Originally posted by Papasmurf520 wow, Raph Koster already replied to the post a few times already. Thats way more communication then Smed ever gave us.
how sickingly terrible is that? the thing is, you're right, when a dev leaves the company, he talks more to the public then when he was in the company, or any other dev still there, hey Raph did SoE discourage communication in order to take out public opinion from the 'creative' equations? or on a whole were people (save TH, who even got more and more silent as time went on, or possibly Q-3PO who left?) just kind of anti-social? >_>
praise emoticons! i think he's yawning, but who knows?!
So...my mind was working on what the company might be, and I looked to see what Web 2.0 is...and I conclude that instead of just a game, the company plans to make an "online space" for games and gaming. New games by newbie devs might be hosted here. The emphasis would be on virtual community and include hosting of videos and podcasts on game topics, game blogs, wikis. If there is a "worldly game" developed by the great man himself, it will involve as much player interaction and interactivity as possible. Sort of a one stop virtual gaming community. The place to be. How about that for an idea? Would it work?
I still think Raph should horn in on the firefly MMO.
Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.
Raph Koster and John Donham...... before I drink the kool-aid I want to know what they knew and when they knew it.
John Wasnt he instramental in SWG pre and post CU? If he had ANYTHING to do with CU I want nothing to do with him...hes tainted anyway because he worked for the Devil.
Basic questions that must be answered:
1. Level based games or skill based games?
2. Player based economy or NPC based economy?
3. Housing or no housing?
4. PVP/PVE or PVPVE?
5. Rights of Game Owners or Rights of Game Developers?
Originally posted by starman999 In my opinion.... I still think Raph should horn in on the firefly MMO.
The last thing I would want Raph Koster doing is touching the Firefly MMO. I actually want a good Firefly MMO to play not some piss poorly implemented and faulty designed system like the SWG system Ralph Created. No Ralph can go and do his own crappie thing, leave Firefly alone to a competent designer. Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
Originally posted by starman999 In my opinion.... I still think Raph should horn in on the firefly MMO.
The last thing I would want Raph Koster doing is touching the Firefly MMO. I actually want a good Firefly MMO to play not some piss poorly implemented and faulty designed system like the SWG system Ralph Created. No Ralph can go and do his own crappie thing, leave Firefly alone to a competent designer. Bring it on down now.
I bet whatever game Raph makes...you'll be there playing it..bitching about it...with Wepps...like that crappy swg game you've both been playing for the last 3 years....and bitching about.
See you in the dream.. The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
Originally posted by starman999 In my opinion.... I still think Raph should horn in on the firefly MMO.
The last thing I would want Raph Koster doing is touching the Firefly MMO. I actually want a good Firefly MMO to play not some piss poorly implemented and faulty designed system like the SWG system Ralph Created. No Ralph can go and do his own crappie thing, leave Firefly alone to a competent designer. Bring it on down now.
I bet whatever game Raph makes...you'll be there playing it..bitching about it...with Wepps...like that crappy swg game you've both been playing for the last 3 years....and bitching about.
Hi Wepps LMAO. Bring it on down now
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
Originally posted by starman999 In my opinion.... I still think Raph should horn in on the firefly MMO.
The last thing I would want Raph Koster doing is touching the Firefly MMO. I actually want a good Firefly MMO to play not some piss poorly implemented and faulty designed system like the SWG system Ralph Created. No Ralph can go and do his own crappie thing, leave Firefly alone to a competent designer. Bring it on down now.
I bet whatever game Raph makes...you'll be there playing it..bitching about it...with Wepps...like that crappy swg game you've both been playing for the last 3 years....and bitching about.
