Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
In a single-player game, the player tries to read the designer's mind to some extent,
to figure out what you want him to do, and then he does it. His play is often reac-
tive, a response to challenges thrown at him. In a persistent world, the player
decides for himself what he wants to do. He seeks out challenges if he feels like it,
but he can spend all his time socializing if he prefers. His gameplay—and, indeed,
the entire nature of the experience—is
expressive
and active rather than reactive.
This quality of persistent-world play has profound effects on the design of such
worlds, as you will see later in this section.
WHERE DOES
SECOND LIFE
FIT IN?
Second Life
is a widely publicized online environment that allows users (known in the
environment as
residents
) to build landscapes and a nearly unlimited variety of artifacts,
including avatars and buildings, and sell them to one another. They may also interact
with each other in a wide variety of ways. Users access the virtual world through a client,
just as players of MMOGs do. However, unlike MMOGs,
Second Life
does not offer quests
to achieve, combat or other types of challenges, a system for leveling characters up, or
any of the other gameplay features typical of persistent worlds. It is simply an environ-
ment, and what happens in it is entirely up to the users. They can build their own games
within the game world if they want to, but the system does not include many tools for
implementing and enforcing the rules. All land in the game consists of islands in the sea
that are owned by the residents (except for a few islands used for training new arrivals).
Users must purchase an island in the sea from the operators, Linden Labs, if they want to
construct their own environment. A built-in scripting language allows objects in the
game to perform behaviors when a resident interacts with them.
Residents in
Second Life
may instantaneously teleport or fly their avatars to any location
in the world that is not private (most are open). Residents use the virtual world for social
interaction, personal expression, education, evangelism, and as a means of offering virtual
goods and services for sale. A number of corporations and a small number of countries
have opened “offices” in
Second Life
as a means of informing people about themselves.
Because every object and even the landscape in
Second Life
may be modified or deleted
at any time, the user's client software must continually download the graphics for the
virtual world. This is not true of most MMOGs, where the landscape is largely static and
cannot be modified by the players. The constant data transmission required by
Second
Life
creates a time lag in displaying the graphics that would be unacceptable in most
MMOGs.
Second Life
is not intended for real-time play the way
World of Warcraft
is.
For the moment,
Second Life
is unique or nearly so. It costs nothing to use, although resi-
dents must purchase Linden dollars (the in-game currency) with real money if they want
to purchase in-world artifacts, and there is a price for some premium services. But it is
not an MMOG.
