The Alphaville Herald

Richard Bartle in Metaplace — MMOs FTW & WTF

by Alphaville Herald on 06/06/09 at 5:26 pm

The best way to get into it is to go where it isn't and wait for it to come – Richard Bartle

by Idoru Wellman, staff writer

[Richard Bartle recently visited Metaplace, and although the most of the Herald staff were unable to attend, one of Urizenus Sklar's contacts provided this transcript.  Cuppycake (Metaplace community manager and part time DJ) attempted to keep order as Sunchaser (formerly Robin Linden of Second Life) acted as MC for the event.]

Cuppycake: Okay I'm going to repeat the rules once again
Sunchaser: hehe nice crowd huh!
asarazan: I'm hungry and just wanted a meal
Obo: I better get my XP!

Cuppycake: Everyone please be quiet
JasonGee zips lip
Cuppycake: There is no moderation system here, so we will be doing it manually.
Cuppycake: The center aisle is where you go if you have a question. Please form a neat line.
Cuppycake: No one should be talking except for Richard, and the person who is asking the question (after waiting in line)
Cuppycake: You don't get a warning, so don't test it.

Sunchaser: OK – I'm going to introduce Richard, not that he needs an extensive intro
Sunchaser: I'm really excited and pleased to welcome Richard Bartle to Metaplace today.
Sunchaser: Richard is a professor and teaching fellow at the university of Essex in the Dept of Computing and Electronic Systems, specializing in game design.
Sunchaser: Richard is best known as the co-author of MUD, the first multi-user dungeon, and for his research into player personality types. Want to know what type you are? Take the Bartle Test! http://www.gamerdna.com/quizzes/bartle-test-of-gamer-psychology
Sunchaser: You can also find Richard blogging on Terra Nova about virtual worlds.
Sunchaser: We're planning a Q&A session for the next hour. So let's start with the first question!

Sunchaser: I think Nils is up first?
nils: Heh I got no questions.
Richard: that's OK, I got no answers

Cuppycake: Move out of the center aisle please
Cuppycake: Center aisle is for questions only.
Sunchaser: Hmmmm – who's first in line?
Cuppycake: Looks like no one is brave yet
Cuppycake: I have one
Richard: it could be that no-one actually wants to ask anything

Sunchaser: Well maybe we can kick things off with Richard telling us a little about what he's currently working on
Richard: currently … hmm, well I'm working on a new book
Richard: my previous one about virtual worlds having got a little out of date

Cuppycake: Can you tell us a bit about it?
Richard: sure … it comes in two halves, it's like a flip book
Richard: one half is for people who play MMOs, and is intended to excite them about the subject
Richard: the other is for the same people, but talks about the relationship between MMOs and the real world
Richard: the first half is called MMOs FTW

Cuppycake: Kind of like your blog?
Richard: e second is MMOs WTF

Cuppycake: Sounds great.
Cuppycake: I think we have some questions lined up for you now
Richard: yes, I'm taking lots of things I've written and putting them together, some are from actual blog postings, some from talks, from lectures, from presentations

Kavon: beautiful use of acronyms
Richard: yes, if only it didn't take so long …I'm trying to get an MMO version of Computer Lib/Dream Machines, for those of you old enough to rmember that
Richard: [stony silence]

Cuppycake admits she doesn't remember that.
Abacus:
Richard: ok, let's take a question from whoever that is whose name is covered up by everyone else's

Cuppycake: Josholalia – can you jump in with your question?
josholalia: My question is this. You once mentioned that the first time one enters a virtual world is kind of like being reborn. You can never quite recapture that feeling again. With the increased ubiquity of virtual worlds, what is your current feeling when you enter a new virtual world. Especially, how do yo
JasonGee snickers
josholalia: Especially, how do you feel about Metaplace and its potential?
josholalia: (exceed the character maximum. oops.)
Richard: ok, well that line applies to people who play them as players … I'm in an odd position, as I co-wrote the first one so
Richard: had insider knowledge and never was a "player"
Richard: it does worry me that many people will miss out on MMOs' awesomeness because they started as children
Richard: and therefore will not find them as special as people who first came to them as adults
Richard: as for Metaplace, well one of the things I always hoped would happen is that people would be able to create their own virtual worlds
Zapatero: sorry, excuse me, need to pee.
Richard: and now they can. I'm very pleased by it

Sunchaser: although maybe that opens up a level of credibility that VWs are fighting to get these days
Richard: not as pleased as if it had more documentation, obviusly…
Raph laughs
Cuppycake: We're working on that
MonkeyKungFu shrugs.

