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<H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: Brian Green <<A HREF="mailto:brian#psychochild,org">brian#psychochild,org</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Tue, 04 Apr 2000 15:40:52 -0700</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
Sayeed wrote:
>
> Matthew wrote:
> >This is the third time I've seen someone bring this up in this
> >thread, and it's the third time I'll say it, "People will simply buy
> >multiple accounts." I've certainly done it.
>
> Likewise, this is also the third time I've brought it up. In
> a balanced single character/account system, the majority of
> people will not buy multiple accounts. I've clearly explained
> WHY not in the post below:
> RE: [MUD-Dev] Gamasutra: Online Justice Systems
> -Sayeed, dated 3/27/00
I don't remember getting the original, so I've referred to the archives.
> You may wish to go back and read it, because
> without justification, the statement that "players will buy more
> accounts" in a single-character system is an assertion. 'Why
> will they buy more?' is the key question. A common answer
> to this is that characters appear more valuable because of:
>
> A) Price-Related Value
> B) In-Game Value
First, I have to disagree with a few of your assumptions in the original
post. I'm paraphrasing the original post for the most part.
I disagree that a single character per account will reduce the demand
for multiple accounts. The value of a second account is what it can
provide me, and I will compare that to the cost of buying that second
account. If I think that a second account saves me $50 (EG, time spent)
each month, then I will be willing to buy a second account until the
cost to purchase the account is more than $50.
Note that the economics of this get very sticky, because this may not be
the value I assign to my first account, or even the value I initially
assigned to my first account. Perhaps I thought the entertainment value
of an account was only worth $10/month originally. After a year, I
viewed my account as a $120 investment I'm willing to pay $20 to
maintain and enjoy, but a second account might save me $50/month of my
time I would otherwise "waste" on my primary account! (Confused yet?)
You state that by raising the price, less people will want to buy a
second account. I can tell you from experience this is false. Meridian
59 used to charge up to $30 per month per account of only two players on
a single server. The actual cost varied depending a rather confusing
function of time played, which I will not go into here. Even with an
on-average greater expense per month, I don't doubt we had about the
same percentage of players that had second accounts that UO does.
If you think about it, it make sense. If you charge more, then you are
going to attract customers that can afford to pay more. If they can
afford to buy one account, then the majority of your regular players can
probably afford to buy a second account. If a second account gives a
large bonus to play, then your demand curve become the demand *for two
accounts* instead of one. Raising the price might price out a serious
player that cannot afford the costs of two accounts.
You also propose that multiple accounts reduces the value of each
account, so it makes sense for players to not want multiple accounts
because it dilutes the real value. This is obviously false, as anyone
familiar with the "tragedy of the commons" knows. The player gains
gameplay advantages by purchasing a second account, even if it slightly
reduces the value of other accounts (including those already owned).
The question becomes: is the value of what I am getting more than the
value of what I am giving up? For most people, the answer is yes,
because initially it gives a competitive edge, and eventually it becomes
a competitive disadvantage to not have the additional accounts.
So, how can you eliminate in-game bonuses for having a second account?
I'm of the opinion that you cannot. The two main considerations for
getting a second account are the value of time saved and value of
extended abilities.
The value of time saved explains item creators. It takes me time and
effort to gather game resources (EG, money) and to find someone who can
make a specific item for me. If I can create the item with a second
character, I can save time and money. Why? Because, for worthwhile
items, the cost of producing a good should be less than the value of the
item (not necessarily what it can be sold for to NPCs) in a working game
economy. That means I will generally spend less time making the item
than I do overall buying the item in most cases. For more affluent
players, the value of the time saved is great, likely greater than the
price of a second account for most games. In addition, I can use the
second character to create items to sell, and provide my primary
character with more money (which saves more time having to do something
else to earn it).
The problem is, if you make trade skills take more time or money then
you effectively eliminate any in-game bonuses for being a craftsperson
if the cost of producing an item is greater than the value of the item.
If this is the case, whole sections of your game are going to be ignored
by people who want to do something profitable in the game with their
time; this is never a sound design decision.
You can also apply this to other areas, such as reputation. If I want
to be a vicious PKer, but I've spent time making my primary character a
goody-two-shoes, I will buy a second account if it allows me to save the
time invested in building the good reptuation of my primary character.
Value of extended abilities explains holding mules. Most games put a
limit on the items you can store. Sure, I could "hire" out another
person to hold my stuff for me, but is anyone going to want to waste
their character like that? Probably not for less than the price of an
account! If you give players infinite storage you might eliminate this
problem, but you could introduce other problems (such as bloated
databases, etc).
You can also apply this reasoning to skill-based systems that limit what
skills you can learn, explaining again why people will create item
creation mules. I'm sure most people on this list can explain why
allowing every player to learn every skill is bad design. While some
people will find others to fill in holes in their skill, some people
will see a second account as a cheaper alternative.
Even if you could reduce in-game benefits of a second account, would you
really eliminate enough of the second accounts to make a difference?
Raph's original point you replied to was "Fewer doesn't mean too few to
cause the problem." If you have to pour extra work without the payoff
of eliminating or even significantly reducing the problem, is it worth
it? Probably not.
Comments welcomed.
--
"And I now wait / to shake the hand of fate...." -"Defender", Manowar
Brian Green, brian#psychochild,org aka Psychochild
|\ _,,,---,,_ *=* Morpheus, my kitten, says "Hi!" *=*
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'---''(_/--' `-'\_) -The_Onion_, August 4th, 1999
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<li><strong><A NAME="00046" HREF="msg00046.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Timothy Dang <tdang#U,Arizona.EDU></li></ul>
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<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00027" HREF="msg00027.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Sayeed <yu219121#yorku,ca></LI></UL></LI>
<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00038" HREF="msg00038.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Sayeed <yu219121#YorkU,CA></LI></UL></LI>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
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<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00027" HREF="msg00027.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>,
Sayeed <a href="mailto:yu219121#yorku,ca">yu219121#yorku,ca</a>, Tue 04 Apr 2000, 05:29 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00033" HREF="msg00033.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>,
Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:the_logos#achaea,mudservices.com">the_logos#achaea,mudservices.com</a>, Tue 04 Apr 2000, 16:11 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00038" HREF="msg00038.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>,
Sayeed <a href="mailto:yu219121#YorkU,CA">yu219121#YorkU,CA</a>, Tue 04 Apr 2000, 19:47 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00044" HREF="msg00044.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</a>, Tue 04 Apr 2000, 22:39 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00045" HREF="msg00045.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>,
Brian Green <a href="mailto:brian#psychochild,org">brian#psychochild,org</a>, Tue 04 Apr 2000, 22:50 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00046" HREF="msg00046.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>,
Timothy Dang <a href="mailto:tdang#U,Arizona.EDU">tdang#U,Arizona.EDU</a>, Tue 04 Apr 2000, 23:53 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00050" HREF="msg00050.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>,
Zak Jarvis <a href="mailto:zak#voidmonster,com">zak#voidmonster,com</a>, Wed 05 Apr 2000, 00:45 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00056" HREF="msg00056.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>,
F. Randall Farmer <a href="mailto:randy#communities,com">randy#communities,com</a>, Wed 05 Apr 2000, 05:53 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00020" HREF="msg00020.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] characters per account</A></strong>,
Sellers, Michael <a href="mailto:MSellers#maxis,com">MSellers#maxis,com</a>, Mon 03 Apr 2000, 20:23 GMT
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