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 <lengli...@cox.net> > To: "Frisby, Adam" <a...@deepthink.com.au> > Cc: "sldev@lists.secondlife.com" <sldev@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 > _______________________________________________ > Policies and (un)subscribe information available here: > http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/SLDev > Please read the policies before posting to keep unmoderated posting privileges > > _______________________________________________ > Policies and (un)subscribe information available here: > http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/SLDev > Please read the policies before posting to keep unmoderated posting privileges _______________________________________________ Policies and (un)subscribe information available here: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/SLDev Please read the policies before posting to keep unmoderated posting privileges
