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MMO Family: Why Catfish is a term your kids should know

Karen Bryan — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, Kids, MMO Family, Family, Miscellaneous

By now, everyone's probably heard the strange story of Manti Te'o, the football player who had an online relationship with someone who wasn't really that person. The question that people keep asking is whether or not he was in on the hoax, but I think that's irrelevant. The real question is why people are surprised to begin with.

Ironically, gamers probably have a leg up on the Catfish scenario, since there are plenty of examples of players misrepresenting themselves through their in-game avatars. And there's often a grey area when it comes to roleplaying and honesty. In this week's MMO Family, let's look at the lessons of gaming, identity, and social media and what children should learn about all three. (And I promise I won't mention Manti again in this column.)

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MMO Family: Why Catfish is a term your kids should know originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Storybricks starts Kickstarter campaign, welcomes aboard animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous, Sandbox

Build-your-own-MMO toolset Storybricks is getting a major second wind today as the company's announced that it's brought on board legendary animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman to assist in animation and character design. The two are well-known in both the film and video game industry for their work on The Secret of NIMH and Dragon's Lair (among many other projects).

"We intend to bring our experience in animation and character design to help provide appealing, believable, thinking characters to Storybricks' founding partners' vision for gaming," Goldman said. The two join a dream team of advisors for the project that includes Richard Bartle, Liz Danforth, and Chris Avellone.

Storybricks is also tapping the Kickstarter well to help fund the project. The team hopes to raise $250,000 in pledges by June 1st. "Though we have found the right people who share our mad (or perhaps inspired) vision of role-playing and storytelling in computer RPGs, we haven't been able to find enough people willing to write us a check," the team explains on the page. Sponsors can get copies of the game, beta keys, and even digital versions of themselves inserted into the final version.

[Source: Storybricks press release]

Storybricks starts Kickstarter campaign, welcomes aboard animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist discovers the Island of Kesmai

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, MMO Industry, The Game Archaeologist

It was the mid-'80s, and I was just a kid in love with his family's IBM PC. Not having a wealth of capital at the time, I relied on hand-me-down copies of software that rolled in from friends and family and probably the Cyber-Mafia. Practically none of the disks came with instructions (or even labels, sometimes), and as such I felt like an explorer uncovering hidden gems as I shoved in 5 1/4" floppy after 5 1/4" floppy. Some titles were great fun, some were so obtuse I couldn't get into them, and some were obviously meant for those older and wiser than I.

One game that fell into the latter category was a brutally difficult RPG that smelt of Dungeons & Dragons -- a forbidden experience for me at the time. It was just a field of ASCII characters, jumbled statistics, and instant death awaiting me around every corner. I gave it a few tries but could never progress past the first level, especially when I'd keep running out of arrows, so I gave up.

Unbeknownst to me, I had my first brush with Rogue, an enormously popular dungeon crawler that straddled the line between the description-heavy RPGs and arcade titles like Gauntlet. Rogue defined the genre when it came out in 1980, spawning dozens of "Roguelikes" that sought to cash in on the craze. Not five years after its release, Rogue got a worthy successor that decided it could bring this addicting style of gameplay to the larva form of the Internet. It was called Island of Kesmai, but you may call it "Sir, yes sir!"

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The Game Archaeologist discovers the Island of Kesmai originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Guild Counsel: SWTOR is stealing my (character) identity!

Karen Bryan — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Guilds, Opinion, Roleplaying, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Guild Counsel

Guild leading is often as much about managing personalities as it is about managing the nuts and bolts of the game. In previous columns, we've looked at all sorts of issues that guild leaders have to solve, and at the root of almost all of them is some sort of personality clash. Show me a nice blend of personalities, and I'll show you a happy guild that will stick together for years.

What makes guild leading so difficult, though, is that unlike real-life leaders, guild leaders need to manage two identities for every member. There's the real-life identity of the player, and then there's the identity of the in-game character, and they aren't always the same. If you talk to a guild that's met at a guild gathering or convention, one of the things you'll always hear is how a particular member is so different from his in-game character. In game, for example, he might be a rough-around-the-edges general, but in real life he's a quiet teddy bear.

MMOs give us the opportunity to be someone completely different from who we are out of game, and even non-roleplayers will sometimes behave differently when they're playing. But Star Wars: The Old Republic has taken away some of our power to construct our own identities in game. In this edition of The Guild Counsel, Let's look at how that's happened and whether it will affect the way we game.

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The Guild Counsel: SWTOR is stealing my (character) identity! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist seals up 2011

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: A Tale in the Desert, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, EverQuest, Lineage, Meridian 59, PlanetSide, Shadowbane, Everquest Online Adventures, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous

You know what I love about the end of each year? The lists. Man, but I'm a sucker for lists, especially when they come in "best of" varieties. In the lull between Christmas and New Year's, there typically isn't a lot happening in the world of entertainment, so it's a good time to look back before we head forward.

And so it is for The Game Archaeologist. 2011 marks the second year I've been doing this column, and it's been one of my personal favorite series to write. Every week I'm learning more and more about the history of the MMO genre, and I'm encouraged to see just how much passion and interest there are for the titles that started it all and got us to where we are today.

