Raph Koster and Stars Reach
Let’s talk about Raph Koster and his proposed MMORPG Stars Reach. I am aware of the man’s pedigree within the video game industry and what his legacy is perceived to be. I never played Ultima Online and never got beyond a demo of Star Wars Galaxies so my opinion of his work and gaming philosophy mainly comes from what he has written, rather than what I’ve learned through experiencing his games. And what he has made clear time and time again is that he doesn’t like the current cultural norms surrounding the MMORPG genre. He favours a philosophy of player agency and collectivism as a means to harmoniously manage virtual worlds. He has even asserted that encouraging players to take an active role in addressing the emerging communities needs in a virtual world, may encourage reciprocal action in the real world. If you want chapter and verse on his ideas and theories, do visit the Stars Reach YouTube channel and his personal website.
I’m often more interested in the video games industry itself, than I am in the games they produce. This is very much the case, so far, with Stars Reach. As a concept and an attempt to break the existing MMORPG mould, it is a fascinating proposal. But from what I’ve seen so far, the graphics alone are sufficient to put me off. I like eye candy. I make no bones about that. Eyesight is a cornerstone of human experience and therefore I find it rather crass when people try to discount that. We are hardwired to make decisions based on visual data, so please don’t upbraid me for my disdain of “cartoony” graphics. If you’re attempting to make a genre defining title, then I expect it to be made using the Unreal 5 or the Frostbite engine. However, setting aside my personal tastes, I am fascinated by what Raph Koster is proposing. Partly because the ideas are indeed bold but also because I get the distinct vibe of a serious artist about to make a change of direction that may not work out the way they think. Like Bowie with Tin machine.
Raph Koster eschews the theme park elements of MMOs. He favours dynamic worlds that have finite resources and realistic ecosystems. Hence players will need to be mindful of how they use resources. To stop such virtual worlds being a race to the bottom, Mr Koster wants the playerbase to work collectively and cooperatively in his game. “Players form economic dependencies on each other’s characters by advancing in diverse specializations and skills, all of which draw from the common exhaustible resource pools available in each zone, thereby creating a Tragedy of the Commons problem to navigate as a group”. All of which are valid ideas in principle. I have no doubt that if you round up a dozen or so like minded players who agree on the philosophical precepts of the game and give them alpha access, it will yield potentially positive results. But Stars Reach is intended as a commercial product and therefore needs to appeal to fairly broad demographics. From those who want to farm guinea pigs, to those who want to shoot guinea pig farmers in the face and steal their flock.
To put it politely, I do feel that Mr Koster’s philosophical views do come across as a little naive. Players may well want greater agency in their MMO gaming but do they really want a simulator that has the potential to produce all the bureaucratic and hierarchical problems that are inherent in the real world. Democratic decisions tacitly require the notion of “the loser's consent” to be considered legitimate. That is something that is fast vanishing in the real world. Hence, I find it unlikely that such a quality will be more abundant in a video game community. The moment a committee of gamers in Stars Reach place a restriction upon a specific form of action that negatively impacts other players, there will be problems. If you please the guinea pig farmers, you’ll piss off the face shooters and vice versa. And unlike the real world, in-game hassles can be avoided by simply voting with your feet. I therefore see a possible future where everytime Stars Reach implements a major change, it is followed by a major online brouhaha and then a patch to rectify the problem.
Another point to consider is what sort of gamer will be attracted to Stars Reach. I suspect it may be of interest to people who look to MMOs as a refuge from the real world. Players that just want to spend time in a virtual environment where they insulate themselves from the iniquities of daily life and bask in the pleasure of an idealised environment. Some may be vulnerable and fragile. Which then makes Stars Reach a massive target for predatory gamers who take pleasure from causing upset to others. Suddenly the face shooters and guinea pig farmers become bullies and their victims. We’ve seen it happen before with unchecked PVP. Something else to ponder is that Mr Koster is proposing a game under pinned with a specific sociopolitical ideology. There is a culture war going on at present and if Stars Reach got any sort of traction, especially with the youth audience, it would certainly run the risk of being attacked from within by groups with opposing political opinions and goals.
Obviously this post is purely speculative, based on what information there is about the game at present. Games change during their development, as do people. It may be a case that as and when Stars Reach does get released, its aspirations may have changed substantially as many of the ideas were tried in earlier builds and failed. It may be the game is launched true to Mr Koster’s vision but due to its nature, simply becomes a niche product that exists adjacent to mainstream games. A video game version of a kibbutz. Or it could even turn into the biggest video game controversy and shit show since gamergate. Either way there is scope for this to be a fascinating journey. Assuming that Raph Koster has read the room correctly and that sufficient people desire what he is proposing. Alternatively, even if he is wrong, failed endeavours can still yield much that is useful. At the very least the journey that is commencing will more than likely inspire many a blog post among the gaming community.
