That's my story...
Well it appears that I have finally missed a day of writing – time to get out the whips and chains.
I have written for places like “The Older Gamers”, “Online Gaming Radio”, “World of Warcraft Chronicles, and currently Virgin Worlds with occasional stints on Lorewriter.com. However this is the first time I have had complete control over what goes up on the page and when. The schedule I set for myself was 6 out of every seven days and I finally missed a day.
In the mean time my co-host and I were busily setting up and working on an interview with none other than Mr. Colin Dwan, Project Manager for Fallen Earth.
And so I was just too busy to write – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Now, however, let’s get on with the main part of today’s article (that has absolutely nothing to do with Fallen Earth) I call:
“Don’t nail the coffin shut just yet”
Don't nail it shut yet
Just recently one of my favorite web sites, Gamasutra, featured an interview with Mr. Tim Cotten, lead designer for Ultima Online (UO). This is a game that has been around for a long time where online games are concerned; as we all know it was one of the first. In that time the hand at the tiller has changed more than once. The first was, of course, Richard Garriott. Here is a quote from the article on which some of the “illustrious” members of the mmo community seem to have focused:
“And so our main focus of course has been is to retain our current loyal subscribers and hopefully, through them, reactivate friends and family who used to play. And see, UO, like you said, it’s got a very core player base, and not a small one. Many of the new MMOs that come out never reach our current levels. We have 27-odd servers — it’s still a very healthy MMO.” – Tim Cotten, Lead Designer, Ultima Online
There is a tendency for some gamers to forget the old adage, “it is best to remain silent and thought ignorant than speak and remove all doubt” by tossing out phrases like “27 servers – one for every subscriber” Keep in mind, dear readers, as the ever vivacious and sometimes maligned (and I am, guilty of this as well) Paul Barnet spoke about on our show, people in big companies like EA don’t get to where they are at by being stupid. Dr. Ray Muzyka (co-founder of Bioware and head of EA’s RPG/MMO gaming group that currently produces UO) doesn’t wake up in the morning and say “Hey, I know, let’s flush a little more money down the toilet”. There’s a “Doctor” in front of his name because he’s one smart cookie.
What the online gaming community SHOULD have focused on (and I know all you incredibly intelligent No Prisoners, No Mercy listeners and readers did notice) was part of the dialogue between Gamastura correspondent Oli Welsh and Mr. Cotten a bit later in the interview:
Gamasutra: I think a lot of people reach the conclusion at some point that advancements in art and stuff in games is the way to make games feel more alive and more real, but in the end it’s more about your creative intent.
Tim Cotten: I agree. It’s about the creative intent. You can improve the art to be photorealistic, that doesn’t mean you have a great game. It will certainly be visually impressive, the fireballs will look amazing, but it doesn’t mean that I want to have fun in that game or that I can have fun in that game.
There’s a lot of truth there folks, as you will hear us discuss with Keen from “Keen and Graevs” in the next podcast (Show number 47 due out for early release soon and public release a bit later). So let me restate the words of Mr. Cotton with a bit more emphasis: An old whore with a pound of makeup and $50,000 of plastic surgery is still an old whore. At this point I have a particular game in mind and you will have to draw your own conclusions as to which one. The game in question is stunning to look at – it’s like you stepped into a painting. The animated effects are just drop dead astounding. The combat is fast and furious, so much so that the rogue class looks like Bruce Lee on speed when they fight. But take away the special effects, take away the combat style and what are you left with? A game that is so boring to play that it is somewhat reminiscent of what I call “the three hour business meeting from hell.” Now you may ask yourself at this point, why do you still play the game then? Truth is I don’t. As Paul Barnett said, my account is merely a place holder at this point.
My friends, there is a reason that Ultima Online has been around for so long, and it isn’t simply because Electronic Arts (one of the biggest video game producing companies in the United States) enjoys throwing good money after bad. The reason is the game has depth. When Dr. Bartle was on the show he spoke about the difference between game worlds and virtual worlds. What Ultima Online has is that it is a game that has more virtual world in its game world. It isn’t just a place where you level up and then sit in front of the bank showing off your armor and the horse from the headless horseman quest, hoping you will be the envy of the person who, in real life is someone you wouldn’t noticed if they passed you on the street. No, Ultima Online is a game with virtual life, not just where you shoot monsters.
See you online,
Julie Whitefeather