Talk:Abandonitis

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Largely due to a lack of clarity in the original topic, it seems to me that what we're talking about here is two things: games intentionally set in abandoned environments, and games that merely feel abandoned due to lack of savvy implementation. I would extend the article to distinguish both, explain common techniques for avoiding the latter, etc., but that might make it too long and aimless. Should we split it up? -- Maga 07:33, 27 Oct 2005 (Central Daylight Time)

Thoughts on name

I don't much care for the term "abandonitis" as it strictly means that an abandon (sic) has become inflamed. How about "Mary Celeste Syndrome" (MCS for short)? Jon Rob 08:35, 29 March 2006 (EST)

  • I'm not sure that "Mary Celeste Syndrome" is much of an improvement. I'd be confused in thinking it meant the same thing as ghost town or had something to do with ships. If we could identify games that exhibit the abandonistis trope and read reviews of those games, maybe a better term would suggest itself. I'm having trouble coming up with clear-cut examples. I thought of Gymnasium Adventure (John Olson; 1987; MS-DOS), but that's hardly a well-known game. -- David Welbourn 11:47, 29 March 2006 (EST)
  • The reason I kind of like 'abandonitis' is that it gives a strong impression that the problem is pathological, a Design Error - 'abandonosis' would be more correct, but also even more clunky. I agree with DW about the ambiguity of 'Marie Celeste'. Off the top of my head, the words I've seen used in association with the problem tend to be 'abandoned' and 'empty', but both of those are equally difficult to disambiguate. 'Underpopulation' might work; although the definition's somewhat broader, I think it actually reflects the issue better. Plenty of IF games out there which have a handful of NPCs but still manage to feel horribly underpopulated. -- Maga 03:24, 31 March 2006 (EST)