So before we head into 2012, let's take one last glimpse back at the road we've traveled. If you've missed out on any of these columns or want to revisit your favorite classic MMO, I've compiled a huge list of everything I talked about this year, from histories to interviews to player stories. There's also a special request for you (yes, you) at the end of this column, so do me a favor and hit that jump!

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The Game Archaeologist seals up 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video series chronicles the evolution of MUDs to MMOs

Jef Reahard — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Culture, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous

If you're looking for a reasonably short video primer on the history of MMOs, look no further than a series of clips recently uploaded to YouTube. According to some genre heavyweights, though, you shouldn't take all the info presented at face value. Former sandbox (and current social games) developer Raph Koster weighs in on the clips at his personal blog, and he offers up a laundry list of "oddities, errors, and omissions."

MUD pioneer Richard Bartle shows up in Koster's comment thread, and he's even more direct. "I wonder why so few of those who make this kind of documentary actually ask the people they're talking about whether what they're saying about them is factually correct? It's not like we're dead or anything," Bartle muses.

Why watch the vids, then? Mainly for the exposure to pre-2004 MMORPGs, according to Koster. The clips are "worth a look, even if only to get a rare glimpse of actual video footage from some of the older games that many folks today don't even know existed," he says. Check out all three installments after the break.

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Video series chronicles the evolution of MUDs to MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WildStar's Bartle-inspired paths offer players unique and shared content [Updated]

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Classes, Interviews, MMO Industry, WildStar

Jeremy Gaffney recently opened up on the connection between WildStar's Paths and Richard Bartle's famous breakdown of playstyles. While Gaffney admits that WildStar drew inspiration from Bartle's categories, the team has tuned the four paths -- Explorer, Soldier, Achiever and Builder -- to fit the devs' vision for the game.

No matter which path you pick, Gaffney promises that there will be something meaningful for you to be doing at all times. The important part is that the game has a deliberate balance between path-specific activities and universal ones: "What we do is we take 70% of the world, and that's a mix of all the styles, and then about 30%, depending on the zone, swaps over and that's about you and about your path. So, as an Explorer you have your normal mix of stuff, but then an extra chunk on top of it that's all about exploring."

People from different paths have many ways, reasons, and incentive to interact as they progress through the zones. Gaffney says that WildStar will "pile on the layers" to keep players involved and active. He also assured fans that all paths will have plenty to do in the endgame so that the journey doesn't come to a crashing halt.

[Update: Carbine also released another WildStar Wednesday this afternoon; it features some community discussion all about events in MMOs.]

WildStar's Bartle-inspired paths offer players unique and shared content [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist spins A Tale in the Desert: The highlights

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, A Tale in the Desert, Culture, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous, Sandbox, Crafting

Readers of the ever-so-humble Game Archaeologist will recall that earlier this year I had the opportunity to exchange informative words with Dr. Richard Bartle, the creator of MUD. Since he was -- and is -- a highly opinionated designer, I asked him what he thought was the most innovative MMO from the last decade. The answer was short and succinct.

"A Tale in the Desert, he replied, then added: "Note that 'innovative' doesn't necessarily mean 'successful.'"

Right there is the crux of ATITD's unique position in the MMO industry. Instead of storming down a path well-traveled, it took a machete and made its own trail -- a trail down which few have followed. As Jef recently noted in Some Assembly Required, it is an "odd duck" of a game, skewing as far away from combat as possible to focus on two often-neglected aspects of MMOs: crafting and politics. Even though its population has pegged it as an eternally niche game, it's proven that constant fighting isn't the only thing that can draw an online community together.

This week we're going to look at some of the more unique features of this innovative yet diminutive MMO, which began telling its tale back in 2003.

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The Game Archaeologist spins A Tale in the Desert: The highlights originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 2

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 03 May 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Interviews, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous

This is the end, my only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end. Of everything that MOOs, the end. No safety or aggro radius, the end.

Man, listening to The Doors early in the morning does not put you in a happy state of writing, let me tell you!

In any case, we've extended our MUD/MU* month here on the Game Archaeologist Channel to include a few more first-hand testimonies of Massively readers' favorite text-based MMOs. As much as anything else we've talked about in this column, it's vital that we not forget the roots from which our current MMOs were born nor neglect to take the opportunity to expose a whole new generation to a graphically simpler but textually richer experience.

So let's kick the tires and light the fires of nostalgia as we talk with five of the baddest MUDders you'll ever know!

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 2

The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 May 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 1

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Interviews, Free-to-Play, The Game Archaeologist

What a long, strange trip it's been back through the heyday of multi-user dungeons and the many, many spin-offs and variations thereof. We've looked at the history, talked with Richard Bartle, and promoted a few of the best titles out there -- but we're not done yet! The Game Archaeologist will not hang up his hat and call it a day well-lived until your stories are entered into the history books.

Throughout this month, MUD and MU* players have deluged the inbox of the Game Archaeologist Institute for Text-Based Virtual Worlds, impressing us with hefty paragraphs of passionate experiences. These stories are so good, in fact, that we have little desire to choose between them, which is why we're going to annex the first week of May so that we can share all of them. May won't mind -- May's cool like that.

