Terra Nova

Rubicite Breastplates & Narrative Nudges

Timothy Burke, who teaches at idyllic Swarthmore College, comments here from time to time, and had some interesting criticisms of Star Wars Galaxies a while back, has just posted a pair of papers on his weblog about design directions for MMORPGs (link link).

Loot, More Loot, and Money

Via Slashdot: Dark Age of Camelot is planning to hand out loot (described here) to help casual players ("Gift of the Realm" system) and to encourage players to move to under-populated servers ("Gift of the Realm sped up" system).  They plan also to ban a significant number of cheats.   As discussed (Do ya a deal Govna?), deals are springing forth all over the MMO space.  Why stop?  How about encouraging players to role-play Middle English?    Ka-ching for any text-matched against a database of Chaucer?  How about a plat for every fun, vivacious adjective you use?

He was a veray parfit gentil knight.
          Canterbury Tales. Prologue. Line 72.

Manhunted

News just in: a major UK retail group is withdrawing the game Manhunt from sale. According to a BBC news item, the game has been linked with a murder case in the UK by the victim’s parents and the product has been removed from sale as a mark of respect. So far most other retailers have not taken similar action.

Yes, Manhunt is a single player game – but a computer game is a computer game right?

Dragons in Chickasaw

Peter Jenkins has a new paper in the Journal of Internet Law that analyzes free speech issues in MMORPGs. A version is available on SSRN. From the abstract:

In the 21st century, traditional company towns like Chickasaw, Alabama, where a corporation steps into the shoes of the state for purposes of the First Amendment, are almost non-existent. This paper postulates that they have been replaced by Massively Multiple Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG's)... The paper emphasizes that the case law on freedom of speech in MMORPG's will have a profound precedent setting effect on how the First Amendment is applied to [a] coming universal virtual platform, since the legal principles concerning new technologies tend to be set at an early stage of their development.

This is the most extensive analysis of the "company town" doctrine's application to virtual worlds that I've seen. For what it's worth, many of the TN authors here are cited.

Update: Readers may be interested in doing a contrast/compare with Jack Balkin's article around pages 33-37, where he discusses the Marsh case as well...

Do ya a deal Govna?

You can’t go anywhere in the MMO metaverse these days without someone making you a very very special offer.

Jeux en ligne

Those lucky enough to be in Paris on 21 September/septembre might like to head along to this half-day symposium on intellectual property issues in online worlds. The program (en français) includes a presentation on the nature of virtual sales and the market, a paper explaining Ubisoft's position on the virtual sale of assets, a discussion of the law of virtual assets and a roundtable discussion.

Pas mal.

[Thanks Cédric]

AI Game Masters?

I am at the (American Association for Artificial Intelligence [AI])AAAI-04 Workshop on Challenges in Game AI. A question lurks: is the AI challenge for MMOGs to develop "Game Master" capabilities that can manage/adjust play intelligently to the player experience?

Switching costs fall

Everyone hates the leveling treadmill, but the business strategy makes sense: Once people spend 800 hours to get to the great content of your game, they will be less willing to spend another 800 hours to get the great content of your competitor's game. So long as every game has a leveling treadmill, each company has considerable pricing power over its installed base. You usually don't see this in the form of higher fees (I am not sure why not), but rather in the form of cost-cutting (minimal customer service, buggy expansion packs, the developer-is-always-right syndrome*). The competitive response is, of course, to cut the switching costs. One way would be to lessen the leveling treadmill or make its effect on the fun of gameplay minimal. Another would be to allow people with powerful characters in your competitor's game to enter your game with a similarly buff toon. A step in that direction: Playvault's migration service (mentioned in this comment by Joel Hutson first), through which a company can set an explicit exchange rate between a competitor's currency and their own. The service is expanding, apparently. If you are a millionaire in Ultima, you can now switch to Horizons and still be rich. Thanks Andres for the tip.

Oh great!

Massive Incorporated, who specialise in the dynamic insertion of advertisements into games with an online component, has just secured an additional $5.5 million in funding from a couple of VC firms.

So w00t, big biz will soon get excited about filling virtual worlds with brands 'n banners. Let’s hope immersion triumphs, or this is what we might face..

Experiments in Synthetic Virtual Worlds?

In the late 1980's I read Valentino Braitenberg's Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology.  I was charmed by the thought experiment; I was seduced by how one might create intelligence by layering the building blocks and observing the evolution of behavior within an environment...  Last week I revisited Vehicles.  I thought about it again, with a different viewpoint: was there a useful idea here for virtual worlds research and discussion?

Artifact Entertainment Bankrupt

No, it is not easy to build a successful virtual world. Latest victim: Artifact Entertainment, developer of Horizons (and a previous game called Demise, ironically enough). Their world was criticized for lack of innovation (the most highly-touted change: you could play a dragon). It never developed a large population, and it often felt as if most of the people who were there had scales and wings. The company has now filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in a move to keep operations alive. Chapter 11 filings, however, are also known as 'declaring bankruptcy,' a very potent thing to do when your business model is built on providing a persistent service.