Richard: you need more chimps … throw away those editions of shakespeare they're making for you
triptych: yeah documentation + simple examples
Richard: I really like what Metaplace is doing, anyway
Sunchaser: Next question?
Richard: so next question?

Echelon: Given the rise of virtual currencies and the seeming success of integrated virtual economies such as Second Life, what do you see as the future of the relationship between real world economies and virtual ones?
Richard: messy
Sunchaser:
Echelon: hehe
nils: Hear hear.
malburns: lol

3DSquared: technologically? or the regulatory environment?
Richard: there are two distinct cases: one where money is part of the virtual world and one where it isn't

Amethyst: Remember – chat should only be coming from the person asking the question, and the folks on stage, since there's so many of us. Thanks!
Echelon: I'm not sure I had a specific aspect in mind
Richard: I'm personally worried most about the effect on gameoplay in game worlds
Medal Master: We have a new leader! Polkadot has broken the old high score of 0 with a score of 16!

Richard: if a virtual world doesn't want commodification, it shouldn't have to have it
Richard: however, legislators may lump the game worlds with ones that do want commodification
Richard: and then we'll see bad results for one side or the other
Echelon: ok thank you!

Richard: it's not even as simple as that … I could see someone create a game world within another world created within Metaplace
Richard: and if all three have different ideas regarding money and what it will buy … bleah
Sunchaser: no kidding
Richard: this is A Good Time For Lawyers
Sunchaser: hahah that's what I was just thinking

Cuppycake: (Change of plan, we'll let you chime in with related thoughts and questions for a *little* discussion, as long as it doesn't get out of hand)
Richard: ok, hopefully I waffled through that …next question?

Cuppycake: 3Dsquared, question?
3DSquared: uh oh .. performance anxiety
3DSquared: on that same topic
marcmcg: Hi guys
3DSquared: do you see a time when virtual economies have an economic impact on the 'real world'?
3DSquared: given the weakness in the old industrial economy?
Richard: we're already seeing that, although not with virtual world economies
Sumoslap: Haven't some microlending projects begun to use Linden Dollars? Thought I heard that.

Richard: China had some big issues with online currencies
3DSquared: like the QQ?
Richard: Korea too … yes, QQ tokens
Richard: with virtual worlds we're not seeing that kind of alarm yet, but it could happen
Richard: Project Entropia has already converted itself into a bank
kaiyla: Sorry, what is a QQ token?
Richard: it's a virtual currency that people started using as a real one
Richard: it's a virtual currency that people started using as a real one
Richard: it's a virtual currency that people started using as a real one
Richard: sorry, my return key is stuck
kaiyla: Ah, thank you. Sorry for the interuption

Cuppycake: **Remember, the center aisle is for people with questions only**
joecastille: oh sorry
Richard: if people start using Linden Dollars as a real currency, ie. buying reall goods and services using it in amounts that are noticeable
Celldweller: sorry i couldnt move
Richard: then there could be issues … governments don't like it when people create their own money
Richard: there are a bunch of tax-related problems too

Abacus: Speaking of Governments, do you see more prevalance of VAT taxes?
gracemcdunnough: I wonder how VW currencies and the barter practice would align – you paint my house, I pay you in Lindens
Richard: doesn't work, those are taxable events
Richard: there are 4 situations:
Richard: 1) I buy real goods with real money – a taxable event
Richard: 2) I buy virtual goods with real money – also a taxable event
Richard: 3) I buy real goods with virtual money … well someone is going to get taxed there too
Richard: 4) I buy virtual goods with virtual money. someone in a government will look at that and say "why no tax?"
Richard: and yet if it is taxed, then bye bye World of Warcraft