So hit the jump and read the testimonies of the word warriors who were there on the front line of parser combat and grammatically correct roleplaying. These are their stories. This is your lunch break.

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 1 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The games

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, The Game Archaeologist

Fair citizens of Massivelyville, believe me, I've heard your voices. After two weeks of giving an overview of MUDs and MU*s, not to mention talking to Dr. Bartle about the genre, I think I've held off talking about specific games long enough. No need for heads to explode on my watch!

One of the reasons I stalled for time is that I was gathering as much information on the most popular and beloved MUDs of the past few decades. From the perspective of someone who is but a mewling infant when it comes to these games, it's a considerable task akin to asking someone to sum up all of the World War II movies out there. The selection field is big -- that's all I'm saying.

So after polling a number of friends and hearing what you've had to say in the comments section, I've culled the list to six games that seem to pop up over and over again. Not only are each of these MUDs a wealth of history, but they're all going strong even in the futuristic year of 2011. If you've never played a game in this genre, then consider these a good place to start, and if you have, hopefully this will be an exciting stroll down memory lane. Watch out for the boojums and grues!

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The games originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: A talk with Richard Bartle

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous

From talking with Richard Bartle, reading his blog, and looking over several interviews that he's done, I've concluded that the co-creator of the first multi-user dungeon is, in many ways, a card. A smart one, a perceptive one, and an outspoken one, but a card nonetheless. I say this in a good way, of course, because for all of the verbal pussyfooting that often goes on in this industry, it's refreshing to hear the voice of someone who knows what he thinks and isn't afraid to say it, even if it goes against the grain.

Dr. Bartle's name often comes up in discussions of both MUDs and MMORPGs. His designs, work and scholarship have influenced MMOs in substantial ways, and it's possible that if our children end up learning about massively multiplayer RPGs in school some day, Bartle's name will be mentioned once or twice.

While he's sometimes polarizing, it's hard to deny the incredible work he's done, which is why I was excited to get to talk to him about this month's subject on the Game Archaeologist. So hit that pesky jump and let's pick the mind of a guy who really earned the right to post "FIRST!!1!"

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: A talk with Richard Bartle originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The history

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Lore, MMO Industry, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous

You know that sinking feeling when you get into something that's way, waaaay over your head and you have no choice but to swim furiously or drown? That's exactly how I felt when I started to do research for this month's series on MUDs -- Multi-User Dungeons -- and their descendants.

At first I was thrilled, because I knew that along with Dungeons & Dragons and Bulletin Board Systems, the MUD was one of the key predecessors to the MMORPG as we know it today. It was, and still is, vital gaming history that helped to shape the genre. The only problem was that for various reasons -- mostly a lack of good internet access in college and general ignorance -- I'd missed out on MUDs back in the day.

But it's not like that stopped me from covering any of the other games in this series that I never experienced first-hand way back when; after all, there are few among us who can honestly say they did everything. So the problem wasn't the lack of first-hand knowledge but the sheer, overwhelming scope of this subject. One game alone is a manageable subject -- MUDs are an entire genre unto themselves. It's intimidating, to say the least.

It doesn't still my excitement, however, nor will it stop us from diving into this topic no matter how deep the waters get. This week we'll take a look at the brief history of the MUD/MUSH/MOO/et al. and then get into specific games later this month. So hold your breath and jump on in with me!

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The history

The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The history originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hyperspace Beacon: Jef's soapbox smells like a wet Wookiee

Larry Everett — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, New Titles, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon

Disclaimer: This column is entirely the opinion of the Hyperspace Beacon's writer and does not necessarily reflect that of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, remember: fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering -- whatever that means. So, maybe you should skip this column if this opinion is too much for you to handle.

I know in my last column I said I would continue the story of Nomi Sunrider, and I will, just not this week. I felt Jef's Soapbox article about the hype surrounding Star Wars: The Old Republic required some sort of response.

The denotation of "hype" doesn't bother me. Stimulating the audience's excitement about a game is kind of the job of a game's producers. Teasing people with parts of the story or gameplay is common. It's the connotation of "hype" that drives me bats when people apply it to STWOR. Nearly every person, who uses "hype" when talking about SWTOR, seems to indicate that BioWare and LucasArts are attempting to sell the audience something that is not truly what it is. Do they tease? Sure, but the BioWare PR managers are not selling you death sticks. I contest that the people who are selling the death sticks are the fans.

Follow after the break and I will explain.

Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Jef's soapbox smells like a wet Wookiee

Hyperspace Beacon: Jef's soapbox smells like a wet Wookiee originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDCO 2010: Interview with Dr. Richard Bartle

Karen Bryan — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, Events (Real-World), Interviews, MMO Industry, Interviews (Massively's), Events (Massively's Coverage)

At the Game Developer's Choice Awards of GDC Online 2010, Dr. Richard Bartle was the first person to receive The Online Game Legend Award. He is best known for co-creating MUD, the first virtual world, as well as his research that inspired the Bartle Player Test. What did he think about winning such a prestigious award? Follow along after the jump to read his thoughts on modern MMOs, the state of the genre and which upcoming MMO he's looking forward to the most.

