[sldev] SL 2.0?

[Cypren Christenson]

True player-generated content of the kind found in SL is never going to be an option for Blizzard, unfortunately. With that many players, and a PR need to keep their world "clean" for minors, they can't afford to let people run amok and worry about policing them. The first time a giant penis statue or a goat-sacrificing altar with a giant bloody pentagram showed up in a guildhall, it would make the national news.

SL doesn't really have the same issues because it's always been pitched as a world for adults, and for many years had no barrier for adult-oriented content at all, so people aren't really shocked or alarmed even if someone does break the rules and build something inappropriate in a PG-rated zone, and cleaning it up after the fact is "good enough".

Additionally, there's a serious scale problem when it comes to supporting and policing the number of people WoW has. Policy enforcement isn't a strictly linear problem, unfortunately; as your playerbase grows, the potential conflicts among the players increase exponentially, and your staff must increase to accommodate. As I recall, when WoW launched, there were about 200 GMs the first year for a playerbase of around 1.5 million. There are now about 3000 in the US and EU (a 15-fold increase) for a playerbase of around 5 million. (I'm leaving out China, since it runs by different rulesets.)

I don't say this to rain on anyone's parade, but just to explain why this will never realistically happen, and why in some ways it's a blessing we don't have to support or worry about those millions of WoW players.


On Jan 11, 2010, at 8:16 AM, Mary Blackwell wrote:

> I wish LL would approach someone like Blizz or Cryptic and talk about
> porting to SL for bases and guildhalls in some way.  Of course I don't
> mean you could use the same avvies, but to make some sort of official
> connection and allow the degree of customizability we have in SL.
> 
> Otherwise, even if Blizz implemented player customized forts, they'd be instanced and "cookie cutter" just as they are in EQ2 and City of Heros/City of VIllains.
> 
> Getting access to the millions playing Wow and other mmos is not a bad idea.
> 
> 
> Just
> my hobbyhorse.  If these things stay around for long, it is ineivtable
> this will happen.  Might as well be the ones who get rich off it.
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Lawson English <lenglish5 at cox.net>
> To: "Frisby, Adam" <adam at deepthink.com.au>
> Cc: "sldev at lists.secondlife.com" <sldev at lists.secondlife.com>
> Sent: Mon, January 11, 2010 10:05:01 AM
> Subject: Re: [sldev] SL 2.0?
> 
> Frisby, Adam wrote:
>> It's worth pointing out that outside tools are a lot better.
>> 
>> If you add inworld texturing facilities - you are unlikely to get much better than MSPaint. Proper texturing requires proper tools (ie, Adobe Photoshop) - likewise mesh editing requires decent tools to be effective. Inworld mesh editing is really a unnessecary feature; sure you can do it - but it's cart before the horse if you don't add mesh support at all first.
>> 
> 
> There can be many levels of editing tool. The fact that id has gone to 
> the expense to provide their professional level artists with relatively 
> high-end in-world tools (even if they aren't as good as the "out-world" 
> tools) suggests that they have found that there is a need for such tools 
> to make things look "right."
> 
> The fact that SL also involves collaboration/immersion as one of its 
> main attractions makes it even more important.
> 
> 
> Even in MMORPG games, such tools might be of value. If WoW had the 
> option to build a fort (perhaps using prefab boulders/bricks), as part 
> of the game play in preparation for some PVP encounter or a quest, I'm 
> pretty sure that you would find many people wanting to use them.
> 
> 
> Lawson
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