Post by Morreion on Feb 28, 2010 7:43:12 GMT -5
Justin Webb: Cow Tools (MMORPG.com)
What are Cow Tools? They have to do with Gary Larson's The Far Side
Read the essay! Essentially, Cow Tools look like they do something, but they really don't. This is not good in the MMO world, according to Mr. Webb.
I agree. The problem here is really lack of scope, or an overly-restrictive view of what an online world should be like. Thinking back on UO (as often happens in these essays!), most things in the world did something. That's what a virtual world is about. Cow Tools simply show how most games fall very short of this ideal from 1996 *sigh*
What are Cow Tools? They have to do with Gary Larson's The Far Side
Read the essay! Essentially, Cow Tools look like they do something, but they really don't. This is not good in the MMO world, according to Mr. Webb....My take is that developers need to be very careful when putting something into a game that looks like it does something specific. If the "thing" ends up not doing the specific action, people can get confused, frustrated, and often angry.
For example, whenever you start a new game, you have to learn what the door rules are. It's really hard to create buildings with nice-looking exteriors and functional interiors, so in most games, there are an awful lot of fake doors, ones that are baked into the textures and which can't be opened. Sometimes, there are real doors, which can be opened. Hopefully, the game helps players out by making the real doors look different to the fake ones. Regardless, when you begin a game you have to learn what the visual cues are for the game's interactable objects.
An easy way to manifest Cow Tools is to have two identical-looking doors, and have one be real and one be fake. Doors are powerful concepts. They are metaphors for all kinds of crazy things. And players love opening them and seeing what's inside. It drives me crazy when a game has Cow-Tool doors. Abso-flipping mental.
Consistency is the key. Of course, Cow Tools doesn't just apply to doors. If there's a particular world object in the game that the player can interact with (for example, a telescope, a cannon, an arcade game, etc.), you had better make damn sure that every single instance of that object in the game is interactable. Otherwise you get Cow Tools. People really like interacting with things in games. Don't tease them.
For example, whenever you start a new game, you have to learn what the door rules are. It's really hard to create buildings with nice-looking exteriors and functional interiors, so in most games, there are an awful lot of fake doors, ones that are baked into the textures and which can't be opened. Sometimes, there are real doors, which can be opened. Hopefully, the game helps players out by making the real doors look different to the fake ones. Regardless, when you begin a game you have to learn what the visual cues are for the game's interactable objects.
An easy way to manifest Cow Tools is to have two identical-looking doors, and have one be real and one be fake. Doors are powerful concepts. They are metaphors for all kinds of crazy things. And players love opening them and seeing what's inside. It drives me crazy when a game has Cow-Tool doors. Abso-flipping mental.
Consistency is the key. Of course, Cow Tools doesn't just apply to doors. If there's a particular world object in the game that the player can interact with (for example, a telescope, a cannon, an arcade game, etc.), you had better make damn sure that every single instance of that object in the game is interactable. Otherwise you get Cow Tools. People really like interacting with things in games. Don't tease them.
I agree. The problem here is really lack of scope, or an overly-restrictive view of what an online world should be like. Thinking back on UO (as often happens in these essays!), most things in the world did something. That's what a virtual world is about. Cow Tools simply show how most games fall very short of this ideal from 1996 *sigh*