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GDCO 2010: Interview with Dr. Richard Bartle originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Game Developers Choice Online Awards to knight Richard Bartle as a "Game Legend"

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, Ultima Online

If it's cool to be officially dubbed an "Online Game Legend," then it's doubly cool to be the first person to ever receive such an award. Richard Bartle will be rocking cool two ways from Sunday this fall, as the Game Developers Choice Online Awards plans to honor the good doctor this October. The Online Game Legend Award stemmed from a pool of open nominations and was chosen by the GDC Online Awards advisory committee. They specify Bartle's co-creation of MUDs and his 2003 book Designing Virtual Worlds as the key reasons why he deserves to be named a capital-L Legend.

Bartle isn't the only one due for a special award, however. Ultima Online will be inducted into their Hall of Fame as "a specific online game that has resulted in the long-term advancement of the medium, pioneering major shifts in online game development and games as a whole."

The full awards ceremony will take place on October 7th, and will include a number of other categories including Best Online Game Design and Best New Online Game. You can eyeball the full details over at GDC Online Awards' website.

Game Developers Choice Online Awards to knight Richard Bartle as a "Game Legend" originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More about MUDs for the MMO curious

Krystalle Voecks — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, Opinion

When it comes to the evolution of the MMO, you can't really deny the earliest roots of MMOs -- the MUD or Multi-User Dungeon. But as there are many who just started in with MMOs with more recent titles like World of Warcraft, the initial roots from whence the games we love rose remain shrouded in mystery for many people. Thankfully, recently Edge Online decided to not only take a very close look at the earliest creation of MUDs, but they also got a chance to sit down with Richard Bartle.

Their illuminating article, simply titled "The making of: MUD" talks not only of what started the system we know, but also how the thinking behind it progressed into the MMOs we know now. Additionally, sprinkled throughout the second half of the article are some really interesting quotes from Bartle. One such example is Bartle's explanation of his current levels of involvement and why he'd rather "...focus on the health of the forest than on individual trees" in terms of the massively multi-player game market. If you're a veteran or a newcomer, the article is well worth a read if only to give a perspective on our favorite genre that you may not have had before.

[Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

More about MUDs for the MMO curious originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Richard Bartle encourages MMO writers to make people think

Brooke Pilley — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Quests, Opinion

Richard Bartle wrote an interesting QBlog post on the art of quest design using WoW's Stranglethorn Vale zone as a model. This elicited a number of responses from various MMO bloggers. Scott Jennings had very few positive things to say about STV, while Tobold mused about STV's relevance in today's MMO landscape given its age and Syp and Raegn pointed out a perceived condescension.

It's always time to grab a hot cup of coffee when someone vocally disagrees with Dr. Bartle because he will always engage in a discussion and defend his views. He took special offense to Syp and Raegn when called out as being condescending in his original article and urged more people to write things about MMOs that make others re-think and take the genre more seriously.

In response to Syp, Bartle wrote: "If you haven't done this kind of analysis, OK, I'm calling you out: write one. Go on, choose any quest from WoW and explain what it's saying. You say you can see behind the curtain: show us. I want the art, not the craft. I don't intend to seem arrogant or mean here, although I'm sure that won't make any difference to how what I just asked is interpreted. I'm pushing because I want to encourage people to think of MMOs as art, not as low culture."

In response to Raegn, Bartle wrote: "I urge you, if you see something you like, that takes MMOs in a new direction, that says something that makes you think (you don't have to agree with it - so long as it makes you think), then please give it publicity. Then, you'll have people who genuinely deserve your praise, not someone who is merely where they are through an accident of history."

Richard Bartle encourages MMO writers to make people think originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 May 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MUD history dissolving into the waters of time

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Academic, Virtual Worlds

While many modern MMO users may never have looked at a screen of white text on a black background and typed "go north," multi-user dungeons, or MUDs, were the forerunners to modern graphical MMOs. Without their appeal and gameplay concepts, we wouldn't be playing World of Warcraft or even EverQuest. So, logically, we should make sure to preserve the histories behind the many MUDs which began our conquest of the online playing field, right?

Well, it appears Wikipedia does not think the same way we do on this matter. The online encyclopedia powered by user contributions has begun cracking down and removing articles on MUDs, citing inability to provide verification along with reliable sources. Currently on the chopping block is the entry for Threshold, one of the oldest MUDs still active to this day. This isn't the first time Wikipedia has put online games under fire -- already pulling out the entries for BYOND, LegendMUD, and even removing the article on dragon kill points (DKP) for a time. The removal for the entry of LegendMUD is particularly painful, as there are other articles on Wikipedia that reference the LegendMUD entry, yet are still apparently viable on their own.

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MUD history dissolving into the waters of time originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The WoW vs. WAR debate makes Top 10 list of video game rage

James Egan — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO Industry, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Humor

Alec Meer of Rock, Paper, Shotgun recently put a new twist on the 'top 10' lists that are cropping up at year's end -- a sort of top ten of gaming rage as expressed on the intertubes. Much of this list is focused on single-player titles and the industry itself, but Meer's 'Orc vs Orc' (#8 on the list) caught our attention.