Cuppycake: ** Please clear the center aisle if you don't have a question **
Cuppycake: We ready for the next question?
Richard: this is why Ted Castranova suggested virtualworlds that are games should be able to opt out via "interration"

Abacus: Isn't WoW an exemption since it is closed?
Richard: yes OK next qiuestion before I get even more boring
Kavon: or maybe VW goods get classified as their closest real world facisimile.
Sunchaser: or the VW maker takes a cut and acts like a tax taker
Richard: WoW isn't closed – just because they don't want you to buy gold, doesn;t mean you can't
kaiyla: You do get banned if caught though. It attempts to be as closed as it can be?

joecastille: what's the most important quality of young people who want to work in the game industry, in your opinion?
Richard: luck
gracemcdunnough: lol
Sunchaser:
Echelon: lol
Schuyler laughs
nils: Win.
Abacus: lol
Celldweller: why not skills
crimson_noel: >.<;; that is so incouraging lol

Richard: there are many more people want to work in the game industry than the game industry wants to work in it
Richard: you can have the skills, the imagination, the passion, the ideas – yes, all of that
Richard: that's taken for granted. however, if you want to get a job then you have to be in the right place at the right time
Richard: some of this you can do – go to conventions and speak to developers – but it's still just luck whether they have an opening at that moment
Kavon: or it becomes your avocation if you are not lucky?
Richard: I would say that it's easier to get in if you try the production side rather than the dvelopment side
Celldweller: well then everything is luck
gryphoness: Who needs to get in when you can make worlds in metaplace?

Sunchaser: is there still a path through Testing and QA?
Richard: everything is luck … just some odds are better than others
Richard: there is, but too many people know about it. besides, testers are driven insane, and who wants insane developers?
Celldweller: so what are the odds in the gaming industry for young people?
Celldweller: so what are the odds in the gaming industry for young people?
Celldweller: so what are the odds in the gaming industry for young people?
Celldweller: so what are the odds in the gaming industry for young people
Richard: young people with the drive will create their own games anyway, irrespective of the industry
Celldweller: (sorry my button was stuck)
Richard: the best way to get into it is to go where it isn't and wait for it to come

Echelon: continuing on with the earlier answer about luck and the saturaion in the Industry, couldn't the same thing have been said about the software industry prior to the advent of open source or tv prior to YouTube?
Medal Master: We have a new leader! LichKing has broken the old high score of 0 with a score of 16!
Richard: develop games for the web, for facebook, for the iphone, for twitter – for whatever
Abacus: I smell probability modeling.
Richard: Echelon – yes, it could have been said. it was said, too
Celldweller: well then how would one get into audio in the gaming industry
Richard: I don't know about audio so much. bigger studios will have a very small audio team

Sumoslap: What have cuurent MMOs lost that MUDs had? What should current MMOs seek to reclaim?
Richard: It used to be that a lot of audio people were freelancers, I don't know if that's the case now
Richard: what current mmos have lost is detail
Richard: they arenowhere near as sophisticated as MUDs were
BainTech agrees
sciu: And story
Zimzam: Dumbed down for the masses, of course

mobab: What had contributed to thsi lost?
mobab: ok
Richard: I can barely believe how people don't care about the way that the physics of the worlds are so sucky
Richard: the main issue I would say is the cost of implementation
Richard: in a text MUD, if I swam across a river I got wet …. all my stuff got wet … some of it would be destroyed from being wet
Cuppycake, private:  Center aisle is for questions only, if you don't have a question please move out of the center aisle. If you do, back of the line please

Cuppycake: Next question?
mobab: a little bit of immersion and realism there
Kavon: when you are in the magic circle or immersed maybe authenticity doesn't matter as much.
kaiyla: Woulnd't that be seen as a trade off in terms of larger audiences and expectations though?
Richard: yet in WoW I can swim across a river and come out looking just like I did when I got in, even if I'm swimming in PLATE MAIL and am crrying biscuits
Sent to cuppycake:  sorry, thought i was in line where i was, and was waiting for my turn
Cuppycake, private:  you're fine then

