Comments on: Writing for Fantasy Games http://www.songless.com/blog/2007/06/28/writing-for-fantasy-games/ Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:33:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3 By: johne http://www.songless.com/blog/2007/06/28/writing-for-fantasy-games/#comment-2 johne Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:20:11 +0000 http://www.songless.com/blog/2007/06/28/writing-for-fantasy-games/#comment-2 Hm. I'd say that the problem of scaling up from LARP to MMORPG is similar to scaling up from table-top to LARP. Stories that work well with a d6 of protagonists start to break down when you have 20 or 30 or 50 or 100 of them. Player conflict and factions start becoming significant, it becomes harder creating stories that everyone moves through at the same time, and the raw logistics of dealing with that many players becomes greater than the old system can handle. I think the problem becomes more like that of life itself - how do you resolve individual agency and the desire to be a protagonist, when you're dealing with large numbers of people with significantly different experiences, rivalrous resources, and poor communication? Hm. I’d say that the problem of scaling up from LARP to MMORPG is similar to scaling up from table-top to LARP. Stories that work well with a d6 of protagonists start to break down when you have 20 or 30 or 50 or 100 of them. Player conflict and factions start becoming significant, it becomes harder creating stories that everyone moves through at the same time, and the raw logistics of dealing with that many players becomes greater than the old system can handle.

I think the problem becomes more like that of life itself - how do you resolve individual agency and the desire to be a protagonist, when you’re dealing with large numbers of people with significantly different experiences, rivalrous resources, and poor communication?

]]> By: Adam http://www.songless.com/blog/2007/06/28/writing-for-fantasy-games/#comment-3 Adam Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:31:00 +0000 http://www.songless.com/blog/2007/06/28/writing-for-fantasy-games/#comment-3 Indeed, many people are dissatisfied by the "game" of life, and shake their puny fists at the heavens; although of these, very few really want to stop playing. "It's crooked, but it's the only game in town." People who make video games don't have the luxury of being the only game in town, so they're scrambling to find ways of making their simulated environments more interesting and enjoyable to inhabit - preferably while minimizing the burden of constantly inventing new stories. Indeed, many people are dissatisfied by the “game” of life, and shake their puny fists at the heavens; although of these, very few really want to stop playing. “It’s crooked, but it’s the only game in town.”

People who make video games don’t have the luxury of being the only game in town, so they’re scrambling to find ways of making their simulated environments more interesting and enjoyable to inhabit - preferably while minimizing the burden of constantly inventing new stories.

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