John Smedley recently published an assessment of Everquest 2's achievements to date, followed by some interesting thoughts on the MMOG future. In it, he says that one of the design goals for EQ2 was to make it friendly to a wider user base, particularly the so-called casual players, a group that Terra Nova writers and many others have struggled to define even while recognize the centrality of the category.
Lots of commentary on Smedley's letter has followed, much of it cynical. Far be it from me to depart from what all the cool kids are doing, so I figured TN should join in the fun, if somewhat tardily. I too had to laugh at the proposition that EQ2 was governed in any way by friendliness to casual play, or with a consciousness of the possibilities of a wider market. In fact, I don't feel, having messed around with the game some, that the game has a particularly clear design sensibility of any kind: it's more a bricolage of many gestures and ideas, some good and some not good.
On the other hand, once you read Smedley's letter carefully...
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