Oblivion and the Hero Effect
It’s unlike me, multiplayer enthusiast that I am, to play a solo game. But Oblivion
There are some great things you can do and feel in a world that revolves around *you* that you can’t do in a multiplayer-oriented world, no matter how much the latter tries to make you feel like The Hero. I wonder if there will be a bit of a pendulum swing the other way now that so many gamers are so heavily into World of Warcraft, that within a few years there will be a big hunger for a game that makes the individual player feel central and unique and big and strong.
In design as well, I astonish myself by sometimes thinking of game ideas which are solo in nature. Most of my ideas remain multiplayer focused, sometimes in an asynchronous and casual way where I think some real gold waits to be discovered, but I do get the odd solo-oriented idea now.
Tags: Design, games-as-art, mmos, recommendations, rpgs, WoW
