First blood (my blood)

I could not decide which game to use. I was a staunch ABSL (anything but second life). So i set out to find open world multiplayer games that are NOT 2nd life. And the following is what i have found interesting.

Sociotown http://www.sociotown.com/
Onverse http://www.onverse.com/signup/
Taikodom http://taikodom.com/

Before i get to the games, i thought it would be interesting to share that as i tried to google "open world multiplayer" and the likes, i hit upon very few games (mostly games for furries). Then i hit up wikipedia for massively multiplayer online games in general. Then i realized that presently those sandbox games are more like MMOSC (SC = social games). Googling for,MMOSC proves to be more of a success. Which may bring us to the Will Wright interview in that why isnt there more GTA styled MMO out there? I may add that i didnt purposely google for FREE MMOSC, but it seems that most MMOSC are free anyway (or maybe the Googly One can read my thoughts and show only the free ones anyway).

Anyway, First up, Taikodom.

Interesting setting and story, it was nonlinear in a way but more defined and narrower than say 2nd life (cringe). But still basically nonlinear. Unfortunately for me, i gave up halfway as the ancient contraption that is my desktop is too slow to handle the graphics. A pity as i am most interested in this.

Second on the list, Sociotown
First impression : "Wow, browser based 3D MMOSC"
Logged in
2nd impression: "where is the sign up page?"
I then realized that they world the signing up process into the game itself, which i thought is quite fresh and interesting. It certainly adds a stronger feeling of being part of the game world. That you are born and bred there (even though you start out in a jail....find out for yourself!). The camera angle kind of suck and the movement control is of the point and click variety (like Diablo)
There is this interesting leaderboad thingy at the right hand side (outside of the game world) that shows the biggest blah blah blah and the strongest slah slah slah. In my horror, i discovered that there must be at most 5 players in the entire game as i count only around 5 unique username. I ran around the town after being freed to find that a piece of rusty nail probably have more life and more vibrant than the place. It had potential but i skipped it due to lack of players (not much of a community if there is only 5 and you cant find the 5)

Third up, Onverse.
Horrible movement.
Horrible camera angle.
Horrible interface
Horrible game world.
I didnt even complete the tutorials (yes it was that bad)
Skip.

So i listed 3 and i rejected 3. Which means.... yes, i am back to 2nd Life.

Oh the horrors!

Oh well, it would be interesting to set out in 2nd life and challenge myself to change my perception of 2nd life. The bit about how it should really be named NO LIFE.

So much for being a staunch ABSL.

On to the readings.

For the interview reading, i was just thinking about how emergent storytelling is an important aspect of sandbox games like The Sims. In non sandbox games (ie games with clearly defined goals and where there is an 'end state'), the game designer is a dictator. The game designer dictates what you should feel and how you should feel, what you should do and how you should do. Sometimes explicitly, sometimes implicitly (by perhaps using affordances within the game world). For the sandbox game designer, he/she is shaping up himself/herself to be a tool of the game world, tool of the players and tool of the community. The game designer do not dictate, but instead encourage. There are no goals, only possibilities. Thus, the game designer is also a helper. The player/community is the producer + consumer.

For the Callois reading, he mentioned when play crossed over and became work. That seems to imply that 'play' and 'work' are binary oppositions. Examining the 6 factors of identifying activity as play (free, separate, uncertain, unproductive, governed by rules, make believe)  These factors, in my opinion are mainly positivist. Perhaps more focus should be given to the circumstance surround the actor, not just the activity itself. I am not saying that these rules are bad, just that perhaps they can be further improved upon by perhaps considering the cultural context of the actor, that present mindset of the actor and the social status of that actor. From the reading, i get the impression that a profession soccer player is not playing but working. But what about passion? He plays because he likes to play and choose that as his line of work because it is one job which he will get the most enjoyment out of it. Taking the factor of being governed by rules, it can be made more in depth by saying what exactly constitutes 'ordinary laws'.

Oh, going back to the games, is just me or does bad controls and camera angles really kill off such a game for me? Does things 'outside' of the game world like control system and camera angles affect the 'culture' and set up of the game?