Stars Reach is being pitched as a modern sandbox MMO that brings back the freedom and community feeling of older online worlds. What do you think today’s MMOs have gained over the years, and what do you think they’ve lost?
Raph Koster: I’ve often said that MMOs cut more gameplay from MUDs than they preserved. It’s sort of the optimization that you make when you chase a particular market. You streamline things, and along the way you lose stuff – sometimes stuff that is really core to what makes MMOs special.
The unique thing that MMOs bring is a persistent world, and large numbers of people. There’s nothing wrong with smaller survival games, but they don’t have the large numbers. There’s nothing wrong with looter-shooters, but they don’t have the persistent world.
No other form of game offers the canvas that comes with having both of those things. I hear people say things like “social media means MMOs aren’t special anymore,” but they don’t have the world there either.
If we embrace the unique qualities, design games that actually make use of the persistent world, that actually make use of the large populations, I think that there’s enormous novel territory to explore.
The game is built around a living galaxy where player actions leave lasting marks. How do you design systems that create meaningful consequences without letting the world become chaotic or unreadable over time?
Raph Koster: Ironically, the chaotic mess that a player leaves behind after having modified the world is very readable! But it’s still an issue we had to tackle, of course.
A big part of it is making sure that the largest impacts aren’t done by solo players, but by the accumulation of player actions, collective play like building towns. We built systems that encourage players to work together to make big changes – or prevent them, if they choose, by claiming land and setting rules or just repairing it. The most active guild in the game right now is actually a nature conservancy that repairs damage to the ecosystems.
We also have little failsafes – forests grow back, for example, as long as there is enough still there. When you tunnel, you leave behind tailings, and these are pretty loose, tend to flow and fill holes, and gradually turn back into dirt and grow grass.
