Monday, August 30, 2010

Online gaming - Persistence in worlds

So the first few posts here will be in varying formats until I find one that seems to work well for me.  So anywho, persistence.  For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it means a game world (usually online) where events have lasting impact upon said world.  A good example of this would be if once you killed a unique monster, it never respawned, or if you failed to escort a passenger they died and no one could interact with them again.
this would give almost every player in the game some way of making their mark upon the world.

I'm somewhat torn about this mechanic myself.  On one hand, I think it would be an interesting idea allow players the ability to radically change the game world.  This opens up the opportunities for a player to actually feel like they are taking a part in the game.  You could point to a specific instance, location or monster and lay claim to claring it, destroying it or making it safe for travelers.  This could also lead to alot of problems for new players though.  You would join the game, and unless the developers had a way to keep generating content at a rapid pace, or find a way to limit how much players could do, you would find yourself with almost nothing to do, always following behind the players who made it there before you.  Just some late night food for thought and such.

The saga begins

A cheesy opening I know, but seems appropriate in some odd way.  Allow me to introduce myself.  I'm your average gamer I'd say.  I have a fondness for certain genres of games of all kinds and makes.  This blog is here mainly to write about various game mechanics, both past and present. This includes card games, table top games, board games, and of course my usual forte, video games of various genres.  The main goal of talking about the various game mechanics found around the gaming worlds is to hopefully introduce people to some new games, wether it be video or board or other.  hopefully this will also foster discussion about possible new mechanics or how to combine certain older mechanics into new ideas.

So you may ask, how am I qualified to talk about this?  Well, I've been gaming since I was around 2, so that would be 26 years or so.  I've played many different genres of games, from simple card games to complex board games and MMOs.  I've always had a fondness for game mechanics, and have spent hours (and my friends can attest to this) talking about, and coming up with new ideas for games and various implementations of them.  Hopefully by reading this, you'll think differently about some games you've played, or feel interested to try out a game you were on the fence about.