadowbane sent the message to designers that yes, Player versus Player combat is viable as a central tenant to online games. I see Planetside as a sideline to this, a confirmation that FPS combat is something massively multiplayer gamers would participate in. Now if only Planetside would lower their rates to save their sinking ship. *sigh*

Star Wars Galaxies - Chat Bubbles / Emotes / Entertainers

Say what you will about the contentless desert of SWG, you could communicate with other players better and more entertainingly than in any other game to date. The chat-bubble interface, the plethora of fun emotes, and the social venues provided by cantinas resulted in a social atmosphere unparalleled so far in MMOGdom. This aspect is undoubtedly why SWG is still going strong, as it appeals to the other pillar of Bartle's Player Types, the Socializer. With the Achievers satisfied by grinding to Master Jedi and the Socializers chatting happily away in cantinas, SOE has plenty of subscribers they can safely call "in the bag". The fact that they're ignoring the Explorer type has led to many cancellations (including my own), but you can back-fill content easily enough. Numerous and effective chat tools are something you need to have built into the game from the get-go and SWG has proven the inordinate value of this.

Anarchy Online: Shadowlands & DAoC: Trials of Atlantis - Different Zone Architecture

Perhaps I'm the only one who really sees zone architecture as an exciting thing, but the twisting weirdness of the Shadowlands and the aquatic beauty of ToA seemed like a major improvement to me this year. I'm getting pretty tired of forests filled with gnolls, people. Underwater realms and other planes are just the beginning, I hope. Why not a zone of buildings built into a cliffside, like the Anasazi villages of Arizona? Cities have been done to death, but never with any degree of realism. Give me filth-choked alleyways, suburban neighborhoods, palatial apartment complexes, or the depths of a corporate office building. Howabout a palace built inside a cloud, or a tree-top village? We're getting to the point where we can't even see the trees for the trees, folks. Zone originality is one of the shiny things you can put on box labels. Show us some.

Star Wars Galaxies / A Tale in the Desert - Crafter's Paradise

"No one will play a MMOG with no combat!" Well, there are a few thousand people populating ancient egypt (many of them speaking German!) who would disagree with that statement. The sleeper hit of 2003, and in my opinion the best game overall, ATITD has proven that given the right formula a game about making stuff can hook people just as deeply as "Hit A and Walk Away". Fireworks, looms, mills, statues, tents, and the ever popular flax gin are the end result of ATITD players game-time, and they are just as proud of their creations as any warrior with a +10 sword of dicing. Star Wars Galaxies deserves mention down here as well, of course. The crafting tree in SWG is not as deep, but holds an engagement all it's own. Additionally, the attention to detail in the cosmetic areas that SWG has is a grand thing indeed. I spent something like 50% of my time in-game making pants, and for the most part I was a happy camper. Someday there is going to be a game that has the depth of ATITD, with the cosmetics of SWG. That will be a good day.

Puzzle Pirates - Mini-Games!

A quick continuation of my last point: The future of crafting is here, in the form of Puzzle Pirates and mini-gaming. Puzzle Pirates uses mini-gaming for everything from sailing to fighting, but where it really shone for me in beta was the crafting aspect. As much as people enjoy making stuff for others, having fun while doing it is still something that MMOGs have yet to do well. Puzzle Pirates does that in spades. Mark my words, a few years from now making that buckler for your guild buddy will involve a Tetris clone of some kind. And I look forward to that day with great relish.

Next week, I'm going to give us all a common language by talking about the basics of MMOG design as I understand them, and setting out a bibliography for us to use. See you then.