Raph Koster
Encyclopedia
Raphael "Raph" Koster is an American
entrepreneur
, game designer, and author
of A Theory of Fun for Game Design
. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of Ultima Online
and the creative director
behind Star Wars Galaxies
. Since July 2006, he has been working as the founder and president of Metaplace
(previously operating as Areae
and acquired by social gaming company Playdom
in 2010) producing an upcoming platform for online games also called Metaplace
.
in Chestertown, Maryland
, receiving a Bachelor's degree in English
(Creative Writing
) and Spanish
in 1992. The same year he became involved with MUD
s as a developer of Worlds of Carnage, then in 1994 moved on to become implementor of LegendMUD
, where he was known as Ptah. He also played MUME
for a time. On 10 May 1992, he married Kristen who would later work alongside him at Origin Systems
as a game designer.
In 1995, he received a Master of Fine Arts
in Poetry
from the University of Alabama
in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
, and joined Origin Systems as the lead designer of Ultima Online. Koster was also the lead designer of Ultima Online: The Second Age
, Ultima Online Live, and an unannounced and cancelled title until 2000, when he joined Verant Interactive in Austin
as the creative director
of Star Wars Galaxies
.
Promoted to chief creative officer
in 2003, he relocated to Sony Online Entertainment
in San Diego
where he spent three years primarily responsible for business development
. In March 2006, Koster left the company to pursue other opportunities. As of July 2, he is currently working on "something indie ... something that is [hopefully] disruptive and different and not games as usual." http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/07/01/a-big-day/ This venture was revealed as Areae
on 2006-12-15. http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/12/15/announcing-areae/
Koster is a charter member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, and a member of the IGDA, ASCAP, and Omicron Delta Kappa
. He is also a frequent speaker at game industry conferences such as the GDC
, DICE
, State of Play, and E3. He presently lives in San Diego, California with his wife, daughter, and son.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
, game designer, and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of A Theory of Fun for Game Design
A Theory of Fun for Game Design
A Theory of Fun for Game Design is a book written and illustrated by Raph Koster. It is based upon a presentation Koster gave at the Austin Game Conference in 2003, and the book reflects its origins by displaying text on one page and a cartoon/graphic from the talk on the other page.Raph Koster's...
. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of Ultima Online
Ultima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
and the creative director
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
behind Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies is a Star Wars themed MMORPG for Microsoft Windows developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts.-History:...
. Since July 2006, he has been working as the founder and president of Metaplace
Metaplace
Metaplace was a software platform intended to democratize the development of virtual worlds. The platform is developed by Areae , the company established by Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies designer Raph Koster...
(previously operating as Areae
Areae
Areae is an American computer technology corporation located in San Diego, California, that was established in July 2006 by Raph Koster. Areae has been officially changed to Metaplace, Inc. to avoid confusion...
and acquired by social gaming company Playdom
Playdom
Playdom is an online social network game developer popular on Facebook and on MySpace; it is currently the largest social game developer on MySpace and one of the larger ones on Facebook. The company was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by University of California, Berkeley graduates Ling Xiao...
in 2010) producing an upcoming platform for online games also called Metaplace
Metaplace
Metaplace was a software platform intended to democratize the development of virtual worlds. The platform is developed by Areae , the company established by Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies designer Raph Koster...
.
Biography
Koster attended Washington CollegeWashington College
Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts college located on a campus in Chestertown, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782...
in Chestertown, Maryland
Chestertown, Maryland
Chestertown is a town in Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,746 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kent County. The ZIP code is 21620 and the area codes are 410 and 443...
, receiving a Bachelor's degree in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
(Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
) and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
in 1992. The same year he became involved with MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
s as a developer of Worlds of Carnage, then in 1994 moved on to become implementor of LegendMUD
LegendMUD
LegendMUD is a historically significant, award-winning MUD founded by a group of friends including virtual world designer Raph Koster. It opened publicly on February 14, 1994...
