Verant planning a Star Wars MMORPG?
adamaant
months ago. Somebody tell me if they have heard that rumor.
Adamaant
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"adamaant" <adamaant...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:008962b0...@usw-ex0107-055.remarq.com...
(re)flex
Brack! wrote in message <38a7a29f...@news.m.iinet.net.au>...
>Desslock's rpg site reports that Verant is developing both Star Wars
>and Star Trek MMORPGs for their respective liscence holders.
I had heard this before, and it still begs the question, 'What will be the
format?'. First of all, clearly a Star Wars MMORPG must span many many
worlds. Does Verant plan on using a simple variant of EQ? Since it has
worked so well for them, it is difficult for me to imagine them varying the
formula much. Consequently, I foresee each world being made up of a handful
of zones. But what makes up the interstitial areas? Do players travel via
'spaceports'. Are spacecraft now like EQ rafts? What about matters of class?
Won't everyone simply play the 'Jedi' class?
It seems to me that a large portion of a decent Star Wars MMORPG should take
place in space. What's Star Wars without space battles, without X-Wings
zooming through trenches? For that matter, without smugglers making the
Kessel Run? I think there would almost have to be two separate engines- One
for exploring areas on foot (Mos Eisley, Death Star, Coruscant, etc), and
one for flying a spacecraft (Wherein one can have dogfights, can attempt to
run past blockades, can evade Imperial craft, etc). The combat would still
have to be RPG style, of course, but a Star Wars MMORPG MUST have spaceship
combat. The trading option isn't as critical, but it would at least provide
something to do for the rare individual who chose to play a Smuggler instead
of a Jedi, as well as provide a more reasonable form of earning income than
'Killing Stormtroopers, taking their booty, and selling it', or 'Killing
Stormtroopers and trading in their scalps at the Pork Jenkins NPC'.
Needless to say, I'm dubious about the overall prospects.
Lost Dragon
>months ago. Somebody tell me if they have heard that rumor.
Why am I envisioning EQ with Star Wars textures?
Bleh.
/| .oo__. .-----.=- -= Lost Dragon =- -=.-----. U
{ \| ,-'' | _O_ |==- -= Forever Dead Forgotten Lie =- -==| _O_ | D
`,_/'(_)\_ | | |==- Remembered Souls, They Cannot Die -==| | | I
<...{_)_)_''`-----`===-- http://www.lostdragon.com/ --==='-----' C
adam connor
>I swear I read it was a possibility in Computer Gaming Magazine 2
>months ago. Somebody tell me if they have heard that rumor.
>
>Adamaant
>
Yes, but it's from the makers of EverCamp, so it will suck.
drocket
<ref...@mindspring.com> wrote:
>I had heard this before, and it still begs the question, 'What will be the
>format?'. First of all, clearly a Star Wars MMORPG must span many many
>worlds. Does Verant plan on using a simple variant of EQ? Since it has
>worked so well for them, it is difficult for me to imagine them varying the
>formula much. Consequently, I foresee each world being made up of a handful
>of zones. But what makes up the interstitial areas? Do players travel via
>'spaceports'. Are spacecraft now like EQ rafts? What about matters of class?
>Won't everyone simply play the 'Jedi' class?
*snip*
>Needless to say, I'm dubious about the overall prospects.
Yeah, I'm having really horrible visions of what the game will be
like. You're quite right that everyone will wind up playing a Jedi,
which of course means weekly nerfings to try to balance the
population. Instead of having 1/2 hour boat trips, you'll have 4 hour
spaceship trips from world to world (After all, space is big and any
downtime is useful in slowing down leveling.)
The game will basically work out to sitting around waiting for a
Stormtrooper to spawn. Then you'll have the rare spawns like Boba
Fett and Darth Vader who'll only spawn every 18 hours and carry good
loot - they'll be camped permanently by ebay farmers. As for trade
skills, Verant considers making a profit by trading to be a sin.