Hi Wepps LMAO. Bring it on down now
LOL
See you in the dream.. The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
Originally posted by agonzo11 Raph Koster and John Donham...... before I drink the kool-aid I want to know what they knew and when they knew it. John Wasnt he instramental in SWG pre and post CU? If he had ANYTHING to do with CU I want nothing to do with him...hes tainted anyway because he worked for the Devil. Basic questions that must be answered: 1. Level based games or skill based games? 2. Player based economy or NPC based economy? 3. Housing or no housing? 4. PVP/PVE or PVPVE? 5. Rights of Game Owners or Rights of Game Developers?
1. Neither. Might be avatar based, might not be. 2. Most likely no economy whatsoever 3. No 3D world, pre-drawn backgrounds - Habbo Hotel comes to mind, and some other Flash games 4. No mechanics of interacting with others outside of chat 5. Player created content
The game will run in a browser. Extrapolating from Raphs recent fascination with MySpace and SecondLife, some things are quite certain.
There will be no physical representation of world (3D, gravity, moving around). The world will be a mashup of web page, web2.0 elements and a graphical form. Avatars will most likely be dress-up dolls, drawn and stylized. That is, if the concept of avatar even exists. If it does, movement might not be implemented, and graphical representation would simply reflect the connections from web pages, or currently logged in users.
Players will design the web pages and world representation in much the same way MySpace does it. Adding simple tags to shape the way rooms and pages look.
There is no content or goal, entire world serves merely as a tool for users who express themselves. Interactivity will be most likely limited to various mini-games, which will be either part of the world or the context in which they exist.
Since business model isn't defined yet, the concept of money might be missing completely at this point, or it might follow the more traditional models of SecondLife and There. Given the web-based nature of the product, currency makes little sense.
The server requirements of 150 concurrent users also hint at overall design of the world, which is anything but massive, and is aimed towards small groups for closely connected activities.
World is user's presence. Their expression, their representation. It can be DnD style rendering, or it can be a collection of blue shapes. Just like MySpace, where nothing is given. The many worlds represent each user - user is the world, but can invite others to play in their backyard.
But forget SWG, skills, pvp (sic) or even real-time interaction. If you don't, you'll be very surprised over how it turns out.
1. Neither. Might be avatar based, might not be. 2. Most likely no economy whatsoever 3. No 3D world, pre-drawn backgrounds - Habbo Hotel comes to mind, and some other Flash games 4. No mechanics of interacting with others outside of chat 5. Player created content
The game will run in a browser. Extrapolating from Raphs recent fascination with MySpace and SecondLife, some things are quite certain.
There will be no physical representation of world (3D, gravity, moving around). The world will be a mashup of web page, web2.0 elements and a graphical form. Avatars will most likely be dress-up dolls, drawn and stylized. That is, if the concept of avatar even exists. If it does, movement might not be implemented, and graphical representation would simply reflect the connections from web pages, or currently logged in users.
Players will design the web pages and world representation in much the same way MySpace does it. Adding simple tags to shape the way rooms and pages look.
There is no content or goal, entire world serves merely as a tool for users who express themselves. Interactivity will be most likely limited to various mini-games, which will be either part of the world or the context in which they exist.
Since business model isn't defined yet, the concept of money might be missing completely at this point, or it might follow the more traditional models of SecondLife and There. Given the web-based nature of the product, currency makes little sense.
The server requirements of 150 concurrent users also hint at overall design of the world, which is anything but massive, and is aimed towards small groups for closely connected activities.
World is user's presence. Their expression, their representation. It can be DnD style rendering, or it can be a collection of blue shapes. Just like MySpace, where nothing is given. The many worlds represent each user - user is the world, but can invite others to play in their backyard.
But forget SWG, skills, pvp (sic) or even real-time interaction. If you don't, you'll be very surprised over how it turns out.
Then again, I could be wrong.
Youre pretty sharp Rekrul, but I can't believe a creative guy like Raph could spend his time putting out something that boring. I like my idea better. Let's hope he hasn't truly turned to the Boring Side.
Theoretical question: If you bow to the Devil for over 4 years and lick his bung-hole as a means to rise in his ranks, can you ever get the taste of Demon ass from your your tongue?
