I’d be directing the team to play every damn game, online/offline/board/minatures/word/puzzle/rpg etc that they could get their hands on (as long as it was not done to the exclusion of actually getting work done).

Just a point here… Vanguard wasn’t played because it was buggy and I guess you can argue that was poor design, but many of the game itself has some really great features. Now that a good chunk of the bugginess has been worked out, you can see that it’s actually even gaining subscribers.

I don’t design games, but I do textile art. I don’t think I’d be nearly as creative if I did not look at examples of what others are doing. Perhaps it’s the same in any creative endeavor. Yes, there is always the important point of making sure you are not copying but creating. Anyone who is really good will be able to tell the difference.

“Yeah, can we?” (see your list of “goods” and “bads” for World of Warcraft) – Chase Seibert

I’d rather not make my list public for now. I’ve seen most of the things I dislike about WoW listed elsewhere, but some of them might give an edge to some designer out there that I’d rather retain myself. Probably not, but I want to remain on the safe side and keep my observations a little more under wraps… it’s also a competing product (an MMO), and I try not to comment thoroughly on any MMOs (good or ill) in a public fashion as a rule.

“Designers should alternate between periods of studying others and periods of quiet seclusion (from other games).” – Aaron

Yeah I guess I can agree with that if only because I do it unintentionally. I go through periods of heavy MMO play, to FPS play, to RPG play, etc. Sometimes I don’t play any games at all for a while and instead dive into a few books in a row. Sometimes I don’t play games or read books, and instead watch movies. All the time I listen to music, but I consume that in genre waves as well. There are even times when I consume nothing and write or design for fun instead.

If they just based all their game systems on another iteration of DIKU, wouldn’t they be accused of just copying Wow? (Even if they were actually copying EQ?)

I think what he’s refering to is the process that resulted in The Tome of Knowlege. Which everyone (else) who has gotten to play WAR (grr.) tells me is brilliant.

Besides, it’s a tradeoff. Fresh isn’t necessarily better, but avoiding much exposure to other games will help the designers to approach things from the fundamental goals and pressures, rather than starting with models.

Beethoven wrote his best work when he was deaf. He had been influenced and trained by many other composers beforehand, but the silence allowed him to explore in a way he couldn’t have done otherwise. It was a tradeoff.

As with most things, balance is good. Designers should alternate between periods of studying others and periods of quiet seclusion (from other games). One truth every world religion pinpointed thousands of years ago is that periodic silence leads to clarity and due reflection.

Yeah, can we?

I think it’s instructional that Brad McQuaid famously swore off WoW, and never played it. Game design issues aside, he then didn’t have the proper perspective about what (to some degree) gamers wanted in a game. He then went out and made one that they didn’t want.

It’s more than checking and aping the mechanisms and systems of your competition. It’s looking at something and saying; “Well this seems to be the new standard for downtime between fights, and making sure that your game paces at least as well. It’s seeing how single or multi-player oriented it is, and knowing what that generation of gamers is going to expect going forward. Not knowing these things and other similar issues is going to preclude you from understanding what is expected of you.

I’m not advocating cloning other’s games. Just the opposite. But your game better be cleaner, faster, more engaging, and offer more options than the last generation. And how are you going to know if it does if you never played it?

Play WoW, learn from what they did right and what they did wrong, and move along.

As an aside, people say they want revolution, but they really don’t. They want warm and familiar with some twists.

There’s an observation that fits; What’s the difference between Pioneers and Settlers? Pioneers got arrows and Settlers got land. Same hold true in game design.