In any case: the lesson here is that innovation is important. Thanks to Tobold for the tip.

A New Issue of "The Daedalus Project"

Come browse through the latest issue of "The Daedalus Project" - an ongoing survey study of MMORPG players. Over the past 4 years, the study has surveyed over 30,000 MMORPG players. In the current issue:

- Data on the psychology of perspective preference
- An essay on the blurring of work and play in MMORPGs
- Data on players who would consider themselves addicted to the game
- A selection of great fan videos illustrating different facets of these environments
- A thought experiment about applying the psychological principle of automatic mimicry to MMORPG design
- A revision of the motivations framework for understanding why players play

And for any current MMORPG players, participate in this ongoing project at: http://www.nickyee.com/mmorpg

Habitating

Randy Farmer has posted a thought-provoking critique of The Business of Social Avatar Virtual Worlds that spends a lot of time talking about Second Life.

Where does that leave us? Are social/avatar virtual worlds doomed to business extinction? Is there any way services like Second Life can make it?

Perhaps.

Read on for more . . .

A Complex Narrative

The Washington legislature had passed a law a while ago that imposed a $500 fine on anyone selling to a minor a video game depicting violence against law enforcement officers. The law was just struck down yesterday as a violation of First Amendment rights. Here's the story of Video Software Dealers Assoc. v. Maleng according to Reuters and here's the opinion. (The opinion pdf is hosted by blogger Ernest Miller, who has a detailed walk-through with his comments that is worth checking out.)

Paradigm propagation

Why does EverQuest have levels?

The Spice Must Be Litigated

Most readers probably know that the RTS genre did not begin with the orcs v. humans conflict (seem familiar?) of Blizzard's original Warcraft, ancestor of the MMORPG du jour, WoW. Instead, it probably began with a 1992 DOS/VGA game called Dune II, based on Frank Herbert's Dune. (Just for kicks, see Justin Hall's review.) Imho, there are a limited set of really popular, extremely detailed virtual worlds to choose from, and Arrakis is probably third in the sci-fi realm behind the two Star Thingees. And, to put my neck out, Dune's literary roots make it a more interesting world than the Lucasfilm and Paramount front-runners. Interesting to wonder, then, if we might need to wait awhile for an MMORPG where the spice flows, based on the litigation battle in Herbert Limited Partnership v. Electronic Arts Inc., et al.

The MMOG Interface: what would have Benjamin Whorf said about Avatar Cut-and-Paste?

In Calling Out Numbers we considered whether MMOGs, with their long traditions derived from MUDs and paper roleplaying were ...reaching the end of their adaptive competence?  Are we due a paradigm shift?.  In such a context, what might (Benjamin) Whorf and (Edward) Sapir's Theory of Linquistic Relativity say about MMOG interfaces and their "language" in relationship to the players?  More to the point, does an MMOG interface shape/ limit our perception of the virtual world? 

Oh the Kids These Days

The L.A. City Council is taking steps to regulate minors' use of Internet cafes. It seems there's been some trouble lately with minors skipping school, staying out late, getting into fights, and getting themselves arrested at internet cafes.

According to the article, "Minors under age 18 would not be permitted in the cafes on school days between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., or after 10 p.m., and patrons would be required to provide identification on request."

