Comment Re:Probably the future of online RPGs (Score 1) 33
Commercially-run servers by the big game houses need to make money to stay around.... lots of it, enough to please stock holders. Consequently, that precipitates a certain kind of atmosphere in the game: one of level treadmills and content micropayments. For the most part, these aspects are contrary to roleplaying and immersion, IMHO.
Do not get me wrong. I play DDO currently as my game of choice and I love nothing more sometimes than to jump in and kill shit so I can get XP. The fact is probably a huge majority of gamers are the same in that regard. However, there is a smaller subset that likes the character development and roleplaying aspects of a server. These are likely the evolutionary descendants of MUSH players from the 90's, and they are still around. The problem is they can never find a home online with a commercial game server. When we made the Avlis PW over a decade ago, this was our target demographic, and arguably it was and still is one of the most successful NWN PW's ever.
I think that Shards will be good for this niche as well. Obviously people will make mostly hack'n slay servers running Monty Hall scenarios, but there will be rich platform material for folks like us that want to create a real live functional fantasy world. Definitely looking out for this.