Based on what you and Amelia say, ATitD sounds more like it’s a collaborative theater experience, as opposed to a more passive, crafted narrative. They’re different types of experiences, and appeal to different audiences and are best at expressing certain types of emotions. I think there’s room for both in MMOs.

Regarding A Tale in the Desert. Heh, that’s more complicated. There’s next to no “narrative” in atitd, especially it exists is most other MMOs. It’s more about user created topography. The game starts out with a huge helping of natural resources and a few dozen tiny little buildings where players can go to learn skills. These are soon dwarfed by the hundreds of large and small structures that players build. What little narrative there is (well, besides the “goal” that all players are working towards, though that sort of ties in too) is just in watching how communities are established. Which wealthy players sponsor sculpture gardens, where some players arrange plants as they see fit, others build sculptures. There’s a lot of control over things like the architecture of your buildings and artwork. Your own character’s personal little story arc also comes from user-created content, mostly. In order to level up you need to not only build a sculpture, but have enough other players rank it. Or design a (sadly simple and kinda boring) version of a puzzle, and have enough players solve it and vote on it. Like I imagine CoH’s mission system working, some people have built the equivalent of 1970s apartment complexes. Others have built Giverny. I think it’s unfair not to give the game credit just because it isn’t “narrative.”

Also, as for the last bit, I forgot a word I meant to put in there. It was supposed to say “isn’t just so designers can be lazy.”

Happy Monday!

I wasn’t clear above, but I wasn’t saying that users shouldn’t be able to CREATE non-perfect content and share it with others, I was more talking about passive players who want to EXPERIENCE other user’s content, and not necessarily their friends. Sharing with friends is something I’m sure they’ll get right, and I bet there will be the equivalent of a “random video” button that will sometimes give you things you care about and sometimes things you won’t. However, to achieve maximum impact, there has to be some mechanism for which missions become “mainstream popular” at the level of a youtube video meme. CoH may go for more of a Nintendo-level system where all you have is random and explicitly friended, but that’s not the full potential of the system.

Oh, and a good half of user-created content is, in fact, about designer laziness. Well, lack of resources rather.

But seriously. When I played CoH I’m pretty sure a lot of people running around were a good deal younger than I was. Hell, my husband I were even thanked once by a father playing with his kid for putting up with his clumsy use of game mechanics and the English language Not many 13 year olds are going to write missions that expand the CoX universe in line with what the designers intend. They should still be able to make missions and share them with friends. So should people who just plain suck at writing stories. The game is for everyone, not just good writers or people smart enough to hate that damn cave.

The goal of user-created content isn’t so the designers can be lazy, right? It’s because users get something out of creating content as well as playing it. As long as creating the useless dreck enhanced the playing experience of the person who made it and didn’t ruin anyone else’s enjoyment of the game fine, right?

If users can rate things I doubt you’d find slash or ridiculously bad writing in the top 100. The worst they’ll end up being is really boring. Serious players can just ignore things with bad ratings, therefore never exposing themselves to the Back Alley Brawler being kidnapped by ninjas and held in enormous underground caverns.