Postmortems Quotes

“It’s so easy to fall into ruts and niches in our real lives, and I want online worlds to offer us exotic experiences and interaction with people we wouldn’t interact with otherwise, and a chance to try out lifestyles and worldviews we otherwise wouldn’t have, a chance to try to solve problems that we find difficult to tackle in the real world. Otherwise, why bother making them?”
― Raph Koster, Postmortems: Selected Essays Volume One

“the things that drive community are: shared interest to get everyone in the same place; limited resources that you need to cooperate over so everyone gets enough; and an enemy you have to fight to keep out”
― Raph Koster, Postmortems: Selected Essays Volume One

“More people are willing to do the same repetitive activity over and over again for the sake of getting a red polkadotted item to replace the green striped one, than are willing to engage in a broader range of activity.”
― Raph Koster, Postmortems: Selected Essays Volume One

“having a varied, evolving setting (even though it only evolves in that “middle layer” of NPCs/creatures/economy) encourages roleplay, encourages exploration, encourages alternate styles of achievement,”
― Raph Koster, Postmortems: Selected Essays Volume One

“The illusion of reality lies not in the machinery itself, but in in the users’ willingness to treat the manifestations of their imaginings as if they were real.”
― Raph Koster, Postmortems: Selected Essays Volume One