, where he was known as Ptah. He also played MUME
MUME
MUME, Multi-Users in Middle-Earth, is a MUD, one of the early offspring of DikuMUD, founded in 1992. MUME enjoys a measure of popularity in the MUD world...
for a time. On 10 May 1992, he married Kristen who would later work alongside him at Origin Systems
Origin Systems
Origin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004...
as a game designer.
In 1995, he received a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
in Poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
from the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
, and joined Origin Systems as the lead designer of Ultima Online. Koster was also the lead designer of Ultima Online: The Second Age
Ultima Online: The Second Age
Ultima Online: The Second Age was the first expansion for the Ultima Online MMORPG. It added several features to the game, including a new region called the Lost Lands, new creatures, and support for player-built cities...
, Ultima Online Live, and an unannounced and cancelled title until 2000, when he joined Verant Interactive in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
as the creative director
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
of Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies is a Star Wars themed MMORPG for Microsoft Windows developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts.-History:...
.
Promoted to chief creative officer
Chief creative officer
A chief creative officer is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. This position is responsible for the overall look and feel of all materials, media, and branding associated with the organization...
in 2003, he relocated to Sony Online Entertainment
Sony Online Entertainment
Sony Online Entertainment is a game development and game publishing division of Sony that is best known for creating massively multiplayer online games, including EverQuest, EverQuest II, The Matrix Online, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, DC Universe...
in San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
where he spent three years primarily responsible for business development
Business development
A subset of the field of commerce, business development comprises a number of techniques and responsibilities which aim at:1. Researching new types of business/products/services with an emphasis on identifying gaps in the mitigation of needs of potential clients .2. Attracting new customers3...
. In March 2006, Koster left the company to pursue other opportunities. As of July 2, he is currently working on "something indie ... something that is [hopefully] disruptive and different and not games as usual." http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/07/01/a-big-day/ This venture was revealed as Areae
Areae
Areae is an American computer technology corporation located in San Diego, California, that was established in July 2006 by Raph Koster. Areae has been officially changed to Metaplace, Inc. to avoid confusion...
on 2006-12-15. http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/12/15/announcing-areae/
Koster is a charter member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, and a member of the IGDA, ASCAP, and Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa, or ΟΔΚ, also known as The Circle, or more commonly ODK, is a national leadership honor society. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, by 15 student and faculty leaders. Chapters, known as Circles, are located on over 300...
. He is also a frequent speaker at game industry conferences such as the GDC
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
, DICE
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
, State of Play, and E3. He presently lives in San Diego, California with his wife, daughter, and son.
Games
- LegendMUDLegendMUDLegendMUD is a historically significant, award-winning MUD founded by a group of friends including virtual world designer Raph Koster. It opened publicly on February 14, 1994...
(emeritus implementor, 1994) - Ultima OnlineUltima OnlineUltima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
(lead designer; Origin SystemsOrigin SystemsOrigin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004...
1997) - Ultima Online: The Second AgeUltima Online: The Second AgeUltima Online: The Second Age was the first expansion for the Ultima Online MMORPG. It added several features to the game, including a new region called the Lost Lands, new creatures, and support for player-built cities...
(lead designer; Origin Systems 1998) - Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (creative director; Verant Interactive 2003)
- Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to LightspeedStar Wars Galaxies: Jump to LightspeedStar Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed was the first expansion to the MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies released on October 27, 2004. The expansion added space-based content to the basic, "ground-based" game, along with the option to create characters of the Sullustan and Ithorian species...
(creative consultant; Sony Online EntertainmentSony Online EntertainmentSony Online Entertainment is a game development and game publishing division of Sony that is best known for creating massively multiplayer online games, including EverQuest, EverQuest II, The Matrix Online, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, DC Universe...
2004) - Star Wars Galaxies: The Total Experience (creative consultant; Sony Online Entertainment 2005)
- Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
- EverQuest IIEverQuest IIEverQuest II is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Sony Online Entertainment , based on EverQuest, and shipped on 8 November 2004...
(chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2004)- EverQuest II: Desert of FlamesEverQuest II: Desert of FlamesEverQuest II: Desert of Flames is the first expansion for Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest II. The expansion went live September 13, 2005...
(chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) - EverQuest II: Kingdom of SkyEverQuest II: Kingdom of SkyEverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky is the second expansion for Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest II, released on February 21, 2006. It features a new region to explore, located high above the skies of Norrath, known as the Overrealm...
(chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005)
- EverQuest II: Desert of Flames
- Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the BladeUntold Legends: Brotherhood of the BladeUntold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade is a launch title for the Sony PSP handheld video game system. It is a third person action role-playing game in which the player can complete various quests for money and items...
(chief creative officer and editorEditingEditing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) - GripShiftGripShiftGripShift is a hybrid title video game that was developed by Sidhe Interactive and co-published by Red Mile Entertainment, Sony Online Entertainment and Ubisoft Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable handheld in 2005. The game was later released for download on PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation...
(chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) - FrantixFrantixFrantix is a video game on Sony's PlayStation Portable. The game contains over 150 levels . The player must race against the clock in order to solve each puzzle. Some levels are tricky and the most obvious path may not be the best route to go...
(chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) - Champions: Return to ArmsChampions: Return to ArmsChampions: Return to Arms is an Action RPG set in the EverQuest universe. It is the sequel to Champions of Norrath and is developed by Snowblind Studios.-Gameplay:...
(chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) - Field CommanderField CommanderField Commander is a military turn-based tactics game for the PlayStation Portable. The player takes on the persona of a new Advanced Tactical Legion for Allied Security recruit, an international military alliance...
(chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2006)
Writing
- A Theory of Fun for Game DesignA Theory of Fun for Game DesignA Theory of Fun for Game Design is a book written and illustrated by Raph Koster. It is based upon a presentation Koster gave at the Austin Game Conference in 2003, and the book reflects its origins by displaying text on one page and a cartoon/graphic from the talk on the other page.Raph Koster's...
— ForewordForewordA foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book's primary author or the story the book tells...
by Will Wright (ISBN 1-932111-97-2) - "Declaring the Rights of Avatars"
- A Story About A Tree, (May 1998), revolving around the Karyn incidentA Story About A TreeA Story About A Tree is a short essay and an epitaph written by Raph Koster, regarding the alleged death of a LegendMUD player named Karyn. The essay raises the subject of inter-human relationships in virtual worlds, particularly the loss of friends, concluding that these are not "just games"...
- "The Laws of Online World Design" (GDC 1999 presentation)
- Koster, Raph. "Geek Fun Isn't Frivolous; Alien Swarms of Thundering, Flashing Games Hit Town This Week. They're Here to Make Us Smarter." Los Angeles Times 15 May 2005, sec. M1.
- "As Seen In Modern Lair" (October 2007)
Awards
- Hot 100 (Next GenerationNext GenerationNext Generation or Next-Generation may refer to:- Publications and literature :* Next Generation Magazine, video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company...
2006) - 100 Greatest Developers (Game InformerGame InformerGame Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
2006)
External links
- Raph Koster's Website
- Areae, Inc.
- A Theory of Fun for Game Design official website
- MobyGames Biography
- "Raph Koster Leaves Sony Online Entertainment" (GamasutraGamasutraGamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
)
Interviews
- Pham, Alex. "Game Design; Building a Community--Even a Virtual One--Takes Work." Los Angeles Times 6 Sept. 2001, sec. T5.
- Interview: December 21, 2006 (Amber Night)
- Interview: December 25, 2006 (StraticsStraticsStratics is an Internet network of web sites and message boards focusing on massively multiplayer games. It is the oldest continuously running MMORPG news site on the internet....
) - Interview: March 22, 2006 (Game Studies)
- Interview: July 25, 2006 (The EscapistThe Escapist (magazine)The Escapist is an online magazine covering video games, gamers, the gaming industry, and gaming culture. Published by the Themis Group, it was edited by Julianne Greer up to June 30, 2009, then by Russ Pitts through September 2011, and is currently edited by Steve Butts. The Escapist was first...
) - Interview: March 10, 2007 (GameZombie.tv)
- Interview: October 11th, 2007 (The MMO Gamer)
In the news
- BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
: Virtual worlds opened up to all (September 19, 2007)