Issue 42 - Scratching the Surface

[The Escapist Staff]

Shannon Drake and Julianne GreerFrom the founding of Origin to the rise of NCsoft in the western world, Richard and Robert Garriott have been at the forefront of the games industry since its inception. Shannon Drake and Julianne Greer sit down with the masterminds to discuss the future of online gaming.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Duncan
http://ghostsinthegame.blogspot.com/
Those gentlemen certainly have a handle on making and selling games. While they might not always be in their right minds, they pose some interesting ideas about the future of MMOs. Excellent interview!

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Bob_Arctor

It was interesting, I learned some stuff from it.
However, geniuses (geniei?) though the brothers might be, the way they talk is horrible. It's in that other language: US-corporate-speak. It's disjointed, it uses inelegant words like "probabilistically" which have far too many additional components instead of equivalents which have the advantage of a) being actually English and b) being comprehensible and easy to say, write, and read. Here, if you think about, you have the word "probable" which means according to probabilty this event is likely. Then you add the adverb ending: "probably".
So generally the article was a pain to read, with bizzare business language and dodgy sentances which have to be reread three times to understand. The frequent need of [additions] seems to show further evidence of ineloquence.

Not that the Escapist can help any of this. But I just needed to get it off my chest.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Cormac Russell
http://retch.livejournal.com
Interesting article but there are some serious MMORPG style blinders visible in how they talk about online games (amusing since they explicitly try to deconstruct how the current MMORPG model will break down into all sorts of different models). There are some quite succesful online games that don't particularly match the MMORPG model. Magic Online [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/magiconline] being a particularly striking and successful (though not on a WoW level) Western alternative, and with a huge variety of alternate pay model and game structures succeeding in the Asian market such as Kart Racer, etc.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: MMOs = zzzz

Great interview! The Garriotts are awesome. I'm still skeptical of Rosetta but their insight is spot on about "modern" MMOs being completely derivitive. I certainly long for the day that those games are anything but beautified stat tracking spreadsheets complete devoid of real drama or interaction.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Valentino Zamarripa

I do not believe I have read something about Richard Garriott that did not inspire me. Him and his brother's ideas and views on the industry are refreshing and I thoroughly enjoyed his arguments for pc gaming.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: NIcholas_Tran

The infromation and views were a joy to read. But I find that, the change they forsee in MMORPG will not come tell a new technology to deliver the game is developed. The reason so many Models work the way they do is becuase of ease of interface and the better the interface the more that play it. In exsample i currently dislike any of the game's that NC soft brings from korea, both L2 and the new RF have horrible interfaces. Unlike CoH/CoV or WoW, were they adopted the FPS key sets. but all the aside, Games will be hindered by how you are able to experince them. All games no matter how Inventive you become with so called "models" or new game play, will always boil down to you button mashing to get to your end goal in the game.

Now diversiving your game types bring more types of game models to the forfront is a good thing and has potentental, but the problem how it is in all games that havent changed much over the past 15 years excpet for the GTA series but its now a clone model. Is that developers FEAR to do something out side a sellable, benchmarked Model that can show number and how much you are going to make off it. Every game for the past few years are all traped in the same thinking model, with jsut a few extra bells and flashy graphics to make them better then that last incarnation. Only way we will ever grow out of cookie cutting games, it to put out new ones and to not abandon them when they fail. exampe WW2 online, great attempt at a MMOFPS with cool though behnd the game. but went numbers fell, the service droped and cuase more to leave, know its just a shell of what could have been great if was supported well. And agian this is all pipe dreams cuase ultimatly what drives the game industry is sales, and Numbers. If your game or game idea doesnt projec to sell enough to pay back your publishers no one is going to front the money to the developers to start a project.

In all, Unless the view of marketing changes for the better or a lot more Self financed Game developers emerge willing to take Million doller hits if there games dont do well. we will be stuck with cookie cutter molds of games tell one does well then we will just have one new mold to the list. aka GTA game series.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Douglas Curry

I remember Richard from high school using flowery multi-syllabic words when plainer, simple words would have been more appropriate. But then again, that style served him well writing the dialog and storylines of the Ultima series, so kudos to him for a great 25 year career in the video game industry. Likewise I hope he continues and has another 25 years of success. I have always respected his efforts, even if they weren't quite my cup of tea at the time.

Douglas Curry
Houston, TX
Clear Creek High School class of 1980 (Richard was class of '79)

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Sylvian

IInteresting interview i must admit. In my opinion current mmorpg model isn't perfect one, but it gives player base best advantage of online games. They can competit with each others on various levels which are realated to eachothers somehow (economic, military etc.). So ideas given by Garriotts brothers don't convinced me just because they will improve gameplay (less boring grinding) while destroying this competition aspect of the game (buying virtual property for large part of playerbase = the more real money you invest the bbeter equipment you gain in-game). So in fact this kill real competition.

Another thing. As long as I always respected brothers for they visions of gaming industy i think they don't know to much about current situation in NCSoft N.A. Company (especially about 'mentioned in article, relations with customers). One of top NC games, Lineage 2 (which subscribber I'm since more than 2 years) is plagued by professional farmers which break most of NC EULA conditions without any punishement (L2 in-game economy going to break down because of that fact). NC seem blind on asking their's custommers, which can't play game they payed for. I hope that developers will pay more attention to playerbase than technological aspects of mmo productions. Even if some company will have many games in their's portfolio if players will be discuasted beacuse of lack any support from that company he don't choose another game from their portfolio. Because even if he choose other title the custoper policy will stay the same.