There's a great interview up at The Guardian's games blog with Richard Bartle, chatting about all things massive and multiplayer. In 1978, Bartle co-created the original multi-user dungeon (MUD), so if anyone's going to be a good yardstick for the development of MMOs, it'd be him. Highlight is probably what he'd do if he could choose one major MMO and take control of it:

I'd take over World of Warcraft and I'd close it. I just want better virtual worlds. Sacrificing one of the best so its players have to seek out alternatives would be a sure-fire way to ensure that unknown gems got the chance they deserved, and that new games were developed to push back the boundaries.

I like this man's thinking. Though I can't help but wish he'd said "Star Wars Galaxies, and let someone else do it properly".
"I'd close World of Warcraft!" MUD creator Richard Bartle on the state of virtual worlds [The Guardian]

Send an email to the author of this post at .