Designing Virtual Worlds

Blurb

Designing Virtual Worlds is a book about the practice of virtual world development by Richard Bartle. It has been called "the bible of MMORPG design" and spoken of as "excellent", "seminal", "widely read", "the standard text on the subject", "the most comprehensive guide to gaming virtual worlds" and "a foundation text for researchers and developers of virtual worlds" that is "strongly recommended for anyone actually thinking about building one of these places" and "describes the minimum level of competency you should have when discussing design issues for virtual worlds". It has been noted as an authoritative source regarding the history of world-based online games. Its coverage of the virtual world design process has been called "a step further than most [books] in game design instruction". In less favorable reception, one reviewer, while calling it a "must-read" work, said he found "much that was questionable, incomplete, or just erroneous" in it. College courses have been taught using it.