Seriously though: Smedley is the devil and truely wants to eat the souls of your children and mine while they are still squirming at the comfort of your breast. He should be put down like the mangy dog he is. Those who serve him, past and present, should share in his fate in the fires of hell.
Originally posted by agonzo11 Theoretical question: If you bow to the Devil for over 4 years and lick his bung-hole as a means to rise in his ranks, can you ever get the taste of Demon ass from your your tongue? Seriously though: Smedley is the devil and truely wants to eat the souls of your children and mine while they are still squirming at the comfort of your breast. He should be put down like the mangy dog he is. Those who serve him, past and present, should share in his fate in the fires of hell. Join the crusade! http://johnsmedleysucks.usgameroom.com
“Change hurts. It makes people insecure, confused, and angry. People want things to be the same as they've always been, because that makes life easier. But, if you're a leader, you can't let your people hang on to the past.”
This is the attitude that leaders like Raph need to have if they are going to get the MMO genre out of the rut it has been in for years.
Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.
Youre pretty sharp Rekrul, but I can't believe a creative guy like Raph could spend his time putting out something that boring. I like my idea better. Let's hope he hasn't truly turned to the Boring Side.
I see Raph as an enabler, not provider.
Unlike other companies, which build the stadium, basketball court, and deliver audience, Raph gives you a ball. Gaming companies expect you to play basketball in ranked matches. Raph will be fascinated that you decide to draw face on the ball and talk to it.
Is it boring? Hard to say?
But with all the talk about high barrier of entry to development, browser oriented design, there is not a single mention about purpose. it will be lacking, that's a given, but what will be the general focus of the game?
Regardless of all the sandbox enthusiasm, communities don't form out of thing air for the sake of it. They form around common interests. Which are the interests the game will provide? World building? Role-play? Expression? Or will it be more conventional of using your avatar to perform tasks?
Everything else is just an interface to this. In SWG, Lucas provided the content, goal and lore. There was no need for any direction, since movies and books did that job. But starting from scratch, what will define the content? MySpace didn't do anything revolutionary. It was just Geocities 2.0. And look how corny geocities pages look today, and how MySpace hype died off.
As soon as gaming crowd gets involved, expectaions start revolving around known patterns. Items/experience/inventory are all very unortodox concepts in gaming. They don't exist in most games. Most of the successful titles don't have anything except a score number. So expecting these patterns in the game is not realistic, if you're trying to go after something different.
From other hints, it would apear that the world will be avatar centric. But that, once again, may mean many things. It also means that asset development will take a very high toll. Avatars are no good if they don't look modern, with lots of detail, and fitting into the theme. Is it even possible to do something different enough, when such high investment must be made into eye candy alone?
I see Raph as an enabler, not provider. Well, every virtual world creator/provider from the Evercrack folks to the WOWNation bad boys is an "enabler". They build it, set it out there and see what people do with and in their worlds. Apparently, there are always huge surprises on the part of players who see the playground a bit differently than the makers do.
Unlike other companies, which build the stadium, basketball court, and deliver audience, Raph gives you a ball. Gaming companies expect you to play basketball in ranked matches. Raph will be fascinated that you decide to draw face on the ball and talk to it. I fear you're right about this.
But with all the talk about high barrier of entry to development, browser oriented design, there is not a single mention about purpose. it will be lacking, that's a given, but what will be the general focus of the game? They just aren't revealing their hand on any of this yet.
Regardless of all the sandbox enthusiasm, communities don't form out of thing air for the sake of it. They form around common interests. Which are the interests the game will provide? World building? Role-play? Expression? Or will it be more conventional of using your avatar to perform tasks? Agreed, very tricky this whole part. If the design is made to appeal specifically or largely to non-traditional online gamers, and it may be dust in the virtual wind. What was that quote of Raphs? "Dance/leave with the one that brung ya"--can't quite recall, but the idea applies here too I think.