Mindlessly killing hundreds of thousands of stormtroopers will be the
only way to advance in the game.
adamaant
still be a good fighter. Han Solo was a capatalist warrior was
he not? He later joined the Rebellion, but only after much
proding. I would say it would be good if you could change
classes along the way. You don't start out as a jedi, but you
instead gain levels and become one, depending upon what quests
you go on. If you do the Kessle Run, that would be a quest to
become a Smuggler. Surley just as fun, with the space battles
involved. If you seek out a master, like Yoda, you could start
your way to becoming a Jedi. Or, if your leaning towards the
dark side, you could seek out the wizdom of a Hut, and see he has
a bounty for you to go after. A Dark Master, or Darth, could
have the keys to following the evil side of the fource. Many
different paths, but all could be fun.
Zones could be like hyper-space travel (mabey look a lot like the
portals in Asheron's Call). So each zone would have one or more
Space ports with sectors reachable from those ports.
I agree that there would have to be Space Fighting. Purhaps it
could be something like they are doing for Freelancer, where it's
more of a point and click interface, but still stunning visually,
and gives you the "feel" of space combat.
Just some of my thoughts
Brack!
<smo...@home.com> wrote:
>I remember hearing something along those lines...
>
>"adamaant" <adamaant...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote in message
>news:008962b0...@usw-ex0107-055.remarq.com...
>> I swear I read it was a possibility in Computer Gaming Magazine 2
>> months ago. Somebody tell me if they have heard that rumor.
Desslock's rpg site reports that Verant is developing both Star Wars
and Star Trek MMORPGs for their respective liscence holders.
Brack! Deploy Spam-Away(tm)!: |"Oooooh! That's so keeyooot!
<root@[127.0.0.1]> | Honey, he didn't spray white
<MAILER-DAEMON@[127.0.0.1]> | acid into my cornea this time!
<abuse@[127.0.0.1]> | Aaaw, sooch a suwheeeetums!"
<.@[127.0.0.1]> UNSUBSCRIBE | -Leah Verre
William
gur...@hotmail.com wrote:
> On Sun, 13 Feb 2000 14:10:07 GMT, "The T stands for Smooth"
> <smo...@home.com> wrote:
>
> >I remember hearing something along those lines...
> >
> >"adamaant" <adamaant...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote in message
> >news:008962b0...@usw-ex0107-055.remarq.com...
> >> I swear I read it was a possibility in Computer Gaming Magazine 2
> >> months ago. Somebody tell me if they have heard that rumor.
>
> Desslock's rpg site reports that Verant is developing both Star Wars
> and Star Trek MMORPGs for their respective liscence holders.
Oh boy! Soon you'll be able to camp Wookies and Klingons!
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
William
adam connor <ad...@no.spam.com> wrote:
> adamaant <adamaant...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
> >I swear I read it was a possibility in Computer Gaming Magazine 2
> >months ago. Somebody tell me if they have heard that rumor.
> >
> >
> Yes, but it's from the makers of EverCamp, so it will suck.
And yet it will make an enormous amount of money despite that fact.
adam connor
>Yeah, I'm having really horrible visions of what the game will be
>like. You're quite right that everyone will wind up playing a Jedi,
>which of course means weekly nerfings to try to balance the
>population. Instead of having 1/2 hour boat trips, you'll have 4 hour
>spaceship trips from world to world (After all, space is big and any
>downtime is useful in slowing down leveling.)
>
>The game will basically work out to sitting around waiting for a
>Stormtrooper to spawn. Then you'll have the rare spawns like Boba
>Fett and Darth Vader who'll only spawn every 18 hours and carry good
>loot - they'll be camped permanently by ebay farmers. As for trade
>skills, Verant considers making a profit by trading to be a sin.
>Mindlessly killing hundreds of thousands of stormtroopers will be the
>only way to advance in the game.
I can tell you have played Everquest. ;-)
There is, unfortunately, much truth to what you say.
Damocles
<lostd...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>>I swear I read it was a possibility in Computer Gaming Magazine 2
>>months ago. Somebody tell me if they have heard that rumor.
>
>Why am I envisioning EQ with Star Wars textures?
>
>Bleh.
>
Sounds nightmarish to me...I can't imagine sharing the Trek or Star
Wars universe with the drooling idiots who infest all massively
multiplayer games.
Silverlock
<lostd...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>>I swear I read it was a possibility in Computer Gaming Magazine 2
>>months ago. Somebody tell me if they have heard that rumor.
>
>Why am I envisioning EQ with Star Wars textures?
>
>Bleh.
