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Comment by numen9311 | Hacker News Reader

>I think we need a new WoW, and I think it’s going to have to come from FAANG level company. A fully dynamic cloud backed world running AI agents, GPT-3+ storylines, Unreal 5 graphics.

If you think this is all video gaming industry is your going to have a bad time, none of these would contribute to making a half decent game, let alone an mmo.

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Agree. Graphics matter but aren't the most important thing, and anyone who thinks GPT-3 can write compelling storylines doesn't understand GPT-3 or story craft.

A FAANG would fuck up any MMO it tried. Trust me on this. I could say more, but I'd dox myself. They simply don't have the DNA for it. What would happen is that control of the thing would be given to CEO's pets and corporate bikeshedders and the product would be mediocre.

If a company is going to create a new great MMO, it needs to be a single-purpose company dedicated toward just that... and, of course, that means it's taking a huge risk. It will also need to resist the temptation to get bought by an existing FAANG, because as soon as it is, the quality will decline.

I'm keeping my dream, thank you.

> Graphics matter but aren't the most important thing, and anyone who thinks GPT-3 can write compelling storylines doesn't understand GPT-3 or story craft.

I asked GPT-3 (let's pretend for a moment that it's not going to be replaced soon with something more powerful): "You are a pig farmer. Recently, kobolds have started stealing your sheep. You're asking any stranger that looks like he might be up for the job, to help you get rid of the kobolds. Write ten ways in which you'd tell people to help you. Make it a bit verbose.". I'm adding the result after the post [0]. Is this really so bad for a random off-quest out in the world? I also tried variations where I described the context of the farmer (wife, kids, jolly fellow) and it adapted outputs. I think these kind of tools will be invaluable for NPC of the future, and indeed, for story writers.

> A FAANG would fuck up any MMO it tried. [...] What would happen is that control of the thing would be given to CEO's pets and corporate bikeshedders and the product would be mediocre.

> If a company is going to create a new great MMO, it needs to be a single-purpose company dedicated toward just that... and, of course, that means it's taking a huge risk. It will also need to resist the temptation to get bought by an existing FAANG, because as soon as it is, the quality will decline.

Surely this can't be the case for all present and future FAANG-level companies. I'm sorry but it just feels like you have a beef with whatever company is that you're projecting onto this. Would this new company not have a CEO that would have some pets, and other people involved that might contribute to some mediocre decisions? Is it somehow isolated because it's a single purpose MMORPG company?

[0] ``` 1. "I'm a pig farmer, and I've been having some trouble with kobolds stealing my sheep. If you're up for the job, I could really use your help."

2. "I need someone to help me get rid of the kobolds that have been stealing my sheep. I'm willing to pay for your services."

3. "I'm not sure if you're the right person for the job, but I need someone to help me get rid of the kobolds that have been stealing my sheep. Do you think you could help me out?"

4. "I'd be very grateful if you could help me get rid of the kobolds that have been stealing my sheep. I'll make it worth your while."

5. "I don't know if you're up for the challenge, but I need someone to help me get rid of the kobolds that have been stealing my sheep. Are you interested?"

6. "I don't know if you have the skills for this, but I need someone to help me get rid of the kobolds that have been stealing my sheep. Would you be willing to help me out?"

7. "I can't do this by myself - I need someone to help me get rid of the kobolds that have been stealing my sheep. Can you help me?"

8. "I'm not sure if you're the right person for this, but I need someone to help me get rid of the kobolds that have been stealing my sheep. Would you be interested in helping me out?"

9. "I could really use your help to get rid of the kobolds that have been stealing my sheep. I'll make it worth your while."

10. "I need someone to help me get rid of the kobolds that have been stealing my sheep. If you're up for the job, I'd be very grateful." ```

The hard part of creating good quests is not generating the quest dialogue, but crafting a compelling story and placing it into the world. Why is this farmer having kobold problems? How does that fit into the world around the questgiver? What does the landscape of the farm look like?

Those don’t seem hard answers to come up with. You could potentially have infinite depth on details.

I'm not sure why you'd go with this take. I'm not saying throw some AI, some GPT+ prompts and Unreal 5, deploy it to EC2 and call it a day. There's gameplay elements, main storylines, side quests, great campaigns and assets that can be done by humans, you'd of course need to make it a game. Is this a reason why the weird hermit NPC living in the forest shouldn't have a richer life than sitting in his hut all day?

All I'm is saying is that I'd like a new age MMORPG using these new technologies that can help create dynamic rich worlds, populate them with reasonably realistic NPC and have nicely polished clients, especially with the $bajillions that get thrown around tech nowadays.

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