Raphael "Raph" Koster (born September 7, 1971) is an American entrepreneur,

game designer Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

, 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 ''Star Wars Galaxies'' (''Galaxies'') is a discontinued '' Star Wars-''themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows, developed by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and published by LucasArts. The open worl ...

''. From 2006 until 2013 he worked as the founder and president of

Metaplace Metaplace was a software platform intended to democratize the development of virtual worlds, which was later used to make Facebook games. The company was established by '' Ultima Online'' and ''Star Wars Galaxies'' designer Raph Koster. According ...

(previously operating as

Areae :''The word 'areae' is also the Latin plural of 'area'.'' Areae is an American computer technology corporation based in San Diego, California, that was established in July 2006 by Raph Koster. Areae has been officially changed to Metaplace, Inc ...

and acquired by social gaming company Playdom in 2010, which was in turn acquired by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

) producing a Facebook game platform.

Biography

Koster attended

Washington College Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" name ...

Chestertown, Maryland Chestertown is a town in Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 5,532 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Kent County, the oldest county in Maryland. History Founded in 1706, Chestertown ...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in English (

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

) and Spanish in 1992. The same year he became involved with

MUD Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

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 There are many video games that have been inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's works set in Middle-earth. Titles have been produced by studios such as Electronic Arts, Vivendi Games, Krome Studios Melbourne, Melbourne House, and Warner Bros. Interacti ...

'' for a time. On May 10, 1992, he married Kristen who would later work alongside him at

Origin Systems Origin Systems, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. It was founded on March 3, 1983, by Richard Garriott and his brother Robert. Origin is best known for their groundbreaking work in multiple genres of video games ...

as a game designer. In 1995, he received a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

in Poetry from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

, 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 Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

as the creative director of ''

''. Promoted to

chief creative officer The title Chief Creative Officer (CCO) typically describes the highest-ranking position of a creative team within a media company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, ...

in 2003, he relocated to

Sony Online Entertainment Daybreak Game Company LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. The company was founded in December 1997 as Sony Online Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment, but was spun off to an independent investor in ...

in San Diego where he spent three years primarily responsible for

business development Business development entails tasks and processes to develop and implement growth opportunities within and between business organizations. It is a subset of the fields of business, commerce and organizational theory. Business development is the cre ...

. In March 2006, Koster left the company to work on

which, at the end, was a social gaming platform for Facebook games. Since 2013 he is an independent designer and consultant. Koster is a charter member of the

Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and a member of the

IGDA The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a nonprofit professional association whose stated mission is to "support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers." The IGDA is incorp ...

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

, and

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...

. He is also a frequent speaker at game industry conferences such as the GDC,

DICE A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...

, State of Play, and E3. He presently lives in San Diego, California with his wife and family. In 2019, Koster and Eric Goldberg founded a new company, Playable Worlds, focused on producing the MMORPG, Stars Reach.

Credits

Games

* '' LegendMUD'' (emeritus implementor, 1994) * '' Ultima Online'' (lead designer;

1997) ** '' Ultima Online: The Second Age'' (lead designer; Origin Systems 1998) * '' Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided'' (creative director; Verant Interactive 2003) ** '' Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed'' (chief creative officer;

2004) ** '' Star Wars Galaxies: Episode III Rage of the Wookiees'' (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) ** '' Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan'' (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) * ''

EverQuest II ''EverQuest II'' is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment for Microsoft Windows PCs and released in November 2004. It is the sequel to the original ...

'' (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2004) ** '' EverQuest II: Desert of Flames'' (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) ** '' EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky'' (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2006) * '' Champions: Return to Arms'' (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) * '' Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade'' (chief creative officer and editor; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) * '' GripShift'' (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) * '' Frantix'' (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005) * '' Field Commander'' (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2006)

Discography

* ''After the Flood'' (1999)

Writing

* '' A Theory of Fun for Game Design'' —

Foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between th ...

by Will Wright ()
"Declaring the Rights of Avatars"

A Story About A Tree
(May 1998), revolving around the '' Karyn incident''
"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 May 15, 2005, sec. M1.
"As Seen In Modern Lair"
(October 2007)

Awards

* ''Hot 100'' ( Next Generation 2006) * ''100 Greatest Developers'' (

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...

2006)

References

External links

Raph Koster's Website
*
''A Theory of Fun for Game Design'' official website
*
"Raph Koster Leaves Sony Online Entertainment"
(

Gamasutra ''Game Developer'' (known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021) is a website created in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa TechTarget and acted as the online sister publication to the print maga ...

)

Interviews

* Pham, Alex. "Game Design; Building a Community—Even a Virtual One—Takes Work." Los Angeles Times Sep 6, 2001, sec. T5. * (Amber Night) * (Stratics)
Interview: March 22, 2006
(Game Studies)
Interview: July 25, 2006
( The Escapist)
Interview: March 10, 2007
GameZombie.tv) * (The MMO Gamer)

Wikimania 2014

In the news

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Virtual worlds opened up to all
(September 19, 2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Koster, Raph 1971 births Living people American non-fiction writers American video game designers American game designers Metaplace MUD developers MUD scholars Origin Systems people Sony Interactive Entertainment people Washington College alumni