Raph Koster

Infobox Person
name = Raph Koster


caption = Raph Koster at the Web 2.0 Conference in 2005
birth_date = birth date and age|1971|9|7
birth_place = Long Island, New York
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Game designer
spouse = Kristen Koster (1992—)
children = Elena Koster
David Koster

Raphael "Raph" Koster (born 7 September 1971) 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 Areae producing an upcoming platform for online games called Metaplace.

Biography

Koster attended Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, receiving a Bachelor's degree in English (Creative Writing) and Spanish in 1992. The same year he became involved with MUDs as an implementor in "LegendMUD", where he was known as Ptah. He also played MUME for a time. On 10 May 1992, he married Kristen Koster 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 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.

Credits

Games

* "LegendMUD" (emeritus implementor, 1998)
* "Ultima Online" (lead designer; Origin Systems 1997)
* "" (lead designer; Origin Systems 1998)
* "" (creative director; Verant Interactive 2003)
** "" (creative consultant; Sony Online Entertainment 2004)
** "" (creative consultant; Sony Online Entertainment 2005)
* "EverQuest II" (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2004)
** "" (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005)
** "" (chief creative officer; Sony Online Entertainment 2005)
* "" (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)
* "" (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 by Will Wright (ISBN 1-932111-97-2)
* [http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/playerrights.shtml "Declaring the Rights of Avatars"]
* [http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/essay1.shtml A Story About A Tree] , (May 1998), resolving around the "Karyn incident"
* [http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/lawsindex.shtml "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.
* [http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/10/10/ "As Seen In Modern Lair"] (October 2007)

Awards

* "Hot 100" (Next Generation 2006)
* "100 Greatest Developers" (Game Informer 2006)

References

* "Computer Gaming World", "The CGW Interview: Raph Koster", April 2006
* "Real People, Virtual Worlds", 2002 film documentary by Tracy Spaight

External links

* [http://www.raphkoster.com/ Raph Koster's Website]
* [http://www.areae.net/ Areae, Inc.]
* [http://www.theoryoffun.com/ "A Theory of Fun for Game Design" official website]
* [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId=19434/ MobyGames Biography]
* [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8677 "Raph Koster Leaves Sony Online Entertainment"] (Gamasutra)

Interviews

* Pham, Alex. "Game Design; Building a Community--Even a Virtual One--Takes Work." Los Angeles Times 6 Sept. 2001, sec. T5.
* [http://ambernight.org/2006/12/21/exclusive-interview-with-raph-koster-areae-doing-microtransactions/ Interview: December 21, 2006] (Amber Night)
* [http://www.stratics.com/content/exclusives/general/raph_koster.php Interview: December 25, 2006] (Stratics)
* [http://www.gamestudies.org/0501/pearce/ Interview: March 22, 2006] (Game Studies)
* [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/55/9 Interview: July 25, 2006] (The Escapist)
* [http://www.gamezombie.tv/?page_id=52 Interview: March 10, 2007] (GameZombie.tv)
* [http://www.mmo-gamer.com/?p=273 Interview: October 11th, 2007] (The MMO Gamer)

In the news

* BBC: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7002479.stm Virtual worlds opened up to all] (September 19, 2007)