Sci Fi Channel creating hybrid TV series and MMO

James Egan — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, News items, Virtual worlds

The Sci Fi Channel plans to air a TV series that simultaneously plays out as a massively multiplayer online game, the Los Angeles Times reports. This pairing of television writers with game designers will allow fans of the series to influence its story arc through their own actions in the virtual space. David Howe, president of the Sci Fi Channel, said, "This is the Holy Grail for us, without a doubt... this is groundbreaking, and I don't say that lightly."

The large and dedicated player communities attached to various titles in the MMO space are appealing to the Sci Fi Channel. "Bundling a World of Warcraft player community with a series and an on-line social community is something the Sci Fi Channel has tried to puzzle out for several years," according to the Los Angeles Times. The Sci Fi Channel's desire to tap into the MMO market led them to work with Trion World Network, a California-based game company with some major investors standing behind it. The hope is that together, they will achieve a first in interactive entertainment: create a hybrid television series and online game, where players affect or even determine the direction of the show. If successful, this will stand as a milestone in the history of both television and games.

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Player vs. Everything: Those poor, poor designers

Cameron Sorden — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Humor, Player vs. Everything

I've gotta hand it to MMOG designers. They really kind of get shafted. They spend weeks, months, and years fine-tuning tiny aspects of gameplay that you never even notice or care about (like the amount of silver that level 12 murlocs drop), coming up with interesting quests, trying to innovate the game enough to keep us interested, and developing a stream of content that's regular and enthralling enough to satisfy our all-encompassing hunger for more, more, MORE! While they do this, they have to pay attention to a million other things: time constraints, budget constraints, balance considerations, community expectations, and their pushy producers who want them to get the job done now, even if it means they can't include all of these cool features they have in mind.

When they finally put the finishing touches on this labor of love that they've slaved away on for so, so long, they deliver it out into the excited arms of the community that's been eagerly awaiting the game since they announced what they were working on in pre-alpha. What happens then? Worst case scenario, everyone hates the game and it sinks like a stone to the trash pile of the bargain bin (along with the shattered hopes and dreams of the entire team that worked on the game). But even in the best case scenario, everyone loves the game for about two weeks until they notice all the little flaws that they don't like about your particular design. Then, they start picking it apart bit by bit. "Why didn't you do this this way?" they ask. "Why didn't you make this quest reward better? Why are Mages better than Rogues? Why isn't my +3 sword worse than a +3 axe against Ents? Here's how I think you should fix this awful, terrible, no-good, very bad game design."

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Player vs. Everything: Those poor, poor designers originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 May 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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