Articles about designing games. No, not the programs that run the game -- the game itself.

• [Fighting Player Burnout in Massively Multiplayer Games]
• [Article on building online communities.]
• [Online Justice Systems]
• [A rant telling people they aren't capable of creating a MMORPG]
• [Security in Online Games]
• Series of essays by Craig Huber on MPOGD.com:
  • [Part 1] of Craig Huber's essays on MPOGD.com about Next-Generation RPGs.
  • [Part 2]
  • [Part 3], focused on death in the game.
  • [Economics 101]
  • [Inter-player Conflict]
• Challenges of Making a Multiplayer Game
• Considerations When Creating a MMORPG
• [Make 'em pay!] a somewhat different view of the MMOG world ...

DWM Oh my God, this is hilarious. Istvan Uh, actually... there's a sound principle of the time value of money underlying that satirical article.... I know of at least one game out there trying to tie its economy to real-world values, allowing players to directly buy "powerups" by paying additional cash... It's in beta. Oh - get this: players who find "treasure" and items they don't need can convert them back for real-world cash. Think you are good enough to make money playing a game? 7/15/03 Addendum: [Project Entropia] is no longer in beta. It's run from Sweden, which may have favorable laws for the economic model they are using. It's still free to get an account and walk around, but if you want any gear, you probably need to sink some cash into your account. Graphically very lovely. DWM I certainly didn't mean to dis the concept entirely -- you're right, the basic principle is quite sound! And re making money at a game: No, I would imagine that the odds are stacked just like the games in Las Vegas. :)

• [The Future of Massively Multiplayer Games]
  • JDH: Some thoughts while reading this (others might consider doing the same for the wealth of other articles on this page):
    • Glad to see the rest of the industry is on the same page as us ;-)
    • The good thing about space is that there's a lot of room for player owned real-estate! Perhaps to control the "crap factor" we could have some building inspector AI that goes around with a digital bulldozer ....
    • I haven't seen mention of a "rap sheet" yet - that's good for us - keep this one under our hats!
    • "For people to be computer literate, own a PC, own the proper hardware, and to have broadband installed (since many games are modem-unfriendly) is too much of a "coincidence." It narrows the available playing field. Consoles are a possible distribution method. (And, to that end, I noticed one of the Xbox engineers sitting in on one of the roundtables asking pointed questions about what it would take for developers to feel comfortable with the Xbox platform. With integrated broadband, the Xbox seems like a likely MMOG target.)" Yes, yes, yes!
    • "wants to see additional means of entry. What about accessing the game world via your handheld or cell phone? For example, while riding the bus on your way to work, you could check your in-game messages or manage your character's general store from your Palm Pilot" Are you sure this wiki's private - I think they've been reading our stuff.
    • ""How do you make a player who spends five hours a month [playing] still feel relevant to the game world?" A majority of the developers agreed that this was essential to broaden the audience" Why, if only they'd asked me: you let them continue to play using automated avatars even when they're not around. Istvan I don't disagree, but I don't totally agree, either. At least, I think that's not the only way to do it - I think if you take away the "levelling treadmill", a lot of that "keeping up with the Joneses" factor dries up and blows away.
    • Make sure you take the "Do you prefer Killin' or Buildin'?" survey to find out the current lay of the land.
    • That was an interesting read and it really seems like we're thinking the right sort of thoughts if we care to judge ourselves by the current "major leaguers".
  • Istvan Wow... I've skimmed the article and I'm kind of in shock to hear all of this from established companies. Now, if they can actually implement... *[Online Gaming Laws] Istvan Interesting little page I bumped into while browsing. Mostly a set of design comments and considerations from the MUD days, but which the authors recognize have bearing on MMOG design in the current era. I found a lot of things in there that either fit with my own ideas, match my experiences in dealing with running Jumpgate, or just plain make sense, so I wanted to pass the link along.