Will Wright Embraces Penis Monsters

I've mentioned the problems games developers and publishers can face with user generated content before. This discussion around Spore and Little Big Planet was more focussed on the design challenges but there are also issues around censoring the content.

One of my favourite examples of the impossible challenge of embracing open-ended user experiences while still controlling the ways in which they can do this is covered on Habitat Chronicles. Here one of the most basic forms of user generated content - communication between players - is 'abused' by a 14 year old and the control the publishers tried to implement to protect users fails miserably and very entertainingly. I think any form of censorship in games will ultimately be overcome, human beings are amazingly creative and the ways in which we communicate are constantly evolving. This means that no static (or even basically dynamic or evolving) control mechanisms will last long.

So back to Spore. When the Creature Creator was released what wonderous and imaginative creatures would the world create with the most advanced game customisation tool yet seen. Within a short time the 'net was full of youtube and flickr posts of penis monsters (I'm sure there's a few hitlers in there too). This was inevitable.

So what did Will Wright, the man behind Spore have to say on this? Was there questioning of his design? Outrage and the abuse of the tools he'd given people? A frantic attempt to cover this up and push for the 'friendly' side of Spore? Not reallly..

Over on the website of a mainstream US newspaper - the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, yes it is an interesting name - Wright discusses Spore and gives his reaction to the phallus inspired creatures:

"Some of it's really good for what they were shooting for. It's amazingly explicit, especially when those creations are animated. We just have to make sure those people aren't messing up the experience for others."

A refreshingly realistic view. But the questions remains, how will Wright, Maxis and EA stop people from 'messing up the experience for others'. With versions across both traditional computer and mobile platforms combined with connectivity options allowing players to share their creations ingame and post videos for community comment this is a big question. How will these be controlled and who will make the decisions of decency and lay down what is acceptable for the Spore universe and what is not? EA/Maxis do not have the best record and the problems within The Sims Online have been well publicised, not least by Peter Ludlow - part time Professor of of Philosophy and Linguistics, part time MMO/online community sociologist/journalist/muckraker and commentator - on the Alphaville Herald (now the Second Life Herald). Ludlow fell afoul of EA for criticising how they both policed the virtual world (or failed to) as well as calling them out on wider issues relating to the rights and responsibilities of participants and organisers of virtual worlds. This lead to his eventual banning from the Sims Online. He has since moved onto Second Life.

Wright and no doubt EA's hope of spreading the Spore brand beyond a game or two and building an empire bigger than that which they tripped over in the Sims will have to deal with more than the current crop of monster cocks if they are to succeed. And they will likely face more and more scrutiny over the coming months. How long before someone decides Spore is the root of all evil and blames the companies behind it for exposing their children to smut, or fires a lawsuit in their direction? After all, anything as successful and mainstream as Spore is hoped to be is certain to get the anti-game and litigation crowd excited.

With Spore out this week and Media Molecule/Sony's Little Big Planet to arrive in under two months it will be interesting to see how things pan out for the communities of both games and the companies behind them. Their experiences and reactions are sure to help mould the landscape for other developers and those who seek to play and create within their worlds.