on MMOs: Player Impact...

...just to give you a taster on how this should work...

Data is retrieved in terms of the success and failure of sub-quests performed by players relating to the over-arching story episode.

The game-designers / content-providers / story-writers then use this data to craft the next episode. So just like in a real P&P game, the GM reacts to the outcomes of the players actions and presents them with a new set of possibilities.

And all this really hinges off the revenue MMOs generate. Don't let them fob you off. They can afford to pay people to endlessly create new adventures. They can and they should. And then with the data gathered (as mentioned above) they can actually incorporate the endeavours of key personalities into the stories as they unfold. Giving MMO players an unprecedented level of interation with and satisfaction from the game-world.

This should then provide players with a sense they are adventuring within a living, breathing, mutable world which responds to their actions. And where quests and missions are not repeated, and everyone, whether on your side or not is working within the overall story, and helping to steer its course.

pilch out.
- I bring nothing to the table.