On Fri, 16 Jul 1999, Jones, Brian wrote:

>
> Trade skills is what some people want in an MMORPG. That is why I like EQ,
> I don't have to deal with trade skills to make money - I work enough in RL,
> I don't want to play a game and work there too. In all of my years of
> roleplaying (AD&D, Amber, etc) I don't ever remembering anyone saying 'I
> don't want to go out and explore and kill stuff, I would rather make armor
> or jewelry!' That is what NPC's did for you.

What you're failing to see is that a MMORPG is *more* than a
pencil & paper RPG. A P&P RPG was limited to just a few
people in a universe where everyone but them was an NPC. A
MMORPG is a virtual universe, and for the first time the
possibility exists where the entire world *could* be run
without any NPCs at all. If killing monsters with friends is
all you want, then you don't need something as extensive as UO
or EQ, a non-persistent world like Diablo is sufficient.

Yes, the first MMORPG are going to emulate P&P RPGs, because
that's where all the previous experience with this type of
thing has been. But as players and developers start to get a
better handle on just what is/isn't possible, we're going to
start getting closer and closer to the virtual realities that
keep getting hyped in the media.

I was just talking with some UO friends about the new UO
server that's going up and the de-emphasized role of NPC
merchants there. One of them said the same thing you did - he
works enough in real life, he doesn't want to spend his
game-playing time "working" in a "game" to help someone
maintain an online merchant store. Then it hit us - someone
who is sufficiently wealthy in real life could *pay* someone
real-life money to employ someone to *work* in a merchant
store in a "game." That is the paradigm shift most people
don't yet realize - we are moving from "online game" to
"virtual world," and the line between virtual and real is
beginning to blur. We're already seeing it with people paying
real-life money for virtual items.

--
John H. Kim
kim@...