>
>
> /| .oo__. .-----.=- -= Lost Dragon =- -=.-----. U
> { \| ,-'' | _O_ |==- -= Forever Dead Forgotten Lie =- -==| _O_ | D
> `,_/'(_)\_ | | |==- Remembered Souls, They Cannot Die -==| | | I
><...{_)_)_''`-----`===-- http://www.lostdragon.com/ --==='-----' C
Because your unimaginative?
--
Silverlock, ICQ 474725
Household Pests? The SW-404 'SpitFire' APRL cleansing system
will remove them, we Guarantee IT! Not responsible for damage
to persons or structures from use of this product.
Dial 1-800-FRY-THEM for info and a home demonstration.
Lost Dragon
That's preposterous.
Sure, I *know* what a really neat MMORPG with the Trek or SW license
would be like. Unfortunately, I don't think Verant is going to do
anything more than remake EQ with different NPCs. They don't strike me
as being particularly keen on role-playing. Roll-playing maybe....
adamaant
The only thing similar between it and everquest was possibly the
3D sky effects. Other than that, obviously different games. A
gaming developer is only as "capable" as the people they hire to
lead their projects. When given the right talent they could do
wonderful things with these titles. I have faith that something
as exciting and ambitious as ST or SW MMORPG will generate the
interest of the best developing minds out there. Verant, as a
company has proven that they could do it. Everquest works. I
bet every MMORPG that they follow with will be better and more
exciting (but never perfect). They will learn from their
mistakes as people do. They can't go back and "fix" EQ, because
too much has gone into what they currently have. It, as a game
will run it's course. People will love it until something
greater comes along. They made a better game than UO, by most
people's standards. I hope that a game that incorporates more
skill, story, and true adventure will be the result of a Star
Wars or Star Trek game. I believe no company is more capable
than Varant to do this. No one else has the experience.
Led Mirage
<adamaant...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>greater comes along. They made a better game than UO, by most
>people's standards. I hope that a game that incorporates more
>skill, story, and true adventure will be the result of a Star
>Wars or Star Trek game. I believe no company is more capable
>than Varant to do this. No one else has the experience.
Sigh. MMORPG simply does not work IMO. Why?
1) There WILL be some sort of fault within the system that allows
antisocial behaviour (be it PKing or kill stealing or some other that
hasn't surfaced yet).
2) There WILL be people who exploit these faults. There will probably
be enough of them that will spoil the fun for everybody else.
3) It's very hard the company to kick these people out becuase they're
footing their bills.
4)The worst thing is, you do not have the true freedom that is allowed
in a pen and paper game because the technology simply isn't there. But
you do not get to enjoy a great story either because the nature of the
game.
adamaant
What if there was a very "Strict Code Of Behavior" enforced.
Everyone would know upfront what that code is. You stick by that
code,you keep your membership. If not, "bye,bye". Never been
tried, so who is to say it wouldn't work. I doubt a company
would risk loosing money too, but if they really believe it is
the only way to make a great game, they can do it.
Another point is that your "exploits" could be areas of intrigue
for the other players. What if players were allowed to inforce
their own rules? If people knew that they may be forced to stand
before a councel of their peers, they may not behave in ways that
would get them in trouble.
Finally, I guess your bottom line is the most depressing of all.
With all the technology today, all of the wonderful graphic
beauty and potential, is no match for the power of people to
wreck it for everyone. That is so sad. Maybe you are right,
with the anonymoty of the internet, it gives people licence to
act in ways they wouldn't in public. If we could only find ways
of exploiting the exploiters! Turn it around on them, where
their evil ways become the stuff of adventure for other players.
"We have reports of a kill stealer in sector 7. I am issuing an
APB on this individual. He should be brought back to be tried by
the councel. If he is found guilty, he will loose player rights
for 1 month" (all this endorsed by Verant). Pretty fair. Course
it brings up possible exploits of it's own.
There isn't a perfect answer to your concerns. These games are a
microcosm of the real world. There is pettyness, hate, greed,
envy, and evil on this planet we live. There would have to be in
game as well.
Steve Kostoff
adamaant wrote in message <00771078...@usw-ex0107-055.remarq.com>...
>I think you make good points. Some of what you said is untested.
> What if there was a very "Strict Code Of Behavior" enforced.
