Will Wright's intentions

I found some very interesting comments regarding the features of the games created by Will Wright, such as The Sims, The Sims Online, SimCity and Spore. I personally am a fan of Wright's games, in particular, and a fan of online games and virtual worlds, in general.

"Well, call me an idealist or whatever, but I've already told the people in my office not to expect to see me the week that Spore launches.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of thoughts.

1. Looking at WW's games in the light of the (original) Bartle typology, they seem to be getting more and more oriented toward Explorers. And the Popular Science interview makes that goal explicit -- he's trying to create games that reward exploratory play.

Which I love personally, but that's a radical departure from the trend in conventional MMOGs today, each iteration of which seems more determined to provide Achiever-oriented gameplay and rewards. Spore is not quite a MMOG, but the online component is certainly one of its selling points.

So will Spore succeed brilliantly as a kind of online game by satisfying a desire for worldy, non-Achiever gameplay that's going unfulfilled by current (and imminent) MMOGs?

Or will it fail as an online game because it foolishly doesn't supply the very Achiever-focused features that we're told today's online gamers expect?

2. I thought the Q&A in the PopSci interview on whether WW's games were "educational" was especially interesting. From my point of view, the goal behind The Sims was to educate individuals that chasing after material goods was stupid. (Which would explain why the typical Achiever online gamer had approximately zero interest in playing The Sims Online.)

The Sims was computer-game-as-social-commentary. The anti-consumerism message didn't annoy the masses because the gameplay (including design, appearance, and sound) was so strong, but there was certainly an "educational" message there.

So what about Spore? Is Spore also a game wrapped around a sociopolitical theory -- in its case, the belief that too many people care only about themselves and need to be educated into caring about their species?

I'm not suggesting that's a bad message to send. I'm just curious to learn what folks here think about that possibility, both specific to Spore as well as generally.

--Bart"

(the original message here)