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<H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was 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] Re: Family, was characters per account</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services <<A HREF="mailto:Paul.Schwanz#east,sun.com">Paul.Schwanz#east,sun.com</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 16:34:29 -0400 (EDT)</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
Jeff Freeman wrote:
> They're wanting npc versions of their characters that will actually work
> for them - harvest resources, craft widgets, etc. - while they are
> off-line. I can already see someone taking four warriors to a dungeon,
> logging out in guard-mode, logging in with a 5th warrior and just
> harvesting mobs for hours on end...
>
I see a number of issues here. Where to begin? Hmmm. You never know what
activity some gamers will really enjoy. I recall a number of people posting to
the Middle-Earth development board who really wanted to be a hobbit and farm
pipeweed. I think that would get boring after a while, but they insisted that
it was essential to their enjoyment of the game. I think that the real issue is
that this activity would help them connect to the world that they imagine
Middle-Earth to be. They wanted to "live" in ME, and a ME without hobbits
farming pipeweed just wasn't ME to them. But if you include the option to farm
pipeweed, others (who come to the game with a different attitude and different
expectations) will expect pipeweed farming to be economically beneficial. In
fact, they will expect to benefit from it proportionately to the amount of
effort they put into it. They will not be able to connect to any kind of
"purpose" for pipeweed farming that doesn't lead to some kind of benefit in
"character development." So some _enjoy_ an activity because of the atmoshere
it creates and because it provides them with a context in which to form
relationships, while others _use_ the activity only for the advancement of their
character (and it is the advanced character that they enjoy, not the activity)
because it is an achievment that makes them feel significant.
This is nothing new. We are all aware of the differences in RP and GoP
playstyles. However, I think that a _majority_ of players fall somewhere in
between the extremes. Many like to role play, but still hear the call to glory
and feel the weight of shame. But it seems that many MUDs are designed so that
if you try to be both, you will be successful at neither. If you don't jump on
the "golden path" bandwagon, you will be left in the dust. You will hear about
all of the dangerous and exciting places in the world well before you are
capable enough to journey there yourself. This is especially true if you are
not able to spend 80 hours per week in the game. In fact, even if you are a
hard-core GoP, but can only spend 20 hours per week in the game world, you will
likely not be able to fully enjoy the game. You might even feel cheated by
those who can spend more time in the game. (You'll probably accuse them of
having no life to cover your own shame.) IMHO, each character who spends time
in the game "skilling" to avoid shame is a character who _could_ be adding to
the atmosphere and relationships that can give our game worlds so much more
depth, but who is instead likely detracting from that atmosphere and precluding
for others the very possibility of suspended disbelief.
IMHO, a game should be about fighting dragons, but never about harvesting mobs.
I see character persistence as a way to address many of these problems. With
character persistence, you can set a _much_ slower rate of progression with a
much higher degree of control. What if you set it so that someone who does all
of the right things takes six months to become fully proficient in a skill? (It
would definitely take longer to discover a "golden path. :-) ) If it took six
months of boring "skilling" during precious time spent in game to accomplish
this, gamers would have every right to complain. But since the gamer can
"skill" while not in game, he is free to do in the game whatever he thinks is
truly fun (or perhaps we are afraid that we really don't have any truly fun
activities in our game?), so a development curve of six months is much easier to
swallow.
To prevent harvesting mobs, you could try one or more of the following:
1) Don't have mobs. :-) Let other players be the antagonists in your story.
Evil vs. good; Orcs vs. humans; etc.
2) Use a less predictable system for spawning. Spawn where they ain't.
3) Implement the possibility of permanent death in certain situations. Gamers
will be less likely to put their characters in a dangerous situation when they
are not in complete control.
4) Sell "practice dummies" or provide "trainers" for certain lower levels of
skilling.
5) Design the game so that skilling is worthwhile for a limited period of time
before it is necessary for some type of interaction or quest to convert the
skill into a new ability. Then that ability can be skilled for a while before
qualifying for the next ability, etc.
--Phinehas
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Paul E. Schwanz, II
Email: paul.schwanz#east,sun.com
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<li><strong><A NAME="00260" HREF="msg00260.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was characters per account</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> "Raph Koster" <rkoster@austin.rr.com></li></ul>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>RE: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was characters per account</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00266" HREF="msg00266.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was characters per account</A></strong>,
Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:the_logos@achaea.com">the_logos@achaea.com</a>, Sat 15 Apr 2000, 05:11 GMT
</LI>
</ul>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00246" HREF="msg00246.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was characters per account</A></strong>,
Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services <a href="mailto:Paul.Schwanz@east.sun.com">Paul.Schwanz@east.sun.com</a>, Fri 14 Apr 2000, 02:51 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00261" HREF="msg00261.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was characters per account</A></strong>,
Raph Koster <a href="mailto:rkoster@austin.rr.com">rkoster@austin.rr.com</a>, Sat 15 Apr 2000, 05:11 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00247" HREF="msg00247.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was characters per account</A></strong>,
Jeff Freeman <a href="mailto:SkeptAck@antisocial.com">SkeptAck@antisocial.com</a>, Fri 14 Apr 2000, 02:51 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00234" HREF="msg00234.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was characters per account</A></strong>,
Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services <a href="mailto:Paul.Schwanz@east.sun.com">Paul.Schwanz@east.sun.com</a>, Fri 14 Apr 2000, 02:51 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00260" HREF="msg00260.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was characters per account</A></strong>,
Raph Koster <a href="mailto:rkoster@austin.rr.com">rkoster@austin.rr.com</a>, Sat 15 Apr 2000, 05:11 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00248" HREF="msg00248.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Family, was characters per account</A></strong>,
Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services <a href="mailto:Paul.Schwanz@east.sun.com">Paul.Schwanz@east.sun.com</a>, Fri 14 Apr 2000, 02:52 GMT
</LI>
</ul>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00137" HREF="msg00137.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Player controller justice systems</A></strong>,
Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster@origin.ea.com">rkoster@origin.ea.com</a>, Mon 10 Apr 2000, 23:12 GMT
<UL>
<li><Possible follow-up(s)><br>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00143" HREF="msg00143.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Player controller justice systems</A></strong>,
Travis Nixon <a href="mailto:tnixon@avalanchesoftware.com">tnixon@avalanchesoftware.com</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 02:05 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL></BLOCKQUOTE>
</ul>
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