Richard: authenticity helps with immersion
Richard: it also helps with the richness of a world
Kavon: so there's tradeoff 4 players somewhere
Slasrath: It's Magic! hehe *shuts up*
sciu: Hell.. swim in plate armor, and you sink like a rock
Richard: there's so much more you can do if the world has a deeper physics

Myrix: Do we really need that level of immersion to have fun though?
Richard: if you're an explorer, yes
Myrix: I'd be annoyed if half of the stuff in my pack was lost just because I decided to swim.
Sumoslap: But all artistic productions simplify reality. You rarely see people in novels going to the bathroom — unless it's relevant to the plot.
Kavon: alot of players test out the physics first – how far can I fall, what will me 2 die, etc.
Richard: yes, Myrix, and 10 years from now your successors will be complaining abouthaving to swim in the first place
Richard: there's simplification and over-simplification
kaiyla: AKA: Dumbing down for the masses?

Sunchaser: Where does imagination come in?
Richard: players will test out the physics and discover how shallow they are
gguillotte: or dumbing down to the market
Richard: it's not dumbing down so much as setting expectations
Abacus: Doesn't simplification depend on audience? Older audience more reality? Younger audience more simplification?
LichKing: Abacus has a point there
Richard: I think a richer MMO could do very well, because players who haven't seen that level of detail would find it new and exciting

kaiyla: Sometimes I do wonder if it's going for the lowest common denominator in order to attract the "masses"
Kavon: a log time go when I played D&D everything was possible – because there was no games physics 2 check us.
ixalon: I guess MUDs vs MMOs is a lot like books vs movies? Text-based MUDs leave a lot more to your imagination.
Medal Master: We have a new leader! Raelmiu has broken the old high score of 16 with a score of 65!
mobab: Going back to novels and restrooms. If you're deep down in a dungeon, would have to find a spot to use the the restroom. Furthermore, could a person be attacked by a froglok
Goofz: I like that comparison, ixalon.
Spinks: What do you think MMOs do better than MUDs? (apart from graphics)
Richard: I think it's to do with experience of playing more than age of individual … newbies v oldbies, not young v old

marcmcg: speaking of story, mmos and immersion there's quite some overlap between mmos and ARGs, expecially with the recent Playstation Home ARG (Xi). Where do you thing the two genres will head in the future? More crossover?
Kavon: does graphic immersion allow us 2 bring in the masses?
Goofz thinks, "ARGs?"
m3mnoch: also, wouldn't "dumbing down" depend on what you are looking for? dumbing down physics is great for achievers. but, can you imagine if you dumbed down gear for them?
Richard: I'm not a fan of ARGs – I don't want to play something when I'm not playing it
gguillotte thinks, ""Alternative Reality Games""KStarfire: you mean like UO swords of one type?
Richard: however, lots of people seem to like them, so good luck to them

Cuppycake: Shall we move along?
Cuppycake: Interficus has a question
Sunchaser: tell cuppycake perhaps a reminder to give him a chance to answer
Interficius: do you think that we'll see more of a return to text-based MUDs in the future?
Zimzam: We are obviously referring to WoW in this case, as it has claimed to have a playerbase of 10,000,000. Surely it could not acquire and maintain that playerbase if it were even moderately complex or difficult to understand/navigate/complete.
Kavon: emergent reality games just shoed up on Boing Boing too.
Richard: I don't think they're easy to scale, although I ghave seen some excellent designs for them …
Kavon: *showed
Sent to cuppycake:  thanks

Cuppycake: **Please allow Richard enough time to answer, thank you**
shiva: wats going on here
Richard: In answer to Interficius: no, I don't. they're a niche market now … time has moved on
Richard: I personally love them and think they're better than graphics, but I grew up in an era when computer graphics were unknown
Raelmiu: Crap, whats happening here?
Abacus: Imagination is always better than rendering.
LichKing: lecture shh

