Really great read. I ran an emulator for an MMO that shutdown in the mid 2000s for about 10 years. It was a lot of work but maybe the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done because it kept a community alive. My theory on MMOs is that they enable a lot of people to live a life (even if it is digital) that is more aligned to who they want to be. That feels very human to me which is why MMOs will always be around in some shape or form.
The very difficult part of getting them right, though, is balancing sheep vs wolves. You need a lot of players to make the world feel alive. Wolves will play 40-60 hrs a week easily and will vastly outpace the more casual players (sheep). Game Devs need to figure out how to keep both groups engaged because making the game too cookie cutter/easy to keep the sheep happy alienates the wolves. And making time investment too important (for the wolves) will drive away the sheep.
Re: the wolves/sheep thing, I always wonder if there are gameplay systems we haven't yet invented which could channel those excess hours into non-competitive—or, even better—positive sum activities. Like in Animal Crossing, during the pandemic, there were some people who'd obsessively collect items and invite you over to their island so you could pick those items up and add them to your catalog. Their intense play resulted in status because they could help other players.
A weird tangential idea connected to this would be if an MMO had systems in place that let players build and contribute to an in-world media ecosystem. The blunt version of this would be the ability to publish and share books and newspapers and maybe in-world social media in a shared world. You'd find at least some super-engaged players dedicating a lot of time to that, versus the content treadmill.
TL;DR If anybody wants to build the printing press in Fortnite you know how to reach me lol
Crowfall had - on paper because they couldn’t stop messing with game engines to execute - an interesting model that bridged sheep and wolves. EVE had some player-driven concepts like Red v Blue that were also interesting.
So, I think there are options out there that could work. We just need to see some fresh attempts to create a sustainable world. Maybe that is a printing press!
This was a great interview to read, thank you! l And frankly, a lot of it rings true. I was another Neopets kid, and it's true that you could come back to the game endlessly, even if they didn't add much content across years of play.
It never occurred to me that games like Minecraft were born from classic-style MMOs, and it makes me curious to try some of them out for myself someday. Not sure how they'd hold up today, but it would be a fun piece of history to see.
Anyway, hope this newest project goes well for him.
Really great read. I ran an emulator for an MMO that shutdown in the mid 2000s for about 10 years. It was a lot of work but maybe the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done because it kept a community alive. My theory on MMOs is that they enable a lot of people to live a life (even if it is digital) that is more aligned to who they want to be. That feels very human to me which is why MMOs will always be around in some shape or form.
The very difficult part of getting them right, though, is balancing sheep vs wolves. You need a lot of players to make the world feel alive. Wolves will play 40-60 hrs a week easily and will vastly outpace the more casual players (sheep). Game Devs need to figure out how to keep both groups engaged because making the game too cookie cutter/easy to keep the sheep happy alienates the wolves. And making time investment too important (for the wolves) will drive away the sheep.
It is hard to get right.
Re: the wolves/sheep thing, I always wonder if there are gameplay systems we haven't yet invented which could channel those excess hours into non-competitive—or, even better—positive sum activities. Like in Animal Crossing, during the pandemic, there were some people who'd obsessively collect items and invite you over to their island so you could pick those items up and add them to your catalog. Their intense play resulted in status because they could help other players.
A weird tangential idea connected to this would be if an MMO had systems in place that let players build and contribute to an in-world media ecosystem. The blunt version of this would be the ability to publish and share books and newspapers and maybe in-world social media in a shared world. You'd find at least some super-engaged players dedicating a lot of time to that, versus the content treadmill.
TL;DR If anybody wants to build the printing press in Fortnite you know how to reach me lol
Crowfall had - on paper because they couldn’t stop messing with game engines to execute - an interesting model that bridged sheep and wolves. EVE had some player-driven concepts like Red v Blue that were also interesting.
So, I think there are options out there that could work. We just need to see some fresh attempts to create a sustainable world. Maybe that is a printing press!
Tibia too is still going after 23 years.
🙌🏻
Another great one Ryan!
This was a great interview to read, thank you! l And frankly, a lot of it rings true. I was another Neopets kid, and it's true that you could come back to the game endlessly, even if they didn't add much content across years of play.
It never occurred to me that games like Minecraft were born from classic-style MMOs, and it makes me curious to try some of them out for myself someday. Not sure how they'd hold up today, but it would be a fun piece of history to see.
Anyway, hope this newest project goes well for him.
Interesting!