In SWG, Lucas provided the content, goal and lore. There was no need for any direction, since movies and books did that job. But starting from scratch, what will define the content? My thought here is, either they create their own mythos (they do have Cory Doctorow) or, they provide the creative tools for players to advance an ongoing story in some way. How that would work, I don't know.
From other hints, it would apear that the world will be avatar centric. But that, once again, may mean many things. It also means that asset development will take a very high toll. Avatars are no good if they don't look modern, with lots of detail, and fitting into the theme. Is it even possible to do something different enough, when such high investment must be made into eye candy alone? If you're saying character creation will be one of the most important aspects, then this is a *good* thing. When you're creating a virtual "you" you'd like some very cool options. If he offers long hairstyles for women that aren't in stoopid braids, the man is golden. For some reason, I was reading something about Second Life that was talking about someone offering a "class" in clothing design, and it mentioned somehow being able to work with Photoshop to design the clothing and I thought wow, what an idea, using a third party program within the game to do so much more creatively than you could with the tailoring sets in SWG, for instance. Hmmm...something that allowed that sort of creativity and artistic license within a game world would be very appealing. But the game world can't be a clone of the world we already have. Been there, done that.
Unlike other companies, which build the stadium, basketball court, and deliver audience, Raph gives you a ball. Gaming companies expect you to play basketball in ranked matches. Raph will be fascinated that you decide to draw face on the ball and talk to it. I fear you're right about this.
But that was what made SWG such a great game and caused it to appeal to a wider audience (I know "wider audience" sounds odd with the numbers being smaller than expected for such a license but how many times did I see husbands able to convince their wives or guys convince their girlfriends to start playing based on the ability to be a crafter/entertainer and next thing the female is enjoying other aspects of the game too...so not "wider" in numbers but "wider" in variety). Some people may enjoy playing ball so being given all the necessities to play basketball brings them to the game, but the ability to draw that face and talk to it brings in other players who don't care about basketball...and someone who wants to play basketball bad enough will find a way/the supplies needed if given the ball, even if it means improvising.
This is from Raph's Personal Website. I am sure if Raph had his company up and running it would be at the top of his career list. I have been over every inche of his website and nothing is there about his company being up yet. Or even a name for his company. However some interesting notes on his career. I have seen some people blaming Raph for NGE. Raph's possion as Creative Director of SWG ended 2 years before NGE went live. He was at NGE launch Chief Creative Director of SOE, all that means is he was the man told by LA, create this NGE. He then ensured it was a enjoyable as possible. Soon after its release Raph "Holocron" Koster went his own seperate way, I am sure this was because he was dissappointed in the turn that SWG had taken. It also looks if my memory serves me correctly he dropped off the SWG team just after the CU was realesed. I am not sure about the DATES however.
This is from Raph's Personal Website. I am sure if Raph had his company up and running it would be at the top of his career list. I have been over every inche of his website and nothing is there about his company being up yet. Or even a name for his company.
Areae, Inc. was founded in July of 2006. We’re venture-backed now, and run by our President, Raph Koster and John Donham, veterans of the whole “massively multiplayer” scene.
This is from Raph's Personal Website. I am sure if Raph had his company up and running it would be at the top of his career list. I have been over every inche of his website and nothing is there about his company being up yet. Or even a name for his company. However some interesting notes on his career. I have seen some people blaming Raph for NGE. Raph's possion as Creative Director of SWG ended 2 years before NGE went live. He was at NGE launch Chief Creative Director of SOE, all that means is he was the man told by LA, create this NGE. He then ensured it was a enjoyable as possible. Soon after its release Raph "Holocron" Koster went his own seperate way, I am sure this was because he was dissappointed in the turn that SWG had taken. It also looks if my memory serves me correctly he dropped off the SWG team just after the CU was realesed. I am not sure about the DATES however. Cheers Raph, wish you and your family the best.. CAREER 2003-2006 Sony Online Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Additional Writing, UNTOLD LEGENDS 2000-2003: Sony Online Entertainment Creative Director STAR WARS GALAXIES 1995-2000: Origin Systems Designer/Creative Lead (1995-1997) ULTIMA ONLINE Lead Designer (1997-2000) ULTIMA ONLINE: THE SECOND AGE PRIVATEER ONLINE (not shipped)
actually raph was hands off swg 2 months after launch if im correct.