Richard: people just expect graphics now … Raph could have saved a lot of money by making Metaplace text-only, but none of you wouldbe playing if he had done
gguillotte thinks about all the text-based, youth-drive RP on Facebook, LJ, etc…
ixalon: it's a shame MUDs and MUSHs had a lot of what's only becoming really popular today with social networks and user generated content in games – what did happen to all the MUD developers, did they transfer their skills to the web/video games?
Richard: textual worlds are more like silent movies compared to talkies than they are radio to TV
crimson_noel: (u guys please don't be rude.. if u don't know what is going on please refer back to the metaplace page and Raphs post… thanks)

Sunchaser: Next question?
Richard: it is a shame, yes. some ex-MUD people went into development, others went back to their day jobs. some still do MUDs – there is actually money to be made that way
Richard: ok next question
Cuppycake: Goofs – go ahead.
Cuppycake: Goofz*
Goofz: Someone mentioned "Story" earlier on. I'm very interested in the possible strategies of having "narrative" in MMOs – what's your take on developer-driven stories in games? Can that go together with persistent world games?
Richard: I don't like developer stories a great deal
Richard: in part, this is becase they take away from players the ability to create their own stories

Goofz: I personally find it really interesting when there's a back-story to fill.
LichKing: i agree
Goofz: As a "canvas" so to speak.
Richard: small pieces of story, such as quests, are ok
Zimzam: Look at Ultima, it had very little 'back-story' but I can tell you, I have more stories from that game than any other.
Richard: it's those great arching narratives that the players have to live but can;t affect where I tune out
Zimzam: UO rather

Sunchaser: Do you think that building your own world here has the potential to be analogous?
Goofz: Thanks, Richard!
Richard: backstory can add richness to a world, but if "people don't need physics to have fun" then "people don't need backstory to have fun"
Goofz grins at Richard

marcmcg: but isn't story a good way to build immersion within a virtual world, for the majority of people who aren't creators?
Richard: it depends on who the player is … backstory is a good use of story in my opinion
Richard: building yuour own world here: at the moment, it's not analogous to building your own story, but yes, it has that p[otential
Richard: this is one of the exciting thibngs about metaplace: people can create virtual worlds for reasons other than having fun playing them
Richard: they can have fun designing them, and that's enough
Richard: they can speak through them, too, if they have the words

marcmcg: but most people are consumers of content, right?
marcmcg: but most people are consumers of content, right?
marcmcg: sorry :S
Richard: most people are consumers, but if "make it yourself" is the content they are consuming..?
Richard: there's no reason you can't consume meta-content to create content
Cuppycake: Kaiyla is ready to ask the next question, if you are
Richard: if I lay out a backstory for a game where you need to create worlds to trap the ghosts of the past, it's a game but you';re also building
Richard: ok next question

kaiyla: Sorry it's slightly more my research based! May not be as interesting as the rest
kaiyla: How do you see virtual worlds working for work or research based ideas? An example from my own interests are CSCW visualisation tools. Do you have any thoughts or experiance about using games or other things for that?
Richard: hmm, now shall I pretend I know what CSCW stands for and try to bluff it?
Cuppycake: lol
Richard: lemme just open a google window here…

kaiyla: Hehe, collaborative working online… I forgot what it stands for myself *feels embarrased*
crimson_noel: lol poor Richard
(GOSEE) Goofz wants you to go see the URL http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSCW — If you wish to visit, type /agree to go check it out!
gguillotte thinks, "Computer supported cooperative work"
pam: computer supported cooperative work
kaiyla: Thats the one!
Richard: ok, yes, virtualworlds have been used for many non-game purposes
Kavon: excellent need 2 work on my German

