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<H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</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] Justifying twinking</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: <A HREF="mailto:jolson#micron,net">jolson#micron,net</A></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 18:42:57 -0600</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
<LI><em>Sender</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu">mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
> Damion Schubert once said to me, "I want a newbie to see the
> coolest thing
> the game has to offer in the first session. Imagine if they saw a
> dragon and
> helped kill it on the first day." (Very rough paraphrase here).
Sounds like a shortcut to boredom, which is one of the reasons I think
institutionalized twinking needs to be combined with controls, like
level limits on equipment or geography. A significant portion of the
player populace thrives on the continual discovery of new sights, new
feats, and new abilities - show them the dragon on day one and you've
effectively said, "no matter how well you do, this is the coolest thing
you'll ever see." To an Explorer, that's death.
I think it's better to show them things slightly over their heads and
just hint at the dragon's existence. The anticipation is what makes
the experience exciting - delayed gratification and whatnot.
> Above all, it cannot be humiliating (cf Jonathan Baron's "Glory
> and Shame").
> Killing rats is humiliating.
Being killed by rats is humiliating. :)
> (Remember, we are speaking of averages here... our anecdotal
> perspectives on these things are colored by the extremely visible
> dinos...it's very hard to gather decent data for a text mud where
> "departure date"
> is so unclear. But a commercial mud can and should mine all of these
> numbers.)
I'd be interested in the numbers of people who don't extend their
subscriptions beyond the trial period.
I'd offer that there is a third barrier point: the point where
the "romance period," the time during which a player's interest is
sustained simply by the newness of the environment, ends. At that
point the player has a good feel for the features and problems of the
overall game and is no longer impressed by glitz and glitter as only a
newbie can be. I'd further offer that the romance period generally
lasts only a matter of weeks - usually enough time to make a decision
about subscription renewal.
> Institutionalized twinking would be a system whereby elder players are
> incentivized to help newbies in this manner because they need them
> for their
> own purposes. By all accounts, the old Kesmai Multiplayer
> Battletech did an
> excellent job at this. The modern example to point at is Turbine's
> Asheron'sCall. In both cases, the institutionalized twinking is
> done via hierarchical
> social structures.
Friends are a resource too. Because not everyone is adept at making
them, a social structure that encourages players to help their juniors
is a necessary ingredient.
Asheron's Call seems to have done well at simultaneously encouraging
twinking with socio-political structures and limiting its effectiveness
with skill limits on equipment. I believe the skill limits are
critical to the success of this system, because they eliminate the
resentment of "have-nots" in mostly-uncontrolled systems like
EverQuest. In AC there will always be a player who's gotten better
twinking than you, but it won't be so much better that his abilities
are radically different than yours.
In addition to social structures and level/skill limits though, there
is a lot that could be done to aid not only the newbie in finding a
mentor, but the mentor in finding a newbie. Things like guild halls,
message boards, even character flags ("Newbiticus, level 2 enchanter,
seeking an apprenticeship") would facilitate what can be a frustrating
and variably-rewarding exercise.
> Mathematically, I'm pretty sure that the number of people you get
> past that
> inflection point leads to more revenue/lifespan than the loss that
> resultsfrom the shortened lifespan of a twinked character--
> especially if the maxxed
> out twinked character then chooses to do it over again "on their
> own" for
> the challenge of it.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Balance the environment from day one
with twinking in mind. Slide the difficulty curve up a notch with the
assumption that the average newbie will immediately receive a +1
OrcSquisher from a more experienced player. Then just make sure that
experienced players will want to give out +1 OrcSquishers. :)
-Josh Olson
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<li><strong><A NAME="00455" HREF="msg00455.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</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><A NAME="00439" HREF="msg00439.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
Schubert, Damion <a href="mailto:dschubert#origin,ea.com">dschubert#origin,ea.com</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 00:02 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00440" HREF="msg00440.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
adam <a href="mailto:adam#treyarch,com">adam#treyarch,com</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 00:36 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00442" HREF="msg00442.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
Christopher Allen <a href="mailto:ChristopherA#Skotos,net">ChristopherA#Skotos,net</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 01:07 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00445" HREF="msg00445.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
adam <a href="mailto:adam#treyarch,com">adam#treyarch,com</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 01:30 GMT
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<li><Possible follow-up(s)><br>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00443" HREF="msg00443.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
jolson <a href="mailto:jolson#micron,net">jolson#micron,net</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 01:07 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00455" HREF="msg00455.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
Raph Koster <a href="mailto:rkoster#austin,rr.com">rkoster#austin,rr.com</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 03:07 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00447" HREF="msg00447.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
Travis Nixon <a href="mailto:tnixon#avalanchesoftware,com">tnixon#avalanchesoftware,com</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 01:38 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00414" HREF="msg00414.html">[MUD-Dev] Skotos Proximity System - a Technical Summary (LONG)</A></strong>,
Christopher Allen <a href="mailto:ChristopherA#Skotos,net">ChristopherA#Skotos,net</a>, Tue 18 Apr 2000, 19:49 GMT
<LI><strong><A NAME="00411" HREF="msg00411.html">[MUD-Dev] incremental revenue discussion</A></strong>,
Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:the_logos#achaea,com">the_logos#achaea,com</a>, Tue 18 Apr 2000, 19:49 GMT
</UL></BLOCKQUOTE>
</ul>
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