<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP --> <!--X-From-R13: "Ybfgre, Dncu" <exbfgreNbevtva.rn.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 15:33:34 +0000 --> <!--X-Message-Id: c=US%a=_%p=EA%l=MOLACH-980109153331Z-218967#molach,origin.ea.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, RE: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00138.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00140.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00132.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00145.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00139">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00139">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00139">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>RE: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: "'<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>'" <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: RE: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: "Koster, Raph" <<A HREF="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 09:33:31 -0600</LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On Thursday, January 08, 1998 5:27 PM, Travis Casey[SMTP:efindel#polaris,net] wrote: > - Remember that players will do what they're rewarded for doing. On a > mud in which the best rewards are available by killing monsters, players > will kill monsters. If the best rewards are available by killing other > players' characters, the players will do so. This is really the last > point taking a different form -- if players can choose their own goals, > but can only be rewarded for a few of the possible goals, the choice > becomes somewhat moot. One pitfall here is that in any system where you can kill both monsters and players, players will *always* be more rewarding. They will have more smarts, an excellent level of challenge to them, a wide selection of potential targets, and likely, a greater diversity and greater quantity of treasure, rewards, goodies, etc. I find this to be axiomatic. The question is how much *risk* they offer, and how much other penalty the killer may accrue for his actions. But in a flat choice, which is more rewarding "before taxes" I believe players always win, hands down. > [Aside: this is why I like advance-through-use skill systems. They > allow the player to choose goals (which, if any, skills they want their > characters to be good at) and reward them for pursuing those goals > (advance the skills which the character uses most often).] A note here is that skill systems are notoriously difficult to balance, and thus end up with "ideal combos"--the better the skill system is, the more of them it has, until there are enough that you can't call any single one the "ideal." A phenomenon worth mentioning there is the "accepted wisdom" trap many players fall into with skill-based systems, whereby everyone thinks there is actually only one ideal combo, when in fact there are many. It can be damnably difficult to get variety when the game culture suggests there isn't any! > - Lead by example. Create one or more characters of your own and roleplay > it/them on the mud. The larger the scale of the game, the more difficult it is to do this, btw. -Raph </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <ul compact><li><strong>Follow-Ups</strong>: <ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00145" HREF="msg00145.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Ling <K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00138.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00140.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00132.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00145.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00139"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00139"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00025" HREF="msg00025.html">[MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>, Brandon Cline <a href="mailto:brandon#sedona,net">brandon#sedona,net</a>, Mon 05 Jan 1998, 09:41 GMT <UL> <li><Possible follow-up(s)><br> <LI><strong><A NAME="00061" HREF="msg00061.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>, Mike Sellers <a href="mailto:mike#online-alchemy,com">mike#online-alchemy,com</a>, Tue 06 Jan 1998, 20:16 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00130" HREF="msg00130.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>, Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#polaris,net">efindel#polaris,net</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 05:46 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00132" HREF="msg00132.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>, Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#polaris,net">efindel#polaris,net</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 06:04 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00139" HREF="msg00139.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>, Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 15:33 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00145" HREF="msg00145.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>, Ling <a href="mailto:K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk">K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 18:11 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00158" HREF="msg00158.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>, Mike Sellers <a href="mailto:mike#online-alchemy,com">mike#online-alchemy,com</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 01:00 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00177" HREF="msg00177.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>, Miroslav Silovic <a href="mailto:silovic#zesoi,fer.hr">silovic#zesoi,fer.hr</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 15:32 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00188" HREF="msg00188.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>, Mike Sellers <a href="mailto:mike#online-alchemy,com">mike#online-alchemy,com</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 19:17 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>