>Everyone would know upfront what that code is. You stick by that
>code,you keep your membership. If not, "bye,bye". Never been
>tried, so who is to say it wouldn't work. I doubt a company
>would risk loosing money too, but if they really believe it is
>the only way to make a great game, they can do it.
That is never, ever going to happen. Enforcing such rules (and they would
have to be brutally enforced until the player population got the message)
would mean a very hands-on approach from the companies involved, which none
of the companies running existing MMORPGs have shown much interest in
(except when LB gets killed <g>) and most importantly, it would involve
cancelling a lot of miscreant user accounts, which means lost revenue for
the company. A LOT of lost revenue - do not underestimate the number of
anti-social types in these games.
Believe me, your ideas have been floated time and again in the various
MMORPGs out there, and the companies owning them have steadfastly refused to
do anything about abuses.
Steve Kostoff
Lost Dragon
>1) There WILL be some sort of fault within the system that allows
Well, technically it works - it just doesn't work the way I like it.
I'd rather see a Star Trek multiplayer RPG with an engine like NWN is
going to have.
How cool would it be to create your own planet and let other people beam
down to visit it?
Small model multiplayer with a DM - that's what I want to see more of -
not inhuman mega worlds with boring monster spawns and tired cRPG
cliches.
adamaant
Silverlock
wrote:
>On Mon, 14 Feb 2000 14:33:54 -0800, adamaant
><adamaant...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>
>>greater comes along. They made a better game than UO, by most
>>people's standards. I hope that a game that incorporates more
>>skill, story, and true adventure will be the result of a Star
>>Wars or Star Trek game. I believe no company is more capable
>>than Varant to do this. No one else has the experience.
>
>Sigh. MMORPG simply does not work IMO. Why?
>1) There WILL be some sort of fault within the system that allows
>antisocial behaviour (be it PKing or kill stealing or some other that
>hasn't surfaced yet).
>2) There WILL be people who exploit these faults. There will probably
>be enough of them that will spoil the fun for everybody else.
>3) It's very hard the company to kick these people out becuase they're
>footing their bills.
>4)The worst thing is, you do not have the true freedom that is allowed
>in a pen and paper game because the technology simply isn't there. But
>you do not get to enjoy a great story either because the nature of the
>game.
This really is like someone in 1920 complaining that their model T
can't go offroad, and doesn't come standard with Air and anti-lock
brakes. Th first real commercial generation of MMORPG's just passed,
we are seeing the second generation in development now. Don't be such
a pessimist, as th media grows those that can include the things you
mention like a story and more fully developed world will inevitably
get more customers and spawn more clones. It's a form of evolution and
eventually MMORPG's will reach the level needed.
--
Silverlock, ICQ 474725, MSN Passport: Sylve...@hotmail.com
AIM Screen Name:Sylverlok
Led Mirage
<meth...@only4fun.nu> wrote:
>The big problem is that there's still very little competition in the
>MMORPG market. If there were ten different MMORPGs competing over the
>customers and with about the same quality in gameplay, the situation
>would be very different. I'm certain the companies would be very quick
>to remedy abuse if there was any risk for them to lose current and
>future customers because they got a "bad reputation". Right now there
>is no such risk since there are no alternatives to the very few
>popular MMORPGs out there.
The MMORPG market is like a pie. With more people sharing the pie, the
companies will be much more reluctant to let their customers go.
Led Mirage
<adamaant...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>Another point is that your "exploits" could be areas of intrigue
>for the other players. What if players were allowed to inforce
>their own rules? If people knew that they may be forced to stand
>before a councel of their peers, they may not behave in ways that
>would get them in trouble.
This is what UO tried to do. To let the players themselves. Of course
all this created were those so called "anti-PK" guilds, which are
basically a different kind of PKers. It doesn't solve any problem. Of
course, peole claim these "guild wars" as part of role playing, but
really, they're just kidding themselves.
Another basic problem of MMORPG is that everybody wants to be heroes
in RPGs. But what kind of a world is it that has over 80% of it's
non-monster population all heroes? MMORPG is a niche market, and I
think it'll stay a niche for quite a while.
