So the computer industry uses a bigger measuring s...

2008-08-21T08:53:00.000-04:00

So the computer industry uses a bigger measuring stick than most other things?

Yes, ultimately my point was - who cares and it's nothing more than a marketing tool.

"Its going to be a platform that lets users create and link their own MMO spaces."

Neverwinter Nights?

Its marketting. Simple as that. Two little words...

2008-08-20T22:48:00.000-04:00

Its marketting. Simple as that. Two little words that don't mean anything apart from a very subjective perspective.

Besides... games are made up of many, many interlinking systems. How much of that has to be revolutionary for the game as a whole to be "next gen"?

Honestly, the true "next gen" MMO probably isn't even going to be what we'd recognize as an MMORPG. Its going to be a platform that lets users create and link their own MMO spaces.

THAT'S next gen. A REAL new paradigm.

There's nothing wrong with slapping a new coat of paint on an old idea, as long as its still fun.

I disagree. "Next Gen" has to be a substantial ch...

2008-08-20T16:19:00.000-04:00

I disagree. "Next Gen" has to be a substantial change - preferably an improvement - on the previous generation. It's not enough to say "well we added red widgets, so we're next gen"... you have to substantially build on what went before.

When I'm told something is next gen, I don't want to see more of the same-old. I expect to see innovation. I expect to see improvement. I expect to see something new. And I expect those things to be substantial, not just some insignificant trick.

And it is important to set the bar high. If the bar is set too low, it becomes a meaningless marketing buzzword.

If you look at computer programming:

First generation: you programmed with switches and wires.

Second generation: you programmed by coding machine language. Assembler was NOT a 3rd generation here as you still were really programming machine language but using text instead of hex/octal codes.

3rd generation: High level languages with abstraction - C, Fortran, etc. Includes OO languages.

4th generation: CASE-type development tools. The programmer is essentially removed from the language and writes programs by assembling abstract blocks in a tool which generates executable code.

5th generation: You feed in specs, the computer programs itself.

6th generation: AI... the computer programs itself based on its own assessment of what it needs.

In each case, the underlying mission (take ideas, make a computer do the work) is the same, but each generation changes the paradigm.

Similarly for games, a next generation game should change the paradigm. In that way, Wii is arguably "next gen" because it changes the traditional way console games are played. Vanguard, on the other hand, is really the same generation of game as Ultima Online. UO was a next-gen game... prior to UO you could kind of have LAN parties or maybe dial-up and play head to head, but the massively multiplayer concept was a huge paradigm shift over what was there before.

All of which is interesting, of course, but avoids the actual, important question which is what you say: Do you like the game, or not?

Really, whether or not it's next gen SHOULDN'T matter to the player.

Comments on Random Ogre Thoughts: Are We...

So the computer industry uses a bigger measuring s...

Its marketting. Simple as that. Two little words...

I disagree. "Next Gen" has to be a substantial ch...