How does WorldForge compare to other games like Ultima Online?
One could look at WorldForge as simply a “free” version of Ultima Online or EverQuest, and while freedom is indeed important, it belies several fundamental aspects of WorldForge that are missing in commercial game systems. Most importantly, our source code is open and designed to be easy to get into and use. This means that WorldForge, unlike the commercial games, could evolve into an unlimited number of different kinds of games, as players and users tweak the system to create new things. The WorldForge framework also makes debugging and bugfixing much easier, as all users are able to look for problems.
One could look at WorldForge as simply a “free” version of Ultima Online or EverQuest, and while freedom is indeed an important trait, it belies several fundamental and powerful traits WorldForge has that we just won’t see with commercial game systems. Most importantly, the source code is open and designed to be easy to get into and use. This means that WorldForge, unlike the commercial games, could evolve into an unimaginable number of different kinds of games as players and users tweak and adapt it to new things. It also makes it a hell of a lot easier for people to find and fix bugs. Second, it aims for a much greater amount of flexibility through the use of externalized scripting and the reliance of the player community to join with us in building in new improvements – art, music, AI scripts, economic rules, and so forth. Third, it is available to be used, modified, sold, and customized as you wish, as long as you keep the code free and open for others.