Damocles
wrote:
>
>This really is like someone in 1920 complaining that their model T
>can't go offroad, and doesn't come standard with Air and anti-lock
>brakes. Th first real commercial generation of MMORPG's just passed,
>we are seeing the second generation in development now. Don't be such
>a pessimist, as th media grows those that can include the things you
>mention like a story and more fully developed world will inevitably
>get more customers and spawn more clones. It's a form of evolution and
>eventually MMORPG's will reach the level needed.
The technology may change but the people playing the game do not,
Silverlock. The idiots and abusers will still be there, and in ever
increasing numbers as the genre expands. Their very existence forces
developers to fight a constant and losing battle against them.
Before you say pk switch or any of the other constraints out there,
I'm defining "abuser" in a broader sense. The level 50 guilds that
control EQ spawn zones for days at a time so they can sell rare items
on Ebay (all major credit cards accepted 24 / 7) are hurting other
players in a way that dwarfs any simple pk raid from the old days of
UO. Yet Verant has declared itself powerless to stop them...they
simply lack the resources to fight the Ebay whoring of virtual items.
Even Turbine, which has all of Microsoft's limitless financing for
Asheron's Call, is not able to fight this poison.
The idea of sharing a universe that has some kind of meaning to me,
like Star Wars or Middle Earth before it, with these kinds of "people"
makes my skin crawl. Give me a Neverwinter Nights kind of game where I
can lock them out completely.
adamaant
different interest groups. Everything from business men, to
houswives, to kids. Action gamers, RPGrs, Chat room junkies,
people that have no interest in any other kind of computer game,
excapists, loosers, freaks, creative and intelligent people,
evil dispicable folks. It's open to all. I agree with you that
a PK environment doesn't work, unless it is by choice. As
for "everyone being heros" well that is the nature of the game.
If being a hero means saving your land from those dispicable
evil ones, that that makes it fun and solves much of the
problems you discuss.
Nitch market means it only has appeal to a certain select group
of people, and it seem's obvious to me that this isn't one of
them. Quite the opposite in fact. Maybe you should say it is
an anti-nitch market. This means it would not interest, or
appeal to people that are part of a nitch (ie. hardcore
roleplayers, single player action enthusiasts). People who play
the massively multiplayer games, those who stay, don't complain,
ejoy them for what they are, don't have the preconceived notions
as to what they should be able to do, not do, and why the
company that makes the game blew it for some reason. Mostly
they just play and enjoy. For us other gamers, who expect more,
we will eventually see more, and should just enjoy these games
for what they are, beautiful escapes into an alternate reality.
adamaant
Sllim! So cool for you to be a pesimist that can look beyond it
and discover the fun that could be realized. Of course we
should never get our hopes up about anything because they will
most certianly be dashed. I go in with as even an attitude as I
can, not hoping for too much, but expecting plenty. What you
describe is most certainly possible. Games within games withing
games.
I have one other idea. Anyone ever watched that show, "Who's
line is it anyway?" with Drew Carey on ABC? Funny as shit!
anyway, He gives these performers certain concepts, and it is
their job to try and create comedy based upon his rules. It
changes every week. Different rules, different situations.
What if, instead of creating "Quests" like in typical RPGs, the
Game were to tell you what your character was to do. Let us say
you rolled and became a Governor. So your character would be
given the job of governing a nation. he would have to interact
with NPC's and Players accordingly. He would be given a concept
to deal with, and he would improv the character for all the
other players. These other players would also be given "jobs"
or characters to play. Some might pick "You are an evil sort of
man with ambitions of taking over the planet" so you would
interact with the other characters based upon the rules given.
You might be told other things, like " you don't believe in
murder, but you are not against lieing and manipulation to get
what you want." The game could keep the character rules secret
from the rest of the players, but every once in a while you
would get a message upon login, such as "You have discovered
that your 'friend' might possibly be planning to overthrough
your government" in which case you would have to respond in
game to the threat. Just think of the possibilities? The
developers job will be to write these rules for the players, and
it will be the job of the player to try and stick as closely to
the rules as possible. Going off in a different direction will
only make it more interesting. If you are given a rule later on
that doesn't Jive with the story you are developing, it will be
your job to try and bring it back around to the story arc that
the developer has given the players. This would allow true
roleplaying, much flexability, and the role of the GM's in game
will more of an evaluation role, monitoring the activities of
the players, and assessing what changes to the world might be in
order to shake things up. The developers job would be to create
an Epic Story that fits together. Asheron's Call is doing some
of that, but they don't give people the option of playing a role
in the story. That would be a fabulous option in a game like
Star Wars, or Star Trek. You could even have entire governments
formed, and armies and businesses, or crime rings. Say you are
a business man, you log on and find a message that says "you
have discovered a large deposit of valuable ore in the Vega
system. You should gather a team to investigate the system."
