Re: Play by Web Sites -- Could they be better?

From: miteke@my-deja.com

Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

In article <8chbr8$f2t$1@mark.ucdavis.edu>,
  "Kristopher Andersen" <optimus@2d10.com> wrote:
> The ability to create a web site to facilitate play by mail games is
> becoming increasingly feasible. There are several sites out there that
> do this right now (I run such a site, but Macray's Keep
> www.macrayskeep.com is another example). Basically I'm thinking of
> sites that go beyond just being a front end to a mailing list server
> (a site like Phoenyx for example, www.phoenyx.net), gaming which I'd
> consider to still be play by e-mail, to something that I'd be more
> inclined to call play by web.
>
> What I'm wondering is what you personally think of these sites. Do you
> consider them useful? Necessary? Does web based role-playing add
> anything to mail based play that e-mail can't? What (if anything) do
> you think could be improved about play by web sites to make them more
> ideal? Do you think there are any disadvantages to web based play?
> Basically... what are your thoughts on these sites?
>

Glad you asked.

I'm rather mystified and appalled at the lack of quality I've seen in
Play-By-Web games. I've tried out a few of them (Monkey Play Games
Engines of War and the cave man thingy, Smuggler's Run, a Space trade
and battle game that had each system represented by boxes, and Dark Seas
of Space) and this is what I've found. First the interfaces are
extremely buggy and difficult to use. Second, the games are usually
simplistic. If they are not simplistic (the latter two had some level of
complexity, but not that much), the interface just can't seem to handle
the complexity. Often the games make a great demand on your time,
forcing you to sit on the computer in case anything happens in
real-time.

It would seem to me that the Web is a logical extension to the PBeM
industry. It could offer so much to the users in the way of graphics,
user-friendly interface (BIG BIG one), help files for every level of the
game, game access, and others I probably have not thought of. But the
technology is still rather young and the programmers with http
experience are few. And, as any programmer knows, adding a user
interface more than doubles the work needed to program the product. Take
for example a program to mutlipy two numbers. With no real interface, it
is a simple 5 or so line program. Throw in some value checking and you
have a 10 line program. Get a little sophisticated with the error
messages and you got a 20 line program. Use a nice front end and bells
and whistles and you got a monster of any number of lines (1000+ if
you want to go that far). Uggghhh!!!

But if we are ever going to reach the untutored masses, that is exactly
what needs to be done. Make everything you can be intuitive point and
click commands and add dazzling graphics and you capture the non-geek
audience. That's the real power of the Web, making it user-friendly, and
the real chore.

I'd be satisfied with a plain front end that merely accepts input via
drop downs and edit boxes, and produces text output that can read in a
frame or by e-mail for a start. But even at this level there seems to be
a challenge for the designers to get it bug free, as Smuggler's Run
showed me.

The games that have been successfully converted to play-by-web have not
been the PBeM varieties, but the face to face card or board games or
various real-time computer games. Yahoo has a nice interface for playing
Bridge, Cribbage, Hearts, and much more. Warhorse simulations
(www.warhorsesim.com) has a nice set up for playing various board games.
And we all know about the on-line computer games like Ultima. The
successes of these games is the limited input requirements. The user is
usually limited to a handful of input options, even for the
sophisticated real-time computer games. So PBeM games with limited input
options would transfer easily (or at least easier). Games that come to
mind are like Continental Rails. Though games like Victory! and
World Conquest, which already have input processes, would probably slip
easily into the Web.  World Conquest particularly since it also has an
easily transferrable graphical output ready to go.

Better get back to work before I bore you all.

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

References

Play by Web Sites -- Could they be better?
"Kristopher Andersen" <optimus@2d10.com>
Wed, 05 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Play by Web Sites -- Could they be better?
"Kristopher Andersen" <optimus@2d10.com>
Wed, 05 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000