Terra Nova Blogroll

Terra Nova's Blogroll

>A VW Bibliography
>Academic Gamers
>Alphaville Gazette
>Antifactory
>BoingBoing
>CCGR Papers
>Crawford's ACGD
>Cyberculture Resources
>DAC 2003 Papers
>DiGRA
>EdGames
>Future Now
>Gamasutra
>Game Dev Syllabi
>Game Girl Advance
>Game Studies
>GrandTEXTauto
>Habitat Chronicles
>IF Bibliography
>IGDA
>Joystick101
>Ludonauts
>MIT Media Lab
>MMORPGDot
>MOE Dev Diaries
>MUD-Dev
>Many-to-Many
>Player2Player
>Raindrop
>Raph's Essays
>Raph's Laws
>Room 130
>Skotos
>Slashdot Games
>Social Study Games
>Stratics
>The Corporation
>The Cultural Gutter
>The Morlocks
>UnknownPlayer
>WCT Reality FF
>Water Cooler Games
>Waterthread
Aaron Delwiche
Aleks Krotoski
Amy Bruckman
Amy Jo Kim
Andrew Stern
Anne Galloway
Anne-Marie Schleiner
Athomas Goldberg
Barry Atkins
Beth Kolko (DGRC)
Beth Noveck
Brad King
Brandon Rickman
Brenda Laurel
Brian Yeung
Celia Pearce
Chaim Gingold
Chris Crawford
Clay Shirky
Clive Thompson
Dancing Sausage
Daniel Harvey
Dave Myers
David Kennerly
David Thomas
Dennis Jerz
Dmitri Williams
Elizabeth Reid Steere
Eric Zimmerman
Ernest Adams
Ernest Miller
Espen Aarseth
F. Randall Farmer
Frans Mäyrä
Gonzalo Frasca
Greg Costikyan
Hanna Wallach
Henry Jenkins
Hiroshi Yamaguchi
Howard Rheingold
Ian Reid
J (aka DV)
James Grimmelmann
Jane McGonigal
Janet Murray
Jason Craft
Jason Della Rocca
Jason Rhody
Jason Rutter
Jay Bibby
Jeff Freeman
Jen Granick
Jesper Juul
Jessica Mulligan
Jill Walker
Jonas Heide Smith
Julian Kücklich
Jurie Horneman
Kathryn Wright
Kurt Squire
Lars Konzack
Lauren Burka
Laurie Taylor
Lisbeth Klastrup
Liz Lawley
Marc LeBlanc
Marc Prensky
Marie-Laure Ryan
Mark Bernstein
Martin Dodge
Mary Flanagan
Matteo Bittanti
Matthew Kirschenbaum
Mia Consalvo
Michael Mateas
Mirjam Eladhari
Mizuko Ito
Nick Montfort
Nicolas Nova
Nina Huntemann
Noah Wardrip-Fruin
Pat Kane
Peter Berger
Peter Ludlow
Punya Mishra
Raph Koster
Robin Hunicke
Roland Piquepaille
Ron Gilbert
Ross Mayfield
Sal Humphreys
Scott Jennings
Scott Miller
Scott Moore
Scott Rettberg
Shuen-shing Lee
Steven Shaviro
Stewart Butterfield
Stewart Woods
Stuart Moulthrop
Susan Crawford
Susana Tosca
Talmadge Wright
Thom Gillespie
Timothy Burke
Toby Donaldson
Tom Coates
Torill Mortensen
Tracy Spaight
Wagner James Au
William Huber
]Ebay 1654
]Item Bay
]Player Auctions

Charming Refuges

Interesting little article from the Newark Star-Ledger, reminding us that MUDs still exist, though their role has changed.

If you want to get a sense of how much the Internet has changed in 10 years, there is no better way than to delve into the world of MUDs. Think of a trip to a MUD as a way to travel back to 1994, when the Net was just starting to gain attention beyond a relatively small cadre of academics, scientists and Grateful Dead fans... Whereas they were once considered the Internet's raucous side, they have become a charming refuge from the loud, bright world of the Web.

GOMs new best Pal

Gaming Open Market and PayPal seem to have kissed and made up.

In what could be characterised as an intense focus on customer sentiment or a sudden 180 degree hand-break turn of a policy change GOM have just announced that, despite previous statements, they will be using PayPal after all.

Salami Slicing the Group?

A salami slicing exploit is a computer crime technique premised on stealing lots of little bits of value (e.g. rounding down in financial transactions) that is hard to detect. Clay Shirkey once argued this to be a false analogy when used to justify micropayment systems (September 2003, Fame vs Fortune: Micropayments and Free Content). Those "salami slices" don't turn out to be as thin as they would first appear. His argument revolved around

what Nick Szabo calls mental transaction costs, the energy required to decide whether something is worth buying or not, regardless of price.

Endgame

eGenesis’ A Tale in the Desert (ATITD) is unusual in many ways. There is no killing (well if you try very hard you can kill yourself – permanently), there is a highly evolved legal system, and the player voted to the position of Demi-Pharaoh has the power to terminate the account of another player.

ATITD also ends.

When the players, or citizens as they are called, reach a certain level of development and the story arc reaches its climax – that’s it. For a long time players and commentators have been wondering what comes next. We knew that after the First Telling there would be a Second, but what? Would eGenesis just re-boot the servers and off we go again?

Oh, no. They had something hidden in their robes.

UO:X Halts Development

A bigger event than the closing of Warhammer Online, this world was to be the first-person 3D update to its aging but venerable ancestor. Judging from the press release, score it gameplay 1, graphics 0. Thanks for the heads-up to Brian Whitener.

Souls For Sale

Things are heating up in There this summer, with hot topics like politics and religion becoming major points of debate both in-world and in the member forums.

As the U.S. election season kicks into high gear, in-world political campaigning and even voter registration booths for RL presidential candidates are being offered.

Meanwhile, a born-again Christian is ruffling feathers by using There as an advertising vehicle for his particular denomination. Specifically, he's set up a large structure just outside of Karuna Plaza, There’s main entry point for newbies with glowing crosses and billboards proclaiming “Jesus is Lord.” You really can’t miss this place.