The MMOG Manifesto

Game analyst Babylona has posted a very insightful MMOG manifesto on her blog, and it was too worth the read for me not to mention it in here. It’s all about MMOGs, their industry and audience, also about her beliefs and thoughts regarding the matter.

As an appetizer (since the post is way too long to be quoted here, and Babylona’s page deserves a visit in any case, if for her other articles and not this one only), here are some of the points I especially dig out:

4. People, en masse, are extremely smart. (Individually is often a very different story.) Underestimating this has probably cost game companies – in terms of exploits, hacks, bugs, support, etc., more money than one would like to think.

5. There are ways to share control of a world that live in a space between Second Life – and its attendant ethical issues now that #4 has been proven to be true – and more traditional MMOGs.

8. Given the opportunity and the reason, players will usually take some responsibility for their environment (they already do, mostly.) Remove the opportunity and the responsibility and they will explode into tiny pieces, totally messing up your lovely landscape.

11. Players who have something to say deserve to be listened to.

13. Give them control over the world and they will reward you a hundred times over. Figure out a way to make that work AND make you money.

I may not agree with each of her points—after all, the fun in this is to think and discuss, not to nod one’s head—but they sure raise lots of thoughts and questions.