Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - A little upset... (a thread on mmorpg.com)

Elvarlyn · 11-15-2010, 06:23 PM

I agree completely.

(Rant Warning)

I guess the OP (and much of the thread) just really, really raged me. It feels like it's filled with the kind of people who think that all it takes to make an awesome groundbreaking game is "ideas." They then follow that logic to its inevitable conclusion, and decide that anyone who isn't making their version of the ideal game is either an idea-less hack or a lazy sell out.

I've been working on our game for a year and half. The work involved in creating something that actually takes advantage of new ideas is utterly staggering. It's truly mind-boggling and most people just have no clue... and that's just a MUD. People who look at a game like World of Warcraft and go, "Well, this isn't entertaining me in it's 6th year the way it did in its first" make me want to put my fist through a wall. You know what stops being fresh and exciting after 6 years? Everything. If you still feel the same exhilarating rush of excitement, trepidation and glee when you hang out with the love of your life after 6 years, you're in the extreme statistical minority.

These are the people who play Plants vs Zombies, Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress then bemoan how "AAA games just need awesome ideas like this, instead of making Medal of Honor 47." Conveniently forgetting that every other indie game in the universe flopped horribly or never got anywhere.

Making games is hard. Making incredible games is incredibly hard.

Want proof?

Making a MUD is easier in terms of 'entry' than making graphical games. You need less hardware, a less diverse team in terms of skills, less capital and less time per individual project. Yet, there are comparatively few MUDs that are 'innovative' and 400,000 stock muds with Goblins renamed into SAND VILLAGE NINJAS or whatever.

IRE is probably the 'giant' of MUDing at the moment but even they basically innovated once and then released the same 'fundamental' game 5 times (not a criticism, IRE would have been crazy to do otherwise when they had such a successful formula).

/rant.

11-15-2010, 06:23 PM	#8
Elvarlyn Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 50	Re: A little upset... (a thread on mmorpg.com) I agree completely. (Rant Warning) I guess the OP (and much of the thread) just really, really raged me. It feels like it's filled with the kind of people who think that all it takes to make an awesome groundbreaking game is "ideas." They then follow that logic to its inevitable conclusion, and decide that anyone who isn't making their version of the ideal game is either an idea-less hack or a lazy sell out. I've been working on our game for a year and half. The work involved in creating something that actually takes advantage of new ideas is utterly staggering. It's truly mind-boggling and most people just have no clue... and that's just a MUD. People who look at a game like World of Warcraft and go, "Well, this isn't entertaining me in it's 6th year the way it did in its first" make me want to put my fist through a wall. You know what stops being fresh and exciting after 6 years? Everything. If you still feel the same exhilarating rush of excitement, trepidation and glee when you hang out with the love of your life after 6 years, you're in the extreme statistical minority. These are the people who play Plants vs Zombies, Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress then bemoan how "AAA games just need awesome ideas like this, instead of making Medal of Honor 47." Conveniently forgetting that every other indie game in the universe flopped horribly or never got anywhere. Making games is hard. Making incredible games is incredibly hard. Want proof? Making a MUD is easier in terms of 'entry' than making graphical games. You need less hardware, a less diverse team in terms of skills, less capital and less time per individual project. Yet, there are comparatively few MUDs that are 'innovative' and 400,000 stock muds with Goblins renamed into SAND VILLAGE NINJAS or whatever. IRE is probably the 'giant' of MUDing at the moment but even they basically innovated once and then released the same 'fundamental' game 5 times (not a criticism, IRE would have been crazy to do otherwise when they had such a successful formula). /rant.