Richard: even in the text days we had people use them for collaborative work … Pavel Curtis wrote a paper on the subject
Richard: now we're getting more powerful systems, although virtual worlds are not the end of it
kaiyla: Ooh that sounds like something to go read
Goofz is stupid for linking the German page…
gryphoness: Check out Project Darkstar too for online collab in particular.
Richard: virtual worlds are good for general purpose stuff, but if you and I both want to work on a movie script, say, then we'd be better off using a special tool rather than a virtual world
Kavon: @ goofz – keine probleme
gguillotte thinks about a virtual world tailored for storyboarding
kaiyla: Domain limitations type of thing

Richard: the thing is, virtual worlds are places. you can do in them what you can do in a place
m3mnoch: … or a metaplace specifically for collaborative script writing!
Kavon: applause
Richard: if it makes sense to use a place to co-operate, then a virtual world could do it

Cuppycake: We have time for one more question
Richard: if you want to abstract the sense of place out of "place" then, er, OK … int hat case you could call the whole web a virtual world
Cuppycake: And because the center aisle is packed, I don't know who is next.
Cuppycake:
kaiyla: Thank you You've given me something to think about
Richard: I can stay a while longer
Cuppycake: Oh great
Richard: no lunch for you cuppycake!
gguillotte: lol
Cuppycake: lol no worries

Abacus: Given the collaborative work environment, where do you see IP going?
Abacus: IP = Intellectual Property
Kavon: excellent discussion Q.
Richard: IP is broken
Abacus: lol
Kavon: quote of the session
Richard: there are some very powerful forces grinding against each other and the rest of us just have to watch and see which ine's gears fall off first
Kavon: hate being a peon
Richard: I think there are sane solutions to it, it's just that I'm not in a position to make laws

Abacus: EULA and TOS have become very interesting reading.
Richard: they have … basically, however, although the players think that developers are trying to steal their ideas
Richard: they actually just don't want to be sued for showing their players' IP via their clients
Abacus: Or being sued when data is lost.

Richard: most of that EULA stuff is to protect them from being sued, not to kick players because they can do it
Richard: losing data, well, everyone loses data … I've lost more data trying to back it up than I have any other way
Richard: data loss is a problem if you can't copy the data yourself
Richard: and if you can't upload it if it's lost

gguillotte cheers for data portability!
Abacus: Data is an issue especially given the prevalence of Cloud computing.
Richard: which is a problem for game worlds such as WoW, but not for Metaplace … well, until the hackers get involved
moeshere: and what are doing to safe guard against that
Richard: as Abacus says, data portability would be nice

Cuppycake: Logikal do you have a question?
Richard: "the good news! I found a program to convert between 28 different graphics files formats! the bad news: I need it!"
Richard: "the good news! I found a program to convert between 28 different graphics files formats! the bad news: I need it!"
Abacus: Converting legacy systems is a huge cost. Just think about how many MS word versions are no longer supported. Ugh!!!
NeilsWonkers: Sure
Richard: yes … as for games, I'm still trying to run Darkfall on my XP

Cuppycake: Okay NeilsWonkers is next
NeilsWonkers: Haven't mastered the private mesages yet =P
NeilsWonkers: Where are you at with MMO WTF? What are your major conclusions on the line between reality and irreality
NeilsWonkers: And when do you give it to your publisher?
Richard: I'm about half way through MMOs FTW/WTF, and it's taken me 2 years to get this far
Richard: and I don't have a publisher for it as yet
Medal Master: We have a new leader! Nikion has broken the old high score of 0 with a score of 7!
Richard: I keep having spurts working on it when I'm not being a lecturer
kaiyla: Horray for the summe rholidays
Richard: aka the conference season…
crimson_noel: >.<;;
Schuyler laughs

Amethyst: Alright – who is next in line? I can't tell.
NeilsWonkers: At this juncture, do you think that you know what you're going to say about the texture of these places?
Amethyst: Ah, nevermind.
NeilsWonkers: Sorry =P
Amethyst: No problem.
Richard: It's more to do with MMOs than virtual world creation systems at the moment, I'll see how it goes though
Richard: the whole thing is like a vast semantic web, it's not exzctly "planned"…
NeilsWonkers: hehe

