Front Matter

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Dedication

To the players.

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Acknowledgements

This book would not have been written were it not for:

John Neidhart at Pearson Education, who was willing to indulge my desire to write about virtual world design despite the fact that he was actually looking for a book about AI.

Stephanie Wall and Chris Zahn at New Riders, who gave me an enthusiastic welcome when I appeared on their doorstep at short notice as a result of a Pearson reorganization. They gave me the time and freedom I needed to finish the job properly.

My wife, Gail Bartle. From June 2002 until April 2003, I turned down all consultant and design work I was offered so I could write this book. Without her quiet but unfailing support, you wouldn’t be reading this now.

I’d also like to thank Damion Schubert and Matt Mihaly for the many insightful comments they made in their reviews (sometimes several to a page). This book would still have been written without them, it just wouldn’t have been as worth reading.

About the Author

Richard Allan Bartle, Ph.D., co-wrote the first virtual world, MUD (“Multi-User Dungeon”), in 1978, thus being at the forefront of the online gaming industry from its very inception. A former university lecturer in Artificial Intelligence, he is an influential writer on all aspects of virtual world design and development. As an independent consultant, he has worked with almost every major online gaming company in the UK and the U.S. over the past 20 years. Richard lives with his wife, Gail, and their two children, Jennifer and Madeleine, in a village just outside Colchester, England. He works in virtual worlds.

About the Technical Reviewers

These reviewers contributed their considerable hands-on expertise to the entire development process for Designing Virtual Worlds. As the book was being written, these dedicated professionals reviewed all the material for technical content, organization, and flow. Their feedback was critical to ensuring that Designing Virtual Worlds fits our reader’s need for the highest-quality technical information.

Matt Mihaly is the founding partner, lead designer, and CEO of Achaea LLC. Founded in 1996 in San Francisco, Achaea designs and produces some of the world’s most popular and successful commercial text MUDs, including Achaea, Dreams of Divine lands (http://www.achaea.com), Aetolia, the Midnight Age (http://www.aetolia.com), and Imperian (http://www.imperian.com)—all of which run on Achaea’s proprietary network engine, Rapture. Unlike most MUDs and MMOGs, Achaea LLC’s games do not charge a monthly fee, relying instead on the business model Matt pioneered in which access to the games is free and players are presented with the option of purchasing virtual items and abilities within the context of the game. Matt graduated from Cornell University in 1994 with a degree in Political Science and is a licensed stockbroker. These experiences have informed his game design tendencies and he is an expert on business models, political systems, and community dynamics in virtual worlds. Along with the inevitable interest in games, he spends his free time pursuing Brazilian jujitsu and kickboxing, cooking, travelling, hiking, kayaking, skiing, and scuba diving.

Damion Schubert has been working in online world design professionally for over seven years. He was originally the lead designer of Meridian 59 (and several expansions), as well as the lead designer for the defunct Ultima Online 2. He has also served as a contractor for such projects as The Sims Online and Kalisto’s Highlander Online. Currently Damion is serving as a senior designer at Wolfpack, which is preparing to ship Shadowbane in the near future.