Sulka's Game - Virtual worlds on consoles

Virtual worlds on consoles

Posted by: Sulka

Virtual World News posted a bit with title Habbo's Sulka Haro Says Virtual Worlds Won't Work for Consoles.

I didn't quite expect that title based on the article but yeah, I'm pretty skeptical of how the PS3 Home end up being adopted by PS3 owners. However I didn't quite mean to specifically target Home as such. Looking at MMOs in general, I think player to player communication is key to creating a successful world. On consoles, most people won't bother to hook up an extender cable to a USB keyboard so any game trying to motivate people do that is going to have adoption issues.

I also don't believe voice will cut it either. Sure, we're starting to have somewhat realistic filtering that'll change what you sound like but that doesn't mean a fifteen year old would still sound like a 40 year old paladin. So, if you're working on a world where people actually have characters with roles, voice communication probably won't be applicable to your game. Voice just might work for Home though, if the main point to go there is to meet your real-file friends. Just don't expect to make too many new friends.

So, I believe consoles are inherently at disadvantage when it comes to MMOs. Someone please prove me wrong! :)

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Comments

Posted by: Aaron 02 October, 2007 - 18:26:06

Another thing about voicechat is that it kills one of the best features of internet communication: anonymity.

I don't mean that I like how people can hide in the internet or that forming close relationships online isn't a good thing. What I mean is a lot of close relationships are formed through internet chat only because the players/users don't initially realize the differences between them.

Not knowing the other person's age, sex, culture, and all enables the player to speak to that person as if they were peers. It's an eye-opener when you first realize that you can talk to someone of a different generation, the opposite sex, and a wholly different lifestyle like you were just two buddies who grew up together. In face-to-face conversations, and in voice chat, we adjust our conversations to the other person much more.

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