Well Said, Mr. James Wednesday, May 24, 2006

The CEO of Three Rings Design (makers of Puzzle Pirates) has a new blog. And while I'm not familiar with his company's work, I enjoyed what he had to say about the MMORPG (which I think should be pronounced "more pig") phenomenon:

This year I had a somewhat new experience [at E3]; that of seeing 10+ brand-new MMORPGs that were all pretty much indistinguishable from one another. Each one of these projects has a budget of $10M+. Each one has incredible graphics with a swanky engine. The characters are beautifully modelled, high-fantasy and often anthropomorphic. ...[E]ach has apparently the same basic gameplay, down to the same '-20' bling bling hit points that pop up over the poor hapless goblin/frogluk/lionwing/krog/alien lizard thing as you pummel it into glittering transluscent fade-away.

... Please, if you can get the check for $XX Million to make an gigantic MMO, do something different. Perhaps it’s not possible; often it seems that only fantasy games succeed, but at least you’ll be able to say that you tried. You might just hit it big and reach outside of the existing, heavily-exposed and saturated demographic to find a nice juicy new audience just ready to experience MMO fun.

—"E3 MMORPG Lunacy" (emphasis original)

Well said, Mr. James. Innovation is what drives the gaming industry. The last thing we need is another cool-looking MUD.