Meer writes, "We've already talked today about the absurd, insane fanboy fallout from our own comparisons between Warhammer Online and World of Warcraft, but in truth it was a torrent of poison that briefly gripped MMO sites the world over. Notably, MUDfather Richard Bartle endured character assassination by a raft of WAR fansites after an interview in which he apparently stated the two games were very similar." That interview in question was actually Dr. Bartle's talk with our own (master) Michael Zenke back in June.

One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!

Continue reading The WoW vs. WAR debate makes Top 10 list of video game rage

The WoW vs. WAR debate makes Top 10 list of video game rage originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raph Koster on whether torture in videogames is evil

James Egan — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO Industry, Quests, Opinion

Debate over what is considered 'right' and 'wrong' in terms of behavior in a videogame has become commonplace in recent years. Virtually any mass media commentary on the myriad evils of Grand Theft Auto or the 'Debbie Does Dallas in Space' view of Mass Effect drives this point home -- everyone has a different mindset in terms of what's acceptable to them. While gamers easily dismiss many of these notions as being uninformed and taken out of context, now and again something comes to light within the gaming community itself that sparks debate. A good example has been the recent (and heated) discussion of torture in games, stemming from the views expressed by Dr. Richard Bartle. He argued his points on the questionable existence of torture in "The Art of Persuasion" quest in World of Warcraft, which set off a flurry of responses from gamers and peers.

MMO industry luminary Raph Koster weighs in with his own views on the matter in a post titled "Are games about torture evil?". Specifically, Koster addresses this comment at his website: "... please explain to me again why killing NPCs in games is fine but sticking them with a cattle prod is evil." However, Koster seems less concerned with arbitrary notions of right and wrong as he is with the game design that leads us down this path in the first place.

One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!

Continue reading Raph Koster on whether torture in videogames is evil

Raph Koster on whether torture in videogames is evil originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The slow demise of virtual tax havens

James Egan — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, MMO Industry, Opinion, Virtual Worlds

Is taxation of commerce in the virtual space inevitable? We've been hearing more and more about this coming out of China, South Korea, and Sweden, but a recent piece on BBC News -- "Slapping a tax on playtime" -- hits a bit closer to home for many of us. Flora Graham, a technology reporter for BBC News, spoke with Professor Edward Castronova of Indiana University, well-known for his research and commentary on virtual economies over the years, and game researcher Dr. Richard Bartle about the impact of taxation on games and virtual worlds.

Castronova points out the idea of taxation of virtual goods exchanged for virtual money, saying, "... it's an extraordinarily dangerous development... It's as if every time I played soccer in my backyard and scored a goal, I would have to pay the government three euros. It takes away from the game's contribution to human happiness."

Continue reading The slow demise of virtual tax havens

The slow demise of virtual tax havens originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind the Curtain: Too much emotion

Craig Withers — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Behind the Curtain

Oh Richard Bartle, you so crazy!

So, the rantings of an out-of-touch academic, desperate to grab attention, or astute observations from a true pioneer of MMOs and virtual worlds? I'll go with the latter - partly because it's true, and partly because I'm scared Dr Bartle might hunt me down and shout at me.

Going by some of the comments I've seen here on Massively and elsewhere in the past couple of days, not everyone agrees with me. That's cool though, it's the Internet, and you have a right to ~~be face-slappingly stupid~~ hold an alternate viewpoint.

Don't worry though, I don't plan on dissecting the good Doctor's words today, not only has that been done to death elsewhere; I simply don't want to. Instead, I'd like to talk briefly about emotion and our emotional investment in MMOs. To be specific, I'd like to talk about emotions which arise moment to moment, as we play.

Continue reading Behind the Curtain: Too much emotion

Behind the Curtain: Too much emotion originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Richard Bartle responds to "torture quest" issue

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Opinion, Massively Meta, Academic

A few days ago we ran a report on Richard Bartle's take on a torture quest in World of Warcraft, the Art of Persuasion. Since then, the discussion has exploded and some have taken Bartle's quotes out of context. Because of this, Bartle has created a follow-up post to clarify some of the points that may have been misinterpreted.

First of all, he's not talking about the Death Knight quest entitled, "How to Win Friends and Influence Enemies." Bartle does realize that Death Knights, while under Arthas's control, were horribly evil and he understand that this quest is necessary to make them look as evil as they are. That quest makes a very strong point that resonates with the storyline of the game.

He is quite aware that Warcraft involves killing, fireballs, destruction, and more killing. He knows there's a "dismiss quest" button at the bottom of the quest window. He is also aware that the game is not real life, it's only a computer game, and does not contain the Geneva Convention. So then, what's all the fuss?

Continue reading Richard Bartle responds to "torture quest" issue

Richard Bartle responds to "torture quest" issue originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bartle calls Blizzard out on torture quest in Wrath of the Lich King

Kyle Horner — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Expansions, News Items

Richard Bartle, co-creator of the first multi-user dungeon MUD, has expressed his displeasure with Blizzard over a Wrath of the Lich King quest -- titled, "The Art of Persuasion" -- that involves the torture of a character for information. "I'm not at all happy with this. I was expecting for there to be some way to tell the guy who gave you the quest that no, actually I don't want to torture a prisoner, but there didn't seem to be any way to do that." said Bartle on his feelings about the quest. He also said that a player must complete this quest in order to proceed into an instance called Nexus, but those we've spoken to have told us the quest is merely part of a chain that can be completed in the instance.

