“They’re quest dispensers, except they’re shaped like meat.” (updated)
6 o'clock, September 11, 2006
Fascinating (if you’re fascinated by this sort of thing) discussion of the future of massively multiplayer online gaming over at someplaced called F13.net.
Raph: Yeah, NPCs in a game like WoW clearly deserve the name quest dispensers . . .
Yoru: Whereas NPCs in pen and paper games are kind of central . . .
Raph: Yeah, in WoW, they’re quest dispensers except they’re shaped like meat. Rather than shaped like a terminal.
(Courtesy of Bruce Sterling.)
Also of interest: “Do Levels Suck?” by Raph Koster (the “Raph” in the exchange above, and author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design), which among other things does a pretty good job of convincing me I’ve had most of the fun in World of Warcraft that I’m ever going to have.
Update: See also “What are the lessons of MMORPGs today?” For instance:
- You never, ever, ever change jobs. If you want to, you probably need to die.
- There is always a demand for couriers and assassins.
- Killing is the only real way to gain people’s admiration.
- If you don’t keep up with the Joneses, you will never see them again. In fact, if you don’t keep up with your friends, you will never see them again either.
As Raph says, it may seem like a joke, but it’s actually a lament.
And the lesson of Animal Capitalism:
* All wild animals carry loose cash. You can kill them and take their money. (Where, then, is the Animal Police? ;-))