Came up with a bit better of a sports analogy for sandbox games and SWG (something considering I'm not that crazy about sports). It's more like having the tools needed to play a variety of sports and one can either use the tools to play a game as it was intended (example: master a single profession), choose skills one likes from various sports to learn (mix and match professions), or take the tools from various sports and combine them to make a totally different game (saw a few different aquariums in people's houses although there was no "aquarium" piece of furniture, saw fireplaces long before one became a vet reward, many creative people designing houses by putting pieces of things together to create something new).
Do yall honestly think he can pull it off? Seed was the last sandbox game that more or less flopped. We really do not want new and different, ( even though we say we do). But given his history with swg won't he try the fast way first to get feet wet? Then if first offering survives the next try should be looked at?
Many of us remember Ralf active in swg beta and how good that team was pulling a community together and keep the guessing game happening. The question is can he do it again, and or , is the mmorpg community just to burnt out to trust at this point?
Comments
how sickingly terrible is that? the thing is, you're right, when a dev leaves the company, he talks more to the public then when he was in the company, or any other dev still there, hey Raph did SoE discourage communication in order to take out public opinion from the 'creative' equations? or on a whole were people (save TH, who even got more and more silent as time went on, or possibly Q-3PO who left?) just kind of anti-social? >_>
praise emoticons!
i think he's yawning, but who knows?! 
In my opinion....
I still think Raph should horn in on the firefly MMO.
Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.
Raph Koster and John Donham...... before I drink the kool-aid I want to know what they knew and when they knew it.
John
Wasnt he instramental in SWG pre and post CU? If he had ANYTHING to do with CU I want nothing to do with him...hes tainted anyway because he worked for the Devil.
Basic questions that must be answered:
1. Level based games or skill based games?
2. Player based economy or NPC based economy?
3. Housing or no housing?
4. PVP/PVE or PVPVE?
5. Rights of Game Owners or Rights of Game Developers?
The last thing I would want Raph Koster doing is touching the Firefly MMO. I actually want a good Firefly MMO to play not some piss poorly implemented and faulty designed system like the SWG system Ralph Created. No Ralph can go and do his own crappie thing, leave Firefly alone to a competent designer
. Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
The last thing I would want Raph Koster doing is touching the Firefly MMO. I actually want a good Firefly MMO to play not some piss poorly implemented and faulty designed system like the SWG system Ralph Created. No Ralph can go and do his own crappie thing, leave Firefly alone to a competent designer
. Bring it on down now.
I bet whatever game Raph makes...you'll be there playing it..bitching about it...with Wepps...like that crappy swg game you've both been playing for the last 3 years....and bitching about.
See you in the dream..
The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
The last thing I would want Raph Koster doing is touching the Firefly MMO. I actually want a good Firefly MMO to play not some piss poorly implemented and faulty designed system like the SWG system Ralph Created. No Ralph can go and do his own crappie thing, leave Firefly alone to a competent designer
. Bring it on down now.
I bet whatever game Raph makes...you'll be there playing it..bitching about it...with Wepps...like that crappy swg game you've both been playing for the last 3 years....and bitching about.
Hi Wepps LMAO. Bring it on down now
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
QFE
The last thing I would want Raph Koster doing is touching the Firefly MMO. I actually want a good Firefly MMO to play not some piss poorly implemented and faulty designed system like the SWG system Ralph Created. No Ralph can go and do his own crappie thing, leave Firefly alone to a competent designer
. Bring it on down now.
I bet whatever game Raph makes...you'll be there playing it..bitching about it...with Wepps...like that crappy swg game you've both been playing for the last 3 years....and bitching about.
