Introduction

Howdy...

This weblog was set up to give me a sounding board for my own ideas (and those of others, I suppose) for designing a MMORPG system.

The five Ws:

• Who? My name's Wayne Pearson. I've got a Computer Science degree from the University of Calgary, and have been programming for over 23 years. My interests in computing are wide, from the cool to the dull.
  
• What? The system will be a few separate projects, actually. There will be a backbone server (the foundation) that handles objects generically, but has no idea about the rules of the RPG that will be placed atop it; the rules (and the ability to create and change them) is another part of the project -- I want to be able to run a fantasy world, a sci-fi universe or a wild-west town all on the same base; and the client, which is how people interact with the world, be it through a text interface, 2D, 2-1/2D, 3D, or neural implants.
  
• When? When I have time. This is a project that gets a lot of "mind time" when I'm doing things that give me time to daydream (exercising, driving, surgery). There's no timeline for when any part of this will be done. It may very well go the same route as many other ideas over the years, and never see even this much mention in print.
  
• Where? Right here. This weblog will be my diary or journal for what I'm thinking about, what I've decided, and what I might have actually implemented. The main site will have links to code and software if that ever exists. And there's even a place where I can be contacted if you've stumbled in here.
  
• Why? Why write a(nother) MMORPG? For the challenge, mainly. I'm not looking to compete with Ultima Online, Everquest, Star Wars Galaxies or World of Warcraft. I want to see if I can write those games myself. I'm a UO player myself, and as I play, I find myself thinking, "I know how I'd do that" or "I bet they have a such-and-such system to allow this to work this way". I want to prove (or disprove) that I can write a system like this. This is why the When? above is so vague -- those companies have whole groups, doing it as a full-time job. I have my spare time (and as just mentioned, it can be filled with Ultima Online).

If this sounds interesting, please stop by every so often. If it looks like this page hasn't changed in a year, then I apologize for taking your time -- I must have been distracted by something else.