He would then go into the game, and begin telling players about
what he was told, and recruiting followers, get in space ships
and fly off and find the ore!
The only problem with this idea is that it would require the
developer to become intimately involved with the players. There
would be some overlaping story lines, but that's ok, because
that is true in the real world. We all live out our lives in
similar disfunctional ways <g>. One way of doing it would be to
follow some of the ideas verant is already using with it's
upcoming "Soveirgn" title. The games would have a beginning
middle and end, and a maximum of players per game, set at the
begining. some are smaller games with 10 or so people, and
others would be 100 or more. Still a persistant world, and
continues until the story arc is finished.
Anyway, just an idea. I think it could be very interesting.
Steve Kostoff
Damocles <phae...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:38aaa577...@news.slnt1.on.wave.home.com...
<snip>
> The technology may change but the people playing the game do not,
> Silverlock. The idiots and abusers will still be there, and in ever
> increasing numbers as the genre expands. Their very existence forces
> developers to fight a constant and losing battle against them.
Thank you for hitting the nail on the head, Damocles. The technical problems
in MMORPGs are nothing compared to the people problems.
Steve Kostoff
drocket
>I was thinking about this whole Star Wars and Star Trek MMORPG thing
>and it has occured to me that this is one of those situations that can
>only have 1 of 2 endings. It will either rock. You know, kick ass,
>be da shit. Or it will suck eggs.
>Nothing in between.
I'm willing to bet that, like Everquest itself, the games will manage
to do both. They'll contain some of the best, brightest, greatest
moments of gaming ever created, contained in endless mountains of
absolute crap. Everquest gave me some the the best gaming experiences
that I've ever had, yet overall it somehow was one of the worst games
that I've ever played in my entire life. Its very hard to explain...
Silverlock
wrote:
>On Wed, 16 Feb 2000 03:27:07 GMT, cro...@earthlink.net (Silverlock)
>wrote:
>
>>
>>This really is like someone in 1920 complaining that their model T
>>can't go offroad, and doesn't come standard with Air and anti-lock
>>brakes. Th first real commercial generation of MMORPG's just passed,
>>we are seeing the second generation in development now. Don't be such
>>a pessimist, as th media grows those that can include the things you
>>mention like a story and more fully developed world will inevitably
>>get more customers and spawn more clones. It's a form of evolution and
>>eventually MMORPG's will reach the level needed.
>
>The technology may change but the people playing the game do not,
>Silverlock. The idiots and abusers will still be there, and in ever
>increasing numbers as the genre expands. Their very existence forces
>developers to fight a constant and losing battle against them.
>
>Before you say pk switch or any of the other constraints out there,
>I'm defining "abuser" in a broader sense. The level 50 guilds that
>control EQ spawn zones for days at a time so they can sell rare items
>on Ebay (all major credit cards accepted 24 / 7) are hurting other
>players in a way that dwarfs any simple pk raid from the old days of
>UO. Yet Verant has declared itself powerless to stop them...they
>simply lack the resources to fight the Ebay whoring of virtual items.
>Even Turbine, which has all of Microsoft's limitless financing for
>Asheron's Call, is not able to fight this poison.
>
>The idea of sharing a universe that has some kind of meaning to me,
>like Star Wars or Middle Earth before it, with these kinds of "people"
>makes my skin crawl. Give me a Neverwinter Nights kind of game where I
>can lock them out completely.
Yes but the nature of the beast is that the coding solutions that work
will thrive and those that don't won't. As long as you have paid dev
teams you will have people trying to come up with solutions. Verant
in EQ has claimed itself powerless to stop them but that may not apply
to better constructed MMORPG's in the future. Non static spawn would
make the above example much harder since there would be no campsights.
