[the_logos]

Here's a good liveblog from the Austin Games Conference (wrapping up today) of a panel between:
* Raph Koster (President of Areae, formerly Chief Creative Officer for Sony Online, and lead design on Ultima Online previous to that. Used to work on LegendMUD as well.)
* Erik Bethke (CEO of GoPets, which does...GoPets. Google them.)
* Marc Jacobs (Studio GM of EA Mythic...did Dark Age of Camelot, doing Warhammer Online. Way back in 1984 launched the text MUD Aradath, and also did Dragon's Gate MUD)
* John Smedley, President of Sony Online (Everquest, Everquest 2, Star Wars: Galaxies, etc)

It's ostensibly entitled, "What are the biggest online gaming opportunities?" but it largely turns into a debate about subscriptions vs. microtransactions and RMT.

Virtual Worlds News: Blogging the AGDC: What Are the Biggest Online Gaming Opportunities?

--matt

[Lasher]

Originally Posted by the_logos Here's a good liveblog from the Austin Games Conference (wrapping up today) of a panel between: * Raph Koster (President of Areae, formerly Chief Creative Officer for Sony Online, and lead design on Ultima Online previous to that. Used to work on LegendMUD as well.) * Erik Bethke (CEO of GoPets, which does...GoPets. Google them.) * Marc Jacobs (Studio GM of EA Mythic...did Dark Age of Camelot, doing Warhammer Online. Way back in 1984 launched the text MUD Aradath, and also did Dragon's Gate MUD) * John Smedley, President of Sony Online (Everquest, Everquest 2, Star Wars: Galaxies, etc) It's ostensibly entitled, "What are the biggest online gaming opportunities?" but it largely turns into a debate about subscriptions vs. microtransactions and RMT. --matt

Wow, why does the TV series "left behind" spring to mind?

[the_logos]

Originally Posted by Lasher Wow, why does the TV series "left behind" spring to mind?

Heh heh. The guys arguing against RMT and virtual asset sales (well, that'd mainly be Mark Jacobs) do sound really out of touch don't they?

--matt

[Lasher]

Originally Posted by the_logos Heh heh. The guys arguing against RMT and virtual asset sales (well, that'd mainly be Mark Jacobs) do sound really out of touch don't they? --matt

I didn't mean that, I meant some of the earlier MUD guys and what they're doing now....

[the_logos]

Originally Posted by Lasher I didn't mean that, I meant some of the earlier MUD guys and what they're doing now....

Ahhh.

I don't get it....

I'm going to blame the Saturday morning mental haze for this. I keep trying to figure out if you're making some clever reference that requires knowledge of the Left Behind books/tv/movie stuff or if I'm just being incredibly dense and missing the obvious.

--matt

[Ide]

I'll take a stab...he means guys like Koster and Jacobs who turned their college-age obsession into MMO stardom?

[Lasher]

Originally Posted by the_logos Ahhh. I don't get it.... I'm going to blame the Saturday morning mental haze for this. I keep trying to figure out if you're making some clever reference that requires knowledge of the Left Behind books/tv/movie stuff or if I'm just being incredibly dense and missing the obvious. --matt

Yeah my bad, given that I never watch TV and have never actually seen a single episode of "Left Behind" I figured if I had heard of it then it was commonly known enough to use as a frame of reference.

If I remember correctly, it's a somewhat religious series about Earth after the rapture and the folks who got left behind...