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The Irony of the Sandbox MMO

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  • GrumpyMel2GrumpyMel2 Member Posts: 1,832
    Originally posted by nariusseldon
    Originally posted by GrumpyMel2

    The problem you illustrate, I think, has to do with the misconception among Developers and Players that "freedom" equates with a lack of meaningfull consequences. It doesn't.  Freedom also doesn't equate with the ability to do anything you want. It simply equates that you have the OPPORTUNITY to try to do what you want. A subtle but important distinction.

    In the real world, anti-social types generaly aren't very successfull simply because accomplishing most things which are significant requires a very large degree of cooperation and interdependance. Where many MMO's start to run into problems is that they don't represent very well the degree of cooperation and interdependance neccessary for an individual to function. If you actualy need people to rescue you when you are in trouble, heal your wounds when you are injured, provide your food, repair your weapons and armor, help you take down difficult foes, etc.......it gets much more difficult to be truely anti-social. You may still have villians.....but they'll be ones that at least treat thier own "tribes" well....because they need them in order to be effective.

     

    It is an opportunity to sell games to them that requires no cooperation and non itnerdependence to make them feel successful.

    Remember games are entertainment. They don't have to mirror the real world, and they certainly are not educational tools.

    If the goal is to entertain, what is better to give the anti-social what they cannot have in real life?

    Sorry for the late response. I don't disagree with you but it depends upon the type of audience you are targeting and the type of game you are trying to build. It's going to  be problematic targeting a game that features a wide latitude of action to effect other players towards an audience that is anti-social since they will tend to piss in the pot, so to speak....running into the exact irony the OP pointed out. If your target audience is geared toward the anti-social, then you probably want to put in tighter controls over how they can interact with other players.

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