Other code based solutions would be NPC heroes that would appear if
pc's camped a certain area for awhile and real unique items. Selling
stuff on ebay could be stopped cold with item restrictions based on
stats, or with a no pvp switch/full looting option in place.
People are people and will not change. The game and developers however
can and are building an understanding of the problems and potential
solutions to those problems as they build games and somewhere between
th third and fifth generation of MMORPG style games standards will
develop not only GM wise but code wise which will eliminate most of
these problems. Look for example at UO2 acceptance of Unique character
names to combat DorkPussy named characters and other problems like
that.
Doctor Tongue
> I totally disagree. Not a nitch, because it has too many
> different interest groups. Everything from business men, to
> houswives, to kids. Action gamers, RPGrs, Chat room junkies,
> people that have no interest in any other kind of computer game,
> excapists, loosers, freaks, creative and intelligent people,
> evil dispicable folks. It's open to all. I agree with you that
> a PK environment doesn't work, unless it is by choice. As
> for "everyone being heros" well that is the nature of the game.
> If being a hero means saving your land from those dispicable
> evil ones, that that makes it fun and solves much of the
> problems you discuss.
>
> Nitch market means it only has appeal to a certain select group
> of people, and it seem's obvious to me that this isn't one of
> them. Quite the opposite in fact. Maybe you should say it is
> an anti-nitch market. This means it would not interest, or
> appeal to people that are part of a nitch (ie. hardcore
> roleplayers, single player action enthusiasts). People who play
> the massively multiplayer games, those who stay, don't complain,
> ejoy them for what they are, don't have the preconceived notions
> as to what they should be able to do, not do, and why the
> company that makes the game blew it for some reason. Mostly
> they just play and enjoy. For us other gamers, who expect more,
> we will eventually see more, and should just enjoy these games
> for what they are, beautiful escapes into an alternate reality.
>
Pet peeve ALERT!!! Sorry bro, I hate grammarians as much as anyone, but I
can't stand the thought of you running around out there and thinking "niche"
should be spelled "nitch." Are you okay? I sure feel better. Now I only
pray to god I spelled "niche" right. :-)
--
"It is, no doubt, a great advantage to talk to a man at the Antipodes
through a telephone; its advantage depends entirely on the value of what the
two men have to say to one another. If one merely shrieks slander through a
tube and the other whispers folly into a wire, do not think that anybody is
very much benefited by the invention."
Oscar Wilde
adamaant
spelling and grammer of anyone on the ng. I prefer to type
faster than I think. I am sure that I have gone on many a kill
filter, simply because of the the horrid way I destroy the
english language. I offer my sincere appologies to all!
K. Laisathit
Steve Kostoff <j.s.k...@larc.nasa.gov> wrote:
>
>That is never, ever going to happen. Enforcing such rules (and they would
>have to be brutally enforced until the player population got the message)
>would mean a very hands-on approach from the companies involved, which none
>of the companies running existing MMORPGs have shown much interest in
>(except when LB gets killed <g>) and most importantly, it would involve
>cancelling a lot of miscreant user accounts, which means lost revenue for
>the company. A LOT of lost revenue - do not underestimate the number of
>anti-social types in these games.
I beg to differ. I think there aren't many blatant anti-social
players. But the few there are, it's enough. It's simply good
business to kick these guys out to keep the other thousands
players happy. Would you rather lose a few social losers or
thousands of honest players?
The problem is, however, with the enforcement. How could
you prove beyond any doubt that the person is a die-hard
KSer or PKer? Log can be doctored and situations are
often ambiguous enough that proof of guilt can never be
established unequivocally. Yes, Verant and OSI routinely
axe players who exploit bugs and such. But these are much
more verifiable that socially abusive activities.
What will Verant and OSI do if they end up with a suit
that alleges discriminatory practice in denying the service?
That's probably something Verant and OSI don't want to
risk.
Later...
Ragnar Ehrenroth
> massive Space sim as well. Now there is a great twist. Imagine if
> they did it right, you could strafe towns and communities and people
> on the ground. They could shoot back (auto defense). It would be
> great.
Ok, so there I'm walking, taking a peaceful stroll in the spaceport, when
suddenly some godcursed PKer starts strafing the whole town from above, killing
people left and right and blowing up buildings around me. Well, that's it! Screw
you guys, I'm going home! ;P
RGE