- 15comments
- 51comments
- 5comments
- 367comments
- 19comments
- 15comments
- 25comments
- 273comments
- 64comments
- 23comments
- 314comments
- 1comments
- 76comments
- 2comments
- 4comments
- 90comments
- 6comments
- 85comments
- 257comments
- 66comments
- 12comments
- 6comments
- 95comments
- 210comments
- 18comments
- 97comments
- 49comments
- 221comments
- 13comments
- 72comments
I love this paper, and keep re-reading it every 4-5 years. It's incredible how actual it still is. From Habitat, to Worlds Chat, to Second Life, or upcoming metaverses using Oculus Rift.
Me too! I posted this a long time ago on here and was disappointed nobody checked it out. Makes me happy so many people are enjoying it.
This paper was fascinating and made me wonder if it was one of the inspirations or reference materials in writing the fictional work 'The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect' by Roger Williams. A crazy virtual reality turned real... for lack of a better paraphrase. The great debate, the sheriff, DEATH and THE SHADOW, user created content - all things that reminded me of strong themes in Prime Intellect.
Prime Intellect: very NSFW sci-fi you can read online at http://localroger.com/prime-intellect/
What a gem. The reference list seems to tell a story all by itself.
Seems disingenuous to not mention MUDs at all, the first of which had been running for a decade at that point. Yes, they added graphics, apparently, but I was playing Neverwinter on AOL a year later in 1991 with graphics as well, and quests that worked fine for any number of players, and GM led events and contests that did as well.
The MUD I was on had GM led quests and stories and adventures for every single new region that opened as well. So the huge problem they ran into of an event only working for one user just sounds like some thing they blew out of proportion to write what they wanted to write, or they were just ignorant of what everyone else was doing at the time.
I was struck by how the lessons learned were not specific to virtual world games, but applied as much to developing any online community application (like eBay, Facebook, Twitter) including the rejection of big, upfront design, letting your community guide development, and facilitating user created content.
If you liked this paper, you might also find Ultima Online's resource system interesting:
* Part 1: http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/06/03/uos-resource-system/
* Part 2: http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/06/04/uos-resource-system-par...
* Part 3: http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/06/05/uos-resource-system-par...
Has this sort of mega-simulation envisioned at the end of part 3 materialized yet? I don't think so. Why? is there no interest in it or the technology isn't there yet?
If you love this paper, I'd strongly suggest reading "Death and Life of Great American Cities". It plays out the same issues in the central planning of NYC in the 1960s.
Randy and Chip also have a great series of essays and articles here, including a bunch on the topic of online communities:
http://habitatchronicles.com/