You could say that the "GM" in MMPORGS is more a part of the game system rather than an individual entity. It's that closely linked. Bad system = bad GM in computer games.
In good MMPORGS the company that runs the game has to step in from time to time to make revisions to the rule system, and the AI (Patch day), or employ people to do what the system cant do (aka Customer Service Reps). The AI can only do so much on it's own and thats probably the biggest shortfall - So the company is responsible for the GM learning new tricks.
In most computer games you never see this aspect. 1-2 patches in the life of a game. WoW has had at least 20 patches that I'm aware of over it's 2 year life.
This is important. After a certain amount of playing, I think every game becomes predictable. Learn the winning pattern, Repeat winning pattern, Win the game. So the company must step in to change things subtly to make the players think. WoW has IMHO been the best game of this sort. Others (while good for other reasons) eg. City of Heroes have not.
Its also a balance. If you give the GM too many options to challenge the players (eg. random events) then the players will never progress. Start with a good system that keeps the players hooked and it takes longer for any of the GM's shortfalls to become apparent.
I think WoW got the mix right, which is why it is still a juggernaut 2 years after release. A good system, A good world, and a good ruleset/GM system. It builds stronger communities than I have ever seen in any other game, and as you know, when you have a strong (roleplaying) community, the GMing and rules don't matter as long as everyone is having fun.
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You could say that the "GM" in MMPORGS is more a part of the game system rather than an individual entity. It's that closely linked. Bad system = bad GM in computer games.
In good MMPORGS the company that runs the game has to step in from time to time to make revisions to the rule system, and the AI (Patch day), or employ people to do what the system cant do (aka Customer Service Reps). The AI can only do so much on it's own and thats probably the biggest shortfall - So the company is responsible for the GM learning new tricks.
In most computer games you never see this aspect. 1-2 patches in the life of a game. WoW has had at least 20 patches that I'm aware of over it's 2 year life.
This is important. After a certain amount of playing, I think every game becomes predictable. Learn the winning pattern, Repeat winning pattern, Win the game. So the company must step in to change things subtly to make the players think. WoW has IMHO been the best game of this sort. Others (while good for other reasons) eg. City of Heroes have not.
Its also a balance. If you give the GM too many options to challenge the players (eg. random events) then the players will never progress. Start with a good system that keeps the players hooked and it takes longer for any of the GM's shortfalls to become apparent.
I think WoW got the mix right, which is why it is still a juggernaut 2 years after release. A good system, A good world, and a good ruleset/GM system.
It builds stronger communities than I have ever seen in any other game, and as you know, when you have a strong (roleplaying) community, the GMing and rules don't matter as long as everyone is having fun.