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Dr. Richard Bartle message to MMO makers
Rattrap
Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 1,599
Dr. Bartle, the man that invented multiplayer RPG. The man that wrote MUD1 from the scratch , when multiplayer was just a theory in minds of few people ... had a small lecture to "new" mmo developers at IMGDC
And his message was very clear
http://www.gamersinfo.net/index.php?art/id:1665
a small snippet :
"To wrap up his keynote, Dr. Bartle challenged the developers in the room to surprise him. To truly innovate the gaming industry in the same way that the developers who attended Adventure '89 innovated MUD's. Though he didn't phrase is like this, the challenge was basically to stop making “EQ clones” and break out of the mold to make something different."
And his message was very clear
http://www.gamersinfo.net/index.php?art/id:1665
a small snippet :
"To wrap up his keynote, Dr. Bartle challenged the developers in the room to surprise him. To truly innovate the gaming industry in the same way that the developers who attended Adventure '89 innovated MUD's. Though he didn't phrase is like this, the challenge was basically to stop making “EQ clones” and break out of the mold to make something different."
"Before this battle is over all the world will know that few...stood against many." - King Leonidas
Comments
Interesting read, thanks.
It says something when a guy like Bartle has a critizism like this. There was an interesting article in either PCGamer or GFW (I forgot which one) last month that featured some of the best known devs of many genres and their main gripe was their inability to stray to far off the beat path because of "marketing concerns". All of the devs had some very interesting things to say about gaming and innovation except for Brad McQuad, his big complaint was the long hours.
The most important part of reading is reading between the lines.
Interesting read, thanks Rattrap. Bartle is most aware of this situation, having kept an eye on MMOs for so many years.
Developers, do a favour and let the pioneer see someone beat him in concept at least, before he passes on. Wait, perhaps the indie developers are the ones slowly making way to that reality...
Quoting people doesn't make you clever, in fact, it makes you all the more stupid for not bothering to read the quotes you post in the first place.
It's going to be a while, but I look forward to seeing what Red 5 produces:
Absinthe Lovers
Ok, I read it. The problem I see with what he said is that he wasn't willing to stick his neck out by going into any specifics about game design. He called for innovation but he didn't put himself or anyone else on the spot by getting into the nuts and bolts of the game mechanics that need to see some innovation and what the innovation might possibly be.
The reason this is a problem is that most of the developers ensconced in the industry right now think that the height of innovation is using different graphics than the last game while the basic design remains almost exactly the same. Go to the site of any major game in development right now and I bet you can find the word "innovation" being tossed around quite freely. I usually accept that it's just hype but sometimes I really wonder if they even know what the word means.
There are innovative games upcomming, but I really don't see them taking the lead over the genre.
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</OBAMA>
I'm having a moment of optimism right now (have to type fast before it passes) so I'm going to say that I think we will eventually see a major, well funded mmorpg come out that really is different.
However, it won't happen untill the majority of gamers are so sick and tired of the same ol' crap that sales and subscription rates start dropping off and there is a huge outcry for real innovation. Untill then the major developers will milk the EQ clones untill we scream for mercy. All we can do is ride it out untill the wave breaks and hope that we haven't died of old age before it happens.
Yeah, I've been sorta thinking the same thing about those two games. A bunch of people who are already suffering some degree of burnout have let themselves get worked up into a frenzy of anticipation over those two. When all of those people realize that those two games really are just the same crap again it might be just enough of a push to make the gamer community reach a critical mass of discontent. I can hope anyway.
It's interesting that you feel this way when you've looked at Warhammer closely but not AoC. I'm just the opposite. I've looked very closely at AoC but not so much at Warhammer. Despite the elaborate fantasies created by the fans of AoC, about the only claim to innovation they have is the much hyped "real combat". Which ultimately won't be much different than normal mmorpg combat.
The usual combat in these games is auto-attack combined with special moves you have to activate each time you use them. All AoC is really doing is removing the auto-attack part of it and keeping the special moves. But because they have removed the auto-attack part and make you push a button for each swing they decided to call it "REAL COMBAT" as a makerting tool. And it's working wonderfully well to make people froth at the mouth.