Hi Wepps LMAO. Bring it on down now
LOL
See you in the dream..
The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
2. Most likely no economy whatsoever
3. No 3D world, pre-drawn backgrounds - Habbo Hotel comes to mind, and some other Flash games
4. No mechanics of interacting with others outside of chat
5. Player created content
The game will run in a browser. Extrapolating from Raphs recent fascination with MySpace and SecondLife, some things are quite certain.
There will be no physical representation of world (3D, gravity, moving around). The world will be a mashup of web page, web2.0 elements and a graphical form. Avatars will most likely be dress-up dolls, drawn and stylized. That is, if the concept of avatar even exists. If it does, movement might not be implemented, and graphical representation would simply reflect the connections from web pages, or currently logged in users.
Players will design the web pages and world representation in much the same way MySpace does it. Adding simple tags to shape the way rooms and pages look.
There is no content or goal, entire world serves merely as a tool for users who express themselves. Interactivity will be most likely limited to various mini-games, which will be either part of the world or the context in which they exist.
Since business model isn't defined yet, the concept of money might be missing completely at this point, or it might follow the more traditional models of SecondLife and There. Given the web-based nature of the product, currency makes little sense.
The server requirements of 150 concurrent users also hint at overall design of the world, which is anything but massive, and is aimed towards small groups for closely connected activities.
World is user's presence. Their expression, their representation. It can be DnD style rendering, or it can be a collection of blue shapes. Just like MySpace, where nothing is given. The many worlds represent each user - user is the world, but can invite others to play in their backyard.
But forget SWG, skills, pvp (sic) or even real-time interaction. If you don't, you'll be very surprised over how it turns out.
Then again, I could be wrong.
Theoretical question: If you bow to the Devil for over 4 years and lick his bung-hole as a means to rise in his ranks, can you ever get the taste of Demon ass from your your tongue?
Seriously though: Smedley is the devil and truely wants to eat the souls of your children and mine while they are still squirming at the comfort of your breast. He should be put down like the mangy dog he is. Those who serve him, past and present, should share in his fate in the fires of hell.
Join the crusade!
http://johnsmedleysucks.usgameroom.com
“Change hurts. It makes people insecure, confused, and angry. People want things to be the same as they've always been, because that makes life easier. But, if you're a leader, you can't let your people hang on to the past.”
This is the attitude that leaders like Raph need to have if they are going to get the MMO genre out of the rut it has been in for years.
Critical thinking is a desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and hatred for every kind of imposture.
I see Raph as an enabler, not provider.
Unlike other companies, which build the stadium, basketball court, and deliver audience, Raph gives you a ball. Gaming companies expect you to play basketball in ranked matches. Raph will be fascinated that you decide to draw face on the ball and talk to it.
Is it boring? Hard to say?
But with all the talk about high barrier of entry to development, browser oriented design, there is not a single mention about purpose. it will be lacking, that's a given, but what will be the general focus of the game?
Regardless of all the sandbox enthusiasm, communities don't form out of thing air for the sake of it. They form around common interests. Which are the interests the game will provide? World building? Role-play? Expression? Or will it be more conventional of using your avatar to perform tasks?
Everything else is just an interface to this. In SWG, Lucas provided the content, goal and lore. There was no need for any direction, since movies and books did that job. But starting from scratch, what will define the content? MySpace didn't do anything revolutionary. It was just Geocities 2.0. And look how corny geocities pages look today, and how MySpace hype died off.
As soon as gaming crowd gets involved, expectaions start revolving around known patterns. Items/experience/inventory are all very unortodox concepts in gaming. They don't exist in most games. Most of the successful titles don't have anything except a score number. So expecting these patterns in the game is not realistic, if you're trying to go after something different.