We mostly feel disappointed in Blizzard, because they've missed an opportunity to make something thought provoking. Players are simply given one option with no real consequence instead of pointing out the cruelty of torture or letting a player decide whether or not to do it and find another way to complete the quest. Beyond even that, this quest does kind of break the lore aspect of being a good guy (Alliance) or a misunderstood good guy (Horde) when you're doing exceptionally evil things.

[via IncGamers]

One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!

Bartle calls Blizzard out on torture quest in Wrath of the Lich King originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Best of Massively: Five stories that scandalized you

Samuel Axon — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Age of Conan, Culture, Warhammer Online

Massively is just a week and a half away from its first birthday, and we're winding our Best of Massively series down in the final days! This week we're listing five stories we wrote that caused a lot of people to get very angry -- sometimes at us, sometimes at game developers or other industry figures, and sometimes at all of the above!

If you have a thick skin for controversy (or if you're drawn to it like a moth to a flame like a lot of us are!), check out the list. Just... let's not let it come to violence, okay?

Click to start >>

Gallery: The Best of Massively: Five stories that scandalized you

The Best of Massively: Five stories that scandalized you originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today the MUD and the MMO turn 30

Samuel Axon — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, MUDs

Today marks the 30th birthday of the original MUD, created at Essex University by Roy Trubshaw in 1978. We recommend you check out what Richard Bartle -- who worked on later iterations of the project -- has to say about this event, as well as Raph Koster's words on the subject. The question at hand, as presented by Bartle, seems to be: does this matter?

While he is skeptical, we would like to posit that it does matter a great deal -- or at least that it should. Graphics alone shouldn't lead to a strong distinction when the fundamentals are the same, so let's consider the modern MMO to be part of the same tradition as the MUD -- let's say that this is the MMO's 30th birthday too.

Continue reading Today the MUD and the MMO turn 30

Today the MUD and the MMO turn 30 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Escapist introduces The Virtual Policy Network

Tateru Nino — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, Politics, Legal, Virtual Worlds

The Escapist is carrying a deliciously cogent piece from multimedia writer Wendy Despain, tantalizingly entitled Legislating the Virtual World. In it, she introduces The Virtual Policy Network, founded by Ren Reynolds to help governments, universities and businesses mediate their interests in online worlds. The Virtual Policy Network includes such names as Richard Bartle, Mia Consalvo, Randy Farmer, Thomas Malaby, Jessica Mulligan, and David Pullinger. The issues in virtual environments, however, may be at once simpler and more complex than they appear on the surface.

'As an example, consider how landlord laws might apply to virtual worlds. If it's assumed the "residents" are renting their virtual space from the people who make and maintain the game, does banning a player equate to evicting them from an apartment?,' writes Despain, 'Now consider the fact that landlord laws vary from city to city, not just internationally, and you have an idea of how complex a simple account ban can become with a little creative litigation.'

However, we'll defer to the combined wisdom of Belgian surrealist painter Réné Magritte and philosopher, historian, intellectual and sociologist Michel Foucault, who more accurately stated, Ceçi n'est pas une pipe.

Continue reading The Escapist introduces The Virtual Policy Network

The Escapist introduces The Virtual Policy Network originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can MMOs have political ideologies?

James Egan — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Culture, MMO Industry, Opinion, Politics, Academic, Virtual Worlds

The Terra Nova blog is known for its in-depth views on virtual worlds and MMOs, with an academic bent. Contributor Nate Combs has provided insightful commentary on EVE Online for Terra Nova in the past, and recently continued on that track by stating, "I wonder whether an MMORPG can have a political ideology, either by design or by accident." There are few massively multiplayer games that such a question could truly apply to -- EVE Online is the most prominent example, largely due to the game's depth.

Combs also wonders if such PvP-centric games and settings encourage militaristic world views, and whether PvE-centric titles (where players don't fight one another, rather are simply rationed loot) are comparable to a Scandinavian welfare model.

Continue reading Can MMOs have political ideologies?

Can MMOs have political ideologies? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun discovers that WoW is a "dirty word"

Samuel Axon — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, New Titles, Warhammer Online

Today we return to a debate that simply will not die. Gaming blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun -- a very smart blog that is a combination of progressive and traditionalist, if that makes any sense at all -- felt the need to defend itself after it previewed Warhammer Online and made numerous comparisons to World of Warcraft. It even inserted a WoW screenshot as a joke.

If you've been following this debate (which already reached a raging napalmic inferno of internet vitriol when Richard Bartle compared the games in an interview with us) then you know that RPS was just asking for trouble. And trouble it got, in the order of more than 200 comments.

The latest development: RPS blogger Alec Meer wrote a personal, diplomatic, and even impassioned post in which he attempted both to defend the comparison and to defend WAR in the face of said comparison. He also tried to explain why the connection infuriates WAR fans so much. The money quote: "Telling a WAR player that his game is similar to WoW is like telling a goth that he's emo." Needless to say, it's worth a read.

Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Rock, Paper, Shotgun discovers that WoW is a "dirty word" originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Richard Bartle laments poor state of game education in the UK

Samuel Axon — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, Academic

Richard Bartle -- the man who co-invented MUDs at the University of Essex in 1978 -- described the poor state of game-related academic study and education when speaking at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival a few days ago.

Bartle made a distinction between games-focused training (the acquisition of skills by instruction) and games-focused education (the development of understanding through learning). He said that the United Kingdom's colleges are short on education, even though training is available at some universities.

He noted that symptoms of this problem are already apparent: the academic community, such as it is, has been unable to agree (or even engage in cohesive discourse) about the reasons men and women often play as characters of a different sex than their own in MMOs.

Richard Bartle laments poor state of game education in the UK originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What's your Bartle quotient?

Samuel Axon — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind

The Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology has long been a staple of the MUD and MMORPG community. We've ever mentioned it here a couple of times.

The Bartle Test (developed by -- you guessed it -- Richard Bartle) is a series of questions the answers to which result in the test-taker's Bartle Quotient. In your Bartle Quotient, you're told how closely you identify with each of four types of MMO gamer pychologies -- Achiever, Explorer, Killer, and Socializer. The final figure is a ranking -- from most dominant to least dominant -- of those types in your own gaming personality. For example, this blogger is an ESKA.

The test has been criticized over the years as an innacurate or insufficient measurement, but it's remained popular nonetheless. Take the test, and tell us where you stand. Do you feel it's accurate? If not, where did it go wrong?

The Daily Grind: What's your Bartle quotient? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What MMOG would you kill off?

Matt Warner — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind

Yesterday we asked what deceased MMOG do you miss the most. Let's flip that question around and make it somewhat evil. It could be before the MMOG ever launched essentially erasing it and making it unknown or sometime after it launched. Any MMOG is fair game. What about the reasons for your conclusion. Maybe you played it for hundreds of days on end and that caused a rift in your awesome social life. Perhaps it's the fact that your buddies left you behind and you want to enact revenge to get your old group back. There has to be one MMOG that you don't like, find annoying, whatever the reason. Or maybe you wouldn't pull the plug on any MMOG. That's okay too.

Let's know, and be sure to explain your reasoning for doing so other than "I hate that game" or "I don't care." Example: Richard Bartle would sacrifice World of Warcraft because at one time or still believes the demise would benefit independent MMORPG developers. Please keep the nerd rage at a minimum when explaining why you chose that particular MMOG.

The Daily Grind: What MMOG would you kill off? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind the Curtain: Gone for good?

Craig Withers — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EverQuest, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online, Behind the Curtain

I've been thinking recently about loss. Having been incredibly lucky with my own brush with the possibility of losing my World of Warcraft characters, I got to thinking. Not only about what I would have done if things hadn't worked out for me, but about how loss works in MMOs today.

Last week, Gabriel wrote a fantastic column about item decay in games past, present and future. I've been playing Diablo 2 again lately, for obvious reasons, and I had found myself thinking on the similarities and differences between the durability system in Diablo and WoW.

I've said before that my MMO career started with Star Wars Galaxies, so I don't have the long-term experience many of the other writers here at Massively do. I've never had to worry about making corpse runs in Everquest, or had to concern myself with losing my items in Ultima Online. While Galaxies did have item decay, it wasn't set to a punishing degree - items did wear out eventually, but at a reasonable rate. When an item eventually gave out, you crafted yourself a replacement, or you picked one up from another player. By doing so, you knew you were contributing to the economy, so if you tried hard you could convince yourself that you were actually helping the game.

Continue reading Behind the Curtain: Gone for good?

Behind the Curtain: Gone for good? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Koster: MMOs removed more features from MUDs than they added

Samuel Axon — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion

Areae president, MetaPlace developer, and all-around-MMO-authority Raph Koster wrote up a blog post about the influence of MUDs on today's graphical MMOs. The post is part of the broader, cross-blog discussion that began with our interview with Richard Bartle last week. You can read Koster's post in that context if you really want to, but it's interesting on its own.

He started out by saying which MUDs influenced the developers of which early MMOs. For example, LP MUDs had an impact on Ultima Online. Then he named a handful of the best innovations of the modern MMO -- "advanced raiding," instances, improvements to combat via spaciality, etc. After saying all those positive things though, he dropped a bit of a bomb, saying that despite all that, "MMOs have removed more features from MUD gameplay than they have added, when you look at the games in aggregate."

Oh noes! Are the Warhammer Online fans fuming yet? Well, they shouldn't be. "Failure to evolve more radically isn't a flaw," said Koster. He finished up by positing that all the current MMOs "are already Old Guard," and that "the mudder crew is already the Older Guard. So in a sense this is kind of like an argument between art rockers and disco musicians."

Koster: MMOs removed more features from MUDs than they added originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Richard Bartle vs Tobold

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion

Massively's interview with Richard Bartle from last week has caused several tidal waves of opinion over the now-infamous line, "I've already played Warhammer. It was called World of Warcraft." by the father of the genre. MMO bloggers are coming out of the woodwork to give their own opinions on what this means, and how much they agree or disagree with Bartle's statement. Bartle himself has expanded upon that line several times, including an interesting exchange between himself and Tobold over at Tobold's blog.

