Pure Meritocracy: The Ultimate Glory Game

In the MMP realm, this sort of game is best represented by the multiplayer air combat simulation (sim). This can also apply to some degree to the first-person shooter, but I will restrict my comments to the air combat sim, as it has a long, established history. These games demand skills that are rare in human beings ”skills that you're expected to master to become a force in the community. Earning respect here is not like religion; you can't get there through devotion alone. If you can't think in terms of 3D geometry and interpolate multiple vectors in your head, then you'll never achieve star status here. It doesn't matter how many hours you play. There is no cumulative character scheme. You cannot earn extra hit points for your fighter aircraft. Put another way, achievement and development are very closely coupled .

Glory and shame here are unambiguous. The two major examples of this genre broadcast notice of your demise, when you perish, to everyone in the game world at that time. One goes so far as to broadcast the game names of both the victor and the vanquished. Not surprisingly, both games have an unspoken ethic that approves of, encourages in fact, attacks with words as well as war planes. Finally, both player communities prefer to resolve major disputes through duels. If they could issue dueling challenges by slapping each other with gloves, they would. Yes, most of the players of these games are guys.

That said, both have developed communities that have, over time, matured to include members that aren't hot-shot fighter pilots. This is, in part, due to the spiritual influence of the underlying subject matter of these games ”aviation in an important and actual war that is still in living memory. The point is that the ultimate depth and eventual development of elders , as opposed to just killers, in these communities was not a direct product of the design of these games originally.

Is this genre successful? Although it was the very model of online gaming with graphics, rather than text, for nearly 15 years , the online air combat sim is fading away, and no wonder . Did it represent a worthy model of multiplayer game design? Yes, if you'd prefer a small but dedicated customer base. Ninety percent of the people who try these games don't hang around. Quite simply the glory and shame levels are so high ”in particular the shame level for every new player, the pure humiliation each must endure ”that there will only be a mass market for this sort of game when society as a whole gives over to the worship of sadomasochism.