[vworld-tech] Ultimate MMO Platform

[Jim Purbrick]

> Well, yes, but my point is: Is this 'Ultimate MMO Platform' 
> one that must be a viable business proposition, or do we not care?

I think we do care, or at least I do. It's all very well proposing an ideal
as long as you don't mind seeing your ideal used or even attempted. I spent
a fair while sitting in academia doing this and it's very frustrating. A
more pragmatic "where can we go from here" approach is a lot more likely to
bear fruit. From my perspective we're at a point where MMOs are being
developed and used, which is a lot better than a few years ago when net VR
was a solution trying to find a problem.
 
> Are we designing the basis for a lucrative MMO Games 
> industry, or are we creating a platform for MMO Games 
> irrespective of whether they could make any money?

Personally I'm designing for a lucrative games industry with a view to
pushing forward the state of the art, which will ultimatly filter down in to
the public domain (partly through channels like this list).
  
> I'm suggesting this issue needs to be considered prior to 
> speccing any MMO platform as it has a major impact.

Agreed. If this discussion is going to turn in to the speccing of an MMO
platform being considered for development, that's what needs to happen. My
initial post was more a speculative open ended query about what people on
the list considered the important elements of an MMO platform.
 
> If you're like me and feel that ' "Solid business" is 
> irrelevant', well, great let's get cracking. However, if you 
> don't feel that way, then I think the headaches will kill the 
> system before it leaves the drawing board.

I wasn't really even thinking about something that made it to the drawing
board. More asking where people on the list are at regarding MMO tech. If I
were considering a new platform then solid business would be top of the
agenda.
 
> ____________________
> PS Apologies for my 3 posts to have finally materialised 
> several days after they were sent.

This is very strange. I've finally got Crosbie's Thu 01/04/2004 12:05 post
after my Fri 02/04/2004 16:30 replying to his Fri 02/04/2004 15:50 post.
This must be very confusing for anyone trying to follow this discussion.
What we need is a causal ordering system...