Whether you agree or disagree with Bartle's statement, the fact is, it has become big news this week. This recent exchange shows that Bartle isn't afraid to make his opinion known, and sees it as something that shouldn't be weighed more heavily than that of the common gamer.

Richard Bartle vs Tobold originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Richard Bartle expands on earlier remarks stated in Massively interview [updated]

Matt Warner — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Age of Conan, Game Mechanics, Opinion

In this interview conducted by Michael Zenke, Richard Bartle discussed how to improve World of Warcraft and about MMOGs in general. One comment in particular overshadowed the whole interview: "I've already played Warhammer. It was called World of Warcraft." The comment thread on both Massively and WoW Insider was met with heavy criticism towards what many considered a myopic statement. It didn't stop there; the blogosphere has been running rampant with rambunctious commentary about his remarks all weekend long.

This isn't the first time that Bartle has come under scrutiny for one of his outspoken comments. Last year, when asked what he would do if he could control any MMOG Bartle proclaimed he would shut down World of Warcraft. His reasoning behind it was so that other unknown virtual worlds would have the chance to thrive and push new boundaries in the massive genre. One sacrifice for a thousand, but it's definitely something to ponder as the cost of MMO development continues to skyrocket towards the 100 million dollar mark. Big-budget MMOs are less likely to take risks and follow a winning formula.

No matter what you think of Richard Bartle, we only felt that it was fair that we share his follow-up comments that may help discern his perspective as a game designer. More on Bartle's controversial statement which may not be as shocking as one might think, in his own words after the jump.

Continue reading Richard Bartle expands on earlier remarks stated in Massively interview [updated]

Richard Bartle expands on earlier remarks stated in Massively interview [updated] originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Exemplary conduct: WoW expansion adds over 80 new emotes

Samuel Axon — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Expansions, News Items, Opinion

There have been some leaks from the "friends & family" alpha test for World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Our sister site WoW Insider has kept up with some of the finer details from the leak, but one recent bit of info got us thinking.

The info: WotLK will add over 80 new emotes to WoW players' social repertoire. That's awesome, but it leads us to ask a question: why don't social emotes get more attention in the MMO genre? In general, things like that are sporadically tacked on as small bonuses, if they get added at all. Developers don't make them a big priority. We understand the reasons; gameplay always comes first, right?

Well, maybe not always. MMOs are unique in gaming because of their social and community aspects. Emote animations play a part in social interactions. Maybe developers should think about more than just raid mechanics. Maybe they should consider devoting resources to expanding social interaction features. You don't have to be a Bartle Socializer to appreciate emotes, do you?

[Via WoW Insider]

Exemplary conduct: WoW expansion adds over 80 new emotes originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Exclusive: Richard Bartle on how he'd make World of Warcraft better

Michael Zenke — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Academic, Interviews (Massively's)

Or: The Grandfather of MUDs talks the Mother of all MMOs

Earlier in the year this blogger had the chance to attend the Independent MMO Game Developer's Conference, the second annual event held in Minneapolis, MN. A number of luminaries in the field made an appearance, such as Scott Hartsman (former Senior Producer for EverQuest 2) and Brian Green (best known for his work on Meridian 59). Also in attendance was Dr. Richard Bartle, the much-admired co-developer of the original MUD1 online environment. Along with Roy Trubshaw, Mr. Bartle essentially pioneered the field of MUDs. As these games gave rise to MMOs as we know them today, we would most likely not be enjoying the Massively.com website without his efforts.

Join us as we sit down for a conversation about the big kid on the block: World of Warcraft. Some time ago Dr. Bartle made the crack that he'd "shut down" Blizzard game in an effort to improve the industry. Though he was only making an elaborately illustrative joke at the time, he's gotten a lot of flack for it. Today we have the other side of that coin: what Blizzard could honestly do to make the game even better. Click on through below the cut for Dr. Richard Bartle's view on Karazahn, playing MMOs as a player, and his overall view on the near future of the genre's darlings.

Continue reading Exclusive: Richard Bartle on how he'd make World of Warcraft better

Exclusive: Richard Bartle on how he'd make World of Warcraft better originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MMO customer 'Bill of Rights'

Kyle Horner — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion

Here comes the familiar discussion of player rights once again, but this time in a different form. Warhammer Online blog WAAAGH! has a post discussing the possible virtues of an MMO customer "Bill of Rights" as it were. Our immediate thoughts were of Richard Bartle's presentation discussing the good, bad and ugly futures of massively multiplayer online worlds. If you skim through Bartle's presentation, you'll come across the future involving player "rights" pretty quickly. Otherwise known as the lawyer future, possibly one of the scariest suggestions we've ever heard for our beloved MMOs.

Granted, some of those predictions are quite out there. Paying income tax on the money you earn in-game is a pretty big leap, but it all starts out with players pointing to EULAs (End User License Agreements) as unfair. If we start demanding more rights within our online worlds we run the risk of having to walk a very thin tightrope that could lead to a lot of headaches later on. Don't get us wrong, we're all for companies treating their player-base better, but a virtual coup d'état is the last thing any of us should want.

MMO customer 'Bill of Rights' originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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