From other hints, it would apear that the world will be avatar centric. But that, once again, may mean many things. It also means that asset development will take a very high toll. Avatars are no good if they don't look modern, with lots of detail, and fitting into the theme. Is it even possible to do something different enough, when such high investment must be made into eye candy alone?
I see Raph as an enabler, not provider. Well, every virtual world creator/provider from the Evercrack folks to the WOWNation bad boys is an "enabler". They build it, set it out there and see what people do with and in their worlds. Apparently, there are always huge surprises on the part of players who see the playground a bit differently than the makers do.
Unlike other companies, which build the stadium, basketball court, and deliver audience, Raph gives you a ball. Gaming companies expect you to play basketball in ranked matches. Raph will be fascinated that you decide to draw face on the ball and talk to it. I fear you're right about this.
But with all the talk about high barrier of entry to development, browser oriented design, there is not a single mention about purpose. it will be lacking, that's a given, but what will be the general focus of the game? They just aren't revealing their hand on any of this yet.
Regardless of all the sandbox enthusiasm, communities don't form out of thing air for the sake of it. They form around common interests. Which are the interests the game will provide? World building? Role-play? Expression? Or will it be more conventional of using your avatar to perform tasks? Agreed, very tricky this whole part. If the design is made to appeal specifically or largely to non-traditional online gamers, and it may be dust in the virtual wind. What was that quote of Raphs? "Dance/leave with the one that brung ya"--can't quite recall, but the idea applies here too I think.
In SWG, Lucas provided the content, goal and lore. There was no need for any direction, since movies and books did that job. But starting from scratch, what will define the content? My thought here is, either they create their own mythos (they do have Cory Doctorow) or, they provide the creative tools for players to advance an ongoing story in some way. How that would work, I don't know.
From other hints, it would apear that the world will be avatar centric. But that, once again, may mean many things. It also means that asset development will take a very high toll. Avatars are no good if they don't look modern, with lots of detail, and fitting into the theme. Is it even possible to do something different enough, when such high investment must be made into eye candy alone? If you're saying character creation will be one of the most important aspects, then this is a *good* thing. When you're creating a virtual "you" you'd like some very cool options. If he offers long hairstyles for women that aren't in stoopid braids, the man is golden.
For some reason, I was reading something about Second Life that was talking about someone offering a "class" in clothing design, and it mentioned somehow being able to work with Photoshop to design the clothing and I thought wow, what an idea, using a third party program within the game to do so much more creatively than you could with the tailoring sets in SWG, for instance. Hmmm...something that allowed that sort of creativity and artistic license within a game world would be very appealing. But the game world can't be a clone of the world we already have. Been there, done that.
if he makes it..we will come...
it is high time some dev team realized there is a untapped market for a sandbox type game. fortunately for us, it was the inventor of
sandbox gaming who stepped up and spoke!
This is from Raph's Personal Website. I am sure if Raph had his company up and running it would be at the top of his career list. I have been over every inche of his website and nothing is there about his company being up yet. Or even a name for his company. However some interesting notes on his career. I have seen some people blaming Raph for NGE. Raph's possion as Creative Director of SWG ended 2 years before NGE went live. He was at NGE launch Chief Creative Director of SOE, all that means is he was the man told by LA, create this NGE. He then ensured it was a enjoyable as possible. Soon after its release Raph "Holocron" Koster went his own seperate way, I am sure this was because he was dissappointed in the turn that SWG had taken. It also looks if my memory serves me correctly he dropped off the SWG team just after the CU was realesed. I am not sure about the DATES however.
Cheers Raph, wish you and your family the best..
CAREER
Um...
http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/12/15/announcing-areae/
And from:
http://www.areae.net/?page_id=3
Areae, Inc. was founded in July of 2006. We’re venture-backed now, and run by our President, Raph Koster and John Donham, veterans of the whole “massively multiplayer” scene.
Many of us remember Ralf active in swg beta and how good that team was pulling a community together and keep the guessing game happening. The question is can he do it again, and or , is the mmorpg community just to burnt out to trust at this point?