Terra Nova is Da Blog!

Sorry for the title. I was watching Busta Rhymes videos this morning ("Flipmode is Da Squad!").

Terra Nova is a terrific blog about MMORGs. I read it all the time and you probably should to.

This week, aside from posting about the World of Warcraft themed Coke ad campaign that features Chinese girl band S.H.E. and European futbol star Ronaldo (which has to be seen to be believed), Terra Nova summerizes a discussion by Blizzard and Bioware employees about why certain MMORGs have been more successful (both commercially and in generating lots of fun play).

Their list:
1. Pretty and Playtested
2. Supports Solo Play
3. Strongly Differentiated Characters
4. Functional Reward & Pacing Systems
5. Low Requirements for Entry
6. Bite-Sized Accomplishments, No Time Comittment
7. Combat Is Still The Only Thing You Can Build A Game Around
8. Everybody Gets Fantasy As A Genre
9. Fun Comes from Game-y Games, Not Just Hanging Out In Character

All of these also apply to roleplaying. Personally, I'm hoping we find more options besides combat soon (we already have pretty sophisiticated ways of handling non-violent conflict), but there's a lot to be learned here.