Developer : Everydevel, part of BSI
Genre : Database Action / RPG / Strategy
Rating : ****Like many classic computer games,
Everything2 (
E2) is simple in design but offers a great deal of
complexity and
freedom. The text-based nature of the gameplay could be likened to the Infocom canon, but the method of interaction is quite different to anything offered within a
single player game. Every player has the ability to make turns ("writeups") of 32,000 characters in length. The subject is totally up to the user. The aim of the game (as with some
MMRPGs) can also be determined by the user from a set of possible ones, or they can formulate their own measure of success. Some players want only to accrue
XP, and will choose their moves carefully to extract the greatest number of votes from their fellow players (who could be regarded as allies or adversaries). Others try to play "in character", only writing things sincerely to their real world views. The friction between different styles of play can be extremely evident at times.
Future iterations of the game may define more rigid rules or offer new forms of
interaction and
competition. One possibility is
piggybacking the comparitively resource-fastidious (for the client) engine onto a more traditional online game, creating a strange new
synthesis of
information and
simulation.