There's a great interview up at The Guardian's games blog with Richard Bartle, chatting about all things massive and multiplayer. In 1978, Bartle co-created the original multi-user dungeon (MUD),
so if anyone's going to be a good yardstick for the development of
MMOs, it'd be him. Highlight is probably what he'd do if he could
choose one major MMO and take control of it:
I'd take over World of Warcraft
and I'd close it. I just want better virtual worlds. Sacrificing one of
the best so its players have to seek out alternatives would be a
sure-fire way to ensure that unknown gems got the chance they deserved,
and that new games were developed to push back the boundaries.
I like this man's thinking. Though I can't help but wish he'd said "Star Wars Galaxies, and let someone else do it properly".
