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Originally Posted by zdonovan My point is this. EQ and UO are two substantially different games. When they were the only MMO's out, very rarely(past the EQ launch) did someone switch to the other game. SW:G was built in the spirit of UO, I don't think anyone would argue that. On a board filled with EQ vets, myself included, it doesn't shock and suprise me that people flame SW:G to oblivion.
What does suprise me is that people can't see that the game was made to appeal to a different type of gamer, and was successful(as was his first project, UO). I know, it's hard not to make a profit with the Star Wars license, and perhaps it would've done better if was done in an EQ-esque style.
Bottom line is, this guy made two successful games (that I personally don't enjoy), and has more than enough experience to write a book on it. I just think the attacks on Raph Koster, and the SUCCESSFUL games he made are bullshit.
...and yes, I did play SW:G for a few months pre-NGE, and no, I don't subscribe anymore. |
My problem with Raph is that he is a hippy. All the shit that he insists is the IMPORTANT part of gaming, and he claims are "Core game design principles" are the ones that gamers don't care about. In Raph's terms, Second Life and TSO are godlike, and WoW is a horrible failure. He has a fundamental disconnect from people that actually play games, he wants to "Make worlds, man". The people that run Kazola's Tavern in UO and cantinas in SWG are a tiny sliver of the game's population - and that is who he caters to, designs to, in his bizzaro world, those are the only real "gamers" and everyone else is a psychopath.
The reason the games he contributed to sold over 50k boxes is because they actually had, you know,
games designed into them in addition to fuzzy-wuzzy-ville. His version of PvP is two people arguing about what the color blue tastes like. I actually thought his promotion in SOE was a good thing - as Creative Director he could apply his design goals to EQ2, design the systems for the social gamers, etc - instead he contributed the almost universally unused Heroic Opportunity system.
At the core, I guess, it's that Raph thinks that Social Gaming is the only valid type of gaming when in reality the social aspect is one of many - and in most people's eyes, one of lesser importance, but that people still line up at the door to worship him boggles my mind.