Letters to the Editor

It's a Small, Virtual World

In response to "Raph Koster: The Escapist Interview" from The Escapist Forum: I love the concept, but I'm really skeptical. The closest thing that I've experienced to what Raph is suggesting is Bioware's Neverwinter Nights. That's a perfect example of a game that allows you design and host your own worlds and even link them together. I've never seen much linking though (actually, none)... and that's where my concern lies. I'm struggling to see the game aspect of linked MMOGs taking off. I really can't envision anything beyond Second Life, but with optional independent hosting... or a simple hub, linking completely separate, different games.

I mean, are a bunch of world builders going to adhere to a single set of rules, mechanics and items, allowing a single game character to exist between worlds? Wouldn't that essentially be like one big game then? I'm really confused. Is there a solid example of what Raph is trying to achieve from a player's perspective? I'm just not getting it. The developer's perspective is covered quite nicely, but how does this translate to the end-user... the player?

- Echolocating

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In response to "A Bug is Just an Undocumented Feature" from The Escapist Forum: The guy who got killed by a traffic cone became a celebrity? What - a celebrity among the few dorks who think that was wildly funny? Things like that happen in every game - trust me, it's not all that unusual or funny. If anyone thinks that's funny they need to be exposed to more comedy.

Personally, as a simulation fan I would have liked to have seen this article mention some of the features of simulation games that some players swear are 'bugs', but I guess we're in an arcade game world these days. Basically, if it ain't Halo there's no point in writing about it.

- Beery

While I enjoyed the article immensely I cannot understand the use of the traffic cone as an example, at least with the justification you use. Indeed a soft rubber traffic cone (which in RL are not the soft, especially the base) can break through a whole bunch of stuff, given enough momentum. We have to realize that given the physics engine and the amount of stuff in the environment, things other than bullets can and will kill us. If a Warthog can splatter a spartan (at 30mph) why can't a 2 lb traffic cone travelling at 200mph? I don't consider that a glitch or bug, because it was intended. The use of BXR, super-bouncing, and forcing a flag through a wall (all rampant in Halo 2) are examples of glitch exploitation, a traffic cone kill is not. Aside from that discrepency, I think the article was well written.

- SG Noodles