The Council of Gaming Elders

I had a very interesting dream last night. I was evaluating the current state of MMORPGs and decided that the current state of affairs had gone on for too long. Our beloved hobby and industry was degrading past the point of recovery. I took action into my own hands and called a Council of the Gaming Elders.

I was standing in a dimly lit room with a solid round wooden table in the center. A chandelier with glowing blue flames hung above. There were 6 chairs. As I stood at my seat the other Elders entered, each announced by a low voice. First to enter was Mark Jacobs. He stood next to the seat at my right — the table in front of his seat embossed with the realm triad from Dark Age of Camelot. Next to enter was Raph Koster stood by his place marked by a lightsaber crossing a crafting station and house. Steve Danuser was next and took his place by a lore book.  Dave Georgeson entered next and stood near his place marked by a map. Last to enter was Mike Morhaime who took his place next to a seat marked with golden coins.

Once all of the Elders had entered, we sat together in unison. I began the meeting by stating that I had called them all there to discuss how we can restore these games to their true potential. Each of them possessed talents necessary for restoring MMORPGs to their previous state. What followed was an enlightening discussion and meeting of the minds. Each Elder brought up ideas and we began to craft the perfect game… the game to restore balance. It ended with the Elders departing, each committed to bringing their resources together to make this game (which we completely planned out) happen.

I don’t know why my mind chose these people. Mark Jacobs is an obvious one because he has become a friend and I value his contribution to PvP and the MMO community. Raph Koster is someone I’ve always thought of as a virtual world connoisseur. Steve Danuser is someone who gets the idea of a living world and I like his sense of lore and continuity. Dave Georgeson because he is attached to EverQuestand I respect him as a person and his career. Lastly, Mike Morhaime (who surprised me since I thought this would be Chris Metzen) because of his position over WoW.

The game we designed was ideal. That’s the general impression I get. I remember only minor thoughts I was having during the dream. This perfect MMORPG was some sort of mix of every game these Elders had worked out. I was in charge of the vision and I know that I felt like this was the true spiritual successor to every ‘great’ game I remember playing from 1996-2004.

I woke up feeling like I had accomplished some great work. For a moment I was even anxious to go play this game. If only…

  • Then, out of the mists, another group of five appeared.

    Derek Smart – Mark of the Burning Battlecruiser
    Brad McQuaid – Sign of the Failed Vision
    Curt Schilling – Sigil of Blind Optimism
    David Reid – Cloak of the Empty Marketing Hype

    All lead by Richard Garriott, Lord British, King of Spent Trends!

    And they sought to defy and undo the work of this other council of so-called “Gaming Elders” through press releases, circular arguments, and pleas to nostalgia!

  • What is next? Those 2 groups have their members combine into a big robot like the transformers and battle it out?

    “makes transforming sound”

  • In fifteen years of playing the things obsessively, talking about them and writing about them too, I don’t believe I have once dreamed about MMOs. Which is odd.

  • I had a lucid dream about Warhammer Online once. I realized I was dreaming and took over making it an awesome battle experience. I tend to dream all the time about making MMOs, bring characters in MMOs, etc. The dream was pre-launch. It was much better than the game ended up being. 😉

  • My gaming dreams are always lucid dreams. The funny part though is that while I can do just about anything I never seem to be able to break the rules of the “game” No dream cheating for me!

  • And lo, the Elders did create The Game, and they did alpha test it, and it was good.
    And then did they invite selected players of great skill and wisdom to join them in their virtual world. And this age was known unto all as the Closed Beta, and it was good. Even the venerable Bartle didst come unto this world, and judge it pleasing to all four types of players, and he didst bestow his blessing upon the great enterprise.
    Then came the great day of Launch, when all the peoples of the Internet were welcomed into this virtual paradise, that they may adventure, and frolic, and congregate therein, playing howsoever each one may choose.
    And this was known as The Apocalypse.

  • “I stand atop a spiral stair, an oracle confronts me there..”

    Does kinda feel like lucid dreaming is the best bet for playing a decent virtual world game any time soon; PvP (of certain types) and lore I can get if I want these days.

  • That’s assuming there can be one game to unite and please all gamers and that all these people can actually work together. That’s two big leaps of faith I’m not ready to take. But who am I to stop a man from dreaming ? 😉