Sunchaser: gguillotte do you have a question?
gguillotte: Yes
Cuppycake: Go head
gguillotte: I've been watching procedurally generated content for a while. Love comes to mind, a PG MMO. What sort of impact is this going to have, where content generation is automated?
Richard: it depends if the generation of the content is the game or is filler
Richard: procedural content can work – I've spent many, many hours playing Rogue for example
Richard: using procedural content to create a canvas for virtual worlds seems a perfectly rational thing to do
Richard: however, the designer has to put their soul in it somewhere: either this is by modifying the procedural content or by creating the framework that creates it
Richard: now the former is the traditional way for designers to speak to players; if a designer wants to speak through the content-generation rules, well
Richard: that would be possible but we don't have the vocabulary for it yet
gguillotte: Thanks.
Richard: that makes it an interesting time for us
gguillotte: Indeed

Richard: Metaplace is a similar thing, btw – we'll see things here that we haven't seen the like of before
Cuppycake: (We already have!)
Richard: which is why I'm so enthusiastic for it
Richard: I don't mean new worlds, I mean new ways of communicating through world creation

Cuppycake: Next question – Myrix?
Raph: Worlds as art objects… something we have seen a lot of
Sunchaser: can you say more about that?
Myrix: Going forward, I feel that integration with social networks, web applications, and mobile devices will be very important. Do you agree? If so, how will it shape future MMOs?
Richard: it will be important, yes. however, the more they intrude into the game worlds, the less unreal they will seem to be
Richard: I'm actually quite downbeat about it … I can see, 20 years from now, people looking at virtual worlds and wondering why anyone ever thought they were exhillerating experiences
moeshere: lol

Richard: the more that they lose their mystique, the less "other world" they become, the harder the player has to will away the imnterrupts, the more mundane they become
mobab: anonymity is awesome
Medal Master: We have a new leader! BluDog has broken the old high score of 0 with a score of 70!
Richard: pseudonymity is awesome … disappears the moment you have voice chat though
BainTech agrees
mobab: hehe
kaiyla: Another WoW example for you… suddenly finding out the tank is a girl and the rest of the guild going all gaga over it… bah

Bigrebo: Do you think voiced and non-voiced worlds will diverge?
Richard: my hope is that eventually we'll have voice fonts so you can speak, it will be transcribed into an intermediate phoneme/tone record, then reproduced in real time using a different voice
Richard: OK so you could still tell a lot of things about me, but not whether I was in real life actually an orc
Cuppycake: lol
Schuyler laughs
moeshere: lol

mobab: Would that be hard to identify the person talking if everyone had a small set of voices to choose from?
Badben: lolz
Richard: is it hard to tell from this text when we all have the same voice?
Cuppycake: (kinda)
Richard: bah! you';re supposed to be on my side!
Cuppycake: lol
mobab: lol
moeshere: lol
nils: Would be without name prefixes.
Sunchaser: hah
Abacus:
Badben: lol
mobab: I meant the reproduction of voices

Richard: From what I know about the subject (which isn't a lot), if it did happen then you could take into account the real-world stresses and so on
Dblade: this somewhat exists with vocaloid
Richard: so you might be able to tell some differences: my Scottish dwarf wouldn't sound the same as a Scottish Scottish dwarf
ShadowJr: hi friends…
Richard: there are apparently differences of opinion between people who convert speech to text and people who convert text to speech, thoughrom this text when we all have the same voice?

Cuppycake: (kinda)
Richard: bah! you';re supposed to be on my side!
Cuppycake: lol
Smobab: lol
moeshere: lol
nils: Would be without name prefixes.
Sunchaser: hah
Abacus:
Badben: lol
mobab: I meant the reproduction of voices
Richard: From what I know about the subject (which isn't a lot), if itdid happen then you could take into account the real-world stresses andso on
Dblade: this somewhat exists with vocaloid
Richard: so you might be able to tell some differences: my Scottish dwarf wouldn't sound the same as a Scottish Scottish dwarf
ShadowJr: hi friends…
Richard: there are apparently differences of opinion between people whoconvert speech to text and people who convert text to speech, though