Kotaku: richard bartle

WoW Torture Update - Bartle Responds To Comments, Trolls And Criticism

Stuart Houghton — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:20:00 MST

You may recall that MUD creator Richard Bartle took issue with a torture quest in WoW: Wrath Of The Lich King. He got a few responses, some rather critical and others rather trollish.

Bartle has taken the time to address the main points raised - even the downright dickish ones - some of which came from commenters in this very organ.

"Rather than attempt to answer all 140+ comments on Kotaku et al," says Bartle, "here are a few things to note (in no particular order)"

- It turns out you didn't actually need to do the quest to access Coldarra (where the Nexus is). People on my server who played in the beta thought you did, and were issuing LFGs saying you had to know the flight path to get there. OK, so I was misinformed there. It doesn't alter the thrust of my argument, though.

- I know WoW is not real life. I know the Geneva Convention doesn't apply there. No real-life laws apply there. Blizzard could put a quest to rape characters in there: real life anti-rape laws wouldn't apply. Nevertheless, a lot of people would be very disturbed by such a quest. Likewise, not everyone is OK with torture. This is the case in real life, too: yes, killing is worse than torture, but that doesn't mean that if you kill people then torture is fine. Evidence: the aforesaid Geneva Convention.

- When I signed up to play WoW I knew it had fireballs, so I expected killing. I knew it had rogues, so I expected thieving. I had to wait until the second expansion to find out it had gratuitous torture. This does not fall within the parameters of what I was expecting. It's as if you were reading the new book 8 of the Harry Potter series and Harry turns to drugs and uses his magic powers for sport to blind people. JKR can put that kind of stuff in her books if she likes, freedom of speech being what it is and all, but it's shattered your expectations. I wasn't expecting consequence-free torture quests in WoW. Getting one was a shock.

- Strangely, I had noticed WoW was "just a game". For the many players who seem to think that this means anything goes, I guess you're really hoping Blizzard will be putting in some child sex quests in the next expansion. After all, no children are being hurt, it's just pixels on a screen, and if you get XP then why not?

For more of Bartle's response, check out the link below.

Tortuous Replies... [You Haven't Lived via Wonderland links]

Guardian Warns Politicians, Columnists: Gamers Are Taking Over, Deal With It

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:20:54 MDT

Richard Bartle, co-author of the original MUD, as MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo was kind enough to remind us, has a warning for UK politicians—and, we assume, the other silver haired no-funster luddite types—that their wrinkly old asses are about to be in the minority. That is, the minority of the population who have grown up with computer games in their lives. The best part, according to Bartle? "They aren't addicted, they aren't psychopathic killers, and they resent those boneheads - that's you - who imply that they are addicted and are psychopathic killers," he writes.

Bartle smugly namechecks Tanya Byron's level-headed report on the plight of raising children in a digital age, with access to realistic, sometimes violent video games. He finally warns "Gamers vote. Gamers buy newspapers. They won't vote for you, or buy your newspapers, if you trash their entertainment with your ignorant ravings." Yeah! Get 'em, Rich!

We've won: get over it [Guardian]

Richard Bartle on the Sex MUD That Almost Was

brownlee — Thu, 04 May 2006 10:40:07 MDT

As all Kotaku readers know, Second Life is the virtual world most famous for finally allowing Wagner James Au to experience the semblance of getting laid. But what would he have done if Second Life had never been created? To what game would WJA and Second Life's panoply of virtual prostitutes flocked then?

Over at The Escapist, Richard Bartle — the game designer who created the very first MUD back in 1978 — has a highly entertaining account of the sex MUD a dot com company approached him to created in 2000. It's a really great read, detailing the tough decisions that go into designing a game of this type. For example, do you implement a PvP-like system and allow characters to flag themselves as rape-able? How is pregnancy handled? What about chlamydia? Bartle even describes an innovative sexual "combat" system in which the amount of "mana" you have doesn't benefit you, but instead your partner.

Of course, the Dot Com bubble burst and the game was never completed, but even if you aren't Wagner James Au, you should read Bartle's reminisces. This is a hugely entertaining read and actually a good primer on the game design process to boot.

I Was Young, I Needed the Money [Escapist]