Iconography

Oluseyi Sonaiya · 2004-02-06T00:04:11

Player griefing is a well-known problem in multiplayer games of any sort. While allowing players to fully express themselves to each other, whether in text or via voice, can add immeasurably to the atmosphere and immersion of a game, it can also create avenues for abuse of other players. In Disney Online''s Toontown (GamaSutra postmortem), the developers opted for a menu-based chat system with pre-configured phrases instead, only allowing players on a given user''s "Secret Friends" list to send arbitrary text. This is a good idea. Silvermyst and I had a similar idea a few months back, discussing at one time a game about anthropomorphosized dinosaurs (I was rooting for cute, cuddly baby dinos, btw) in which player-to-player communication would be carried out using a similar system. Our difference, however, was that we thought about using icons, symbols and character expressions alone - ie, no text - to communicate. What do you think? How would an iconographic communication system work out in your opinion? Would it be robust and expressive enough? Do you see potential for such a system in non-kiddie type games?

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by Oluseyi February 02, 2004 04:24 PM

19 comments, last by Oluseyi 20 years, 11 months ago

TechnoGoth

2,939

February 06, 2004 12:04 AM

Like any language you would define an alphabet, grammer, syntax and semantics. You then teaches these the players and after they get the hang of it dialects will naturally evolve.

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Iconography

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Iconography

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