We easily claim virtual worlds as Terra Nova, a new geography, based on the real, but offering new possibilities. Still, these old spatial habits die hard and remain rather significant. As players play, they come to understand more about themselves and the virtual worlds they visit. In time, what they once found to be fun no longer holds the same attraction; it's been supplanted by other, more refined interests. Why shouldn't the same apply to designers?

While reality TV is going to ever more extreme lengths to make idealized virtual existences a reality for ordinary, everyday people, it unfortunately has not incorporated the idea of individual agency that exists in virtual worlds. The subjects of reality TV extreme makeovers are rarely given any opportunity to make decisions about the details of the transformation. In fact, a successful transformation can only occur with the helpful intervention of purported experts, whether they are urban gay men, British nannies, West Coast car detailers, or a team of plastic surgeons and personal trainers tapped to turn ugly ducklings into swans. (The idea of “Sims TV” in which family members are controlled by the audience seems to merely extend this Team of Experts idea to include audience members as well.) It also raises some interesting non-design problems.

A more indie game developer would be hard to find. We self-publish. No relationships with any sort of games aggregate sites, no investment from anyone in the games community, etc. Plus, we make text MUDs/MMOS. Pretty darn niche. There aren’t too many genres less likely to reach a mass market than this one. It also raises some interesting non-design problems. It looks to me as if it would discourage RMT, for example, because investments won't necessarily be seen as sufficiently long-term. The truth is World of Warcraft Gold doesn’t HAVE to take a long time to get, especially in the higher levels. Buy WOW Gold here, and then enjoy your excited WoW life! Warhammer Online Gold will keep your high power. On the other hand, if RMTers persuade the courts that people own what their characters own, the whole concept of a purge might be threatened.

OK. I don’t feel very ranty actually. I tried to bail on this panel. But I have to say something so I want to say how this business is hopelessly broken. Haha. We’re doing pretty much everything wrong. This is at the root of much of what you’re gonna hear today. Games cost too much. They take too long to make. The whole concept of word of mouth, remember that? Holy cow it was nice. It also raises some interesting non-design problems. It looks to me as if it would discourage RMT, for example, because investments won't necessarily be seen as sufficiently long-term. The truth is World of Warcraft Gold doesn’t HAVE to take a long time to get, especially in the higher levels. Buy WOW Gold here, and then enjoy your excited WoW life! Warhammer Online Gold will keep your high power. On the other hand, if RMTers persuade the courts that people own what their characters own, the whole concept of a purge might be threatened.

Of course, many developers will have to censor themselves to even get a game on its shelves.

But here’s the thing. I want big ad deals to mean more than big billboards. I want advertisers, agencies, and developers to work together to produce campaigns that go beyond billboard impressions and token product placements (which are nothing more than mini-billboards that people are forced to view, after all). I’m an avid in-world shopper who is open to advertising in some of the virtual worlds I visit, but I am highly annoyed by interruptive billboards and gratuitous product placements. If that’s all we can expect in 2005, let’s keep the cork in that champagne. Worlds like There and Second Life have demonstrated that virtual worlds can host more innovative projects that go beyond the billboard concept and are a good fit with their communities.

Meleagar: I think that the whole concept of “corpse recovery” is just a flat-out bad idea, and it involves far too much work to recover from a death. It prevents people from even WANTING to explore highly dangerous areas, simply because they could lose everything they’ve earned up to that point, equipment-wise. The experience penalty is bad enough … why tack on a huge corpse-retrieval penalty? The best way to put the assertion (and this is all it is at this point; and again, please keep in mind that there are a number of familiar exceptions) is that the practice of game software development generates a way of seeing and defining problems (as essentially precise, logical, and algorithmic), and creating solutions (through linear, text-defined code) that makes other ways of accounting for what happens in VWs seem at worst nonsensical and at best irrelevant or quixotic. They looked friendly enough--at least, no one had fruit ready to throw at us.

UO's current population is approximately 165,000 according to mmogchart.com. The game's peak population level of 240,000 was reached in April 2001. The current numbers indicate however that the game's population level has fallen by 32.25% in the last 28 months, which also means that the population level is dropping consistently at an average rate of around 1.5% per month. While this is not necessarily meteoric, it does indicate a steady population haemorrhage rate.

Furthermore, new additions to the ‘world’ side of things such as Star Wars Galaxies, Shadowbane and the Sims Online have all gotten disappointing reviews, whereas on the ‘game’ side of things, we’ve had endless praise for City of Heroes, followed by reviewers arguing, out of EverQuest 2 and Worlds of Warcraft, which game can cure the most lepers. The future doesn’t look too bright - Tabula Rasa and Vanguard, obviously on the front lines of the next wave, both appear to be ‘game-y’ games.

EA are no longer directly selling UO CDs or any new expansion packs in Australia (as one example), which is the main reason why I myself am sadly no longer able to play the game. EA also seem to be attempting to gradually force all subscribers of their MMOGs to adopt credit card usage as a primary means of payment. Since I do not have a credit card, this means I am unable to play UO, and it also means I am unable to play The Sims Online, which is another game I wished to play. I have long suspected that the insistence on credit card payments is the reason why The Sims Online has not met projected subscription targets. The best way to put the assertion (and this is all it is at this point; and again, please keep in mind that there are a number of familiar exceptions) is that the practice of game software development generates a way of seeing and defining problems (as essentially precise, logical, and algorithmic), and creating solutions (through linear, text-defined code) that makes other ways of accounting for what happens in VWs seem at worst nonsensical and at best irrelevant or quixotic.