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Newsletter Discussion: Vertical or Horizontal Depth?

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Newsletter Discussion: Vertical or Horizontal Depth?

Gamers who made the pilgrimage to Reykjavik for EVE Online Fanfest '08 became quite familiar with developer CCP's distinction between depth in games, specifically MMORPGs - Vertical Depth, where a game doesn't have many options but the options that exist are extremely fleshed out, versus Horizontal Depth, where there is a tremendous variety of things to do, but each individual thing might not be all that complex. This week, we'd like to know:

Do you prefer your games to do fewer things with greater complexity, or many things in a less complex way?

Share your thoughts with us and post in the comment thread!

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I don't think it is a stretch to say I want the best of both worlds. Let's say you are crafting a sword, I want an option to just make a plain sword, or one enhanced. If I decided an enhanced route it could be complex to do so, but a possible caveat would a simple made sword it breaks easier, ergo reward for the extra effot.

I am not trying to walk the fence here, but I think too much or too little makes a game only fun for a very select few of people. I think EVE is a good example of my point. You can go simple, or complex as you want in that game, so it hold for me a lot of interest.

 
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