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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>: "Raph Koster" <<A HREF="mailto:rkoster#austin,rr.com">rkoster#austin,rr.com</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 21:59:04 -0500</LI>
<LI><em>Importance</em>: Normal</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>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu [<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu]On">mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu]On</A> Behalf Of
> jolson#micron,net
> Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2000 7:43 PM
> To: mud-dev#kanga,nu
> Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking
>
>
> > 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 don't think it's death until the Explorer has figured out how to do it on
their own--all the explorer types I know would certainly immediately start
working ont hat problem. But you're right that I did overstate. I should
have said, "a really damn cool thing" rather than "the coolest thing."
I dislike level limits on equipment for other reasons--they always feel
artificial, like bandages on something else broken... but I definitely agree
that limits on twinking is a good thing. Teach a man to fish, all that.
> I'd be interested in the numbers of people who don't extend their
> subscriptions beyond the trial period.
Well, I can't give you those numbers, particularly since I don't work for
Origin anymore. :) Suffice it to say that if they don't quit in the first
two weeks (well before the free period expires), we generally keep 'em for a
LOOONG time. On UO anyway.
> 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.
Gordon Walton, in his talk at GDC, identified around 5 inflection points...
only the first two were relevant to the twinking discussion though. He had
names for 'em and everything, but I can't recall them. It was something
like: scratch n sniff (30 seconds-5 minutes), first impression (5 minutes-2
hours), discovery (2 hours-game dependent), mastery (where you know
everything about the game that you care to - for UO this was about three
months), and community ties only (can last many moons). Each of these is a
"gate" that players do not pass through. The purpose of expansions is to
push people back on the scale.
> 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.
Jonathan Baron tells me that this is what Multiplayer Battletech did so
well. There are many opssible tactics, I agree, and many of them have to do
with just good map design. Has anyone else here read "A Pattern Language"?
<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195019199/o/qid=956113191/sr=8-1/ref">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195019199/o/qid=956113191/sr=8-1/ref</A>
=aps_sr_b_1_1/002-6667192-0689808
-Raph
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<li><strong><A NAME="00459" HREF="msg00459.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> "Christopher Allen" <ChristopherA@skotos.net></li></ul>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>RE: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<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
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<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
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00459" HREF="msg00459.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
Christopher Allen <a href="mailto:ChristopherA@skotos.net">ChristopherA@skotos.net</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 18:55 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</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
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00463" HREF="msg00463.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
John Bertoglio <a href="mailto:jb@pulsepoll.com">jb@pulsepoll.com</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 18:55 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00461" HREF="msg00461.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking</A></strong>,
Justin Lockshaw <a href="mailto:jlockshaw@signio.com">jlockshaw@signio.com</a>, Wed 19 Apr 2000, 18:55 GMT
</LI>
</ul>
</LI>
</UL></BLOCKQUOTE>
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