I've been struggling for awhile with an interesting problem. It's more like an observation that I have trouble reconciling, I guess. It's all based on the sense of dissatisfaction some folks have with the current generation of MMOs. I'm talking about a particular type of player; the type of player that gravitates more to say, EQ2 or Final Fantasy XI than say WoW or WAR. The type of player that, perhaps, laments the lack of things like "lore" or "story" -- Often they're the very same people complaining about the lack of the capability for players to change the world they play in, even in games that do try to offer players that very thing.

The problem is how to address what they really want, when it doesn't really match what they've asked for. There's a huge amount of "interpretation" in what MMO developers do, I think. We look at the complaints and comments of the players and we try to figure out what we can do to provide what they're looking for. The trick, and the trouble, comes from figuring out what they're really asking for, which brings me back to that observation... Read more»