MMORPG.com featured another great journal by Jumpgate Evolution's Producer, Hermann Peterscheck, who talked about accessibility in video games in general, and designing the sequel to the original Jumpgate:

"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler."

Albert Einstein

One of the biggest barriers to entry into any activity is the amount of effort it takes to understand it. The quote by Albert Einstein is telling because although Einstein's theories are immensely deep and rich they are relatively simple to understand. We have spoken a lot about accessibility in games and I think it might be a good idea to be a bit more specific about what that means. Accessibility, just like simplicity, is not about making things "dumb", insignificant or even uninteresting; nor is it about removing depth or complexity. In fact, it is quite the contrary. Classic games that survive through the ages such as Chess and Go have surprisingly simple rules. You can explain the game of Chess in about 20 minutes; Go can be explained within a few minutes; and yet people can play for their whole lives and not understand all the possible strategies involved.

You can read the rest at MMORPG.com.