[MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.

[Marian Griffith]

On Sun 09 Nov, Adam Wiggins wrote:
> [Marian Griffith:]

> > It still is the way I like to play, even if it is not the 'official' way
> > to play muds.

> I think this is the key to the whole issue.  If you get rid of an
> 'official' (or, more accurately, 'standard') method to play the game,
> it will simutaneously appeal to more players from different backgrounds
> and with different ideas of what's fun, and be more flexible and
> thereby more entertaining in the long run to the players as a whole.
> Of course, the hard part about this is that it's difficult to make a game
> which seems to have some sort of purpose to it, especially when you first
> start the game.  I think Ultima Online has done a very good job with this
> sort of an approach, but still the main complaint I hear (especially from
> those used to the more directed form of playin single player computer games)
> is that they can't figure out what they should be doing when they start
> the game.

This is difficult on any game  that does not set clear immediate goals.
When I first started Myst I had no idea what to do except for wandering
around. It was a good thing there was so much to be seen. I would think
the same ought to be true for muds as well.

> Personally I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on this.  We've touched
> on it before but I don't think ever dived in very deeply.  Usually the
> short answers are 'good, accessable documentation' and 'good character
> creation.'

Both are only important if you already know about the game. My guess
would be  to have simple short term goals  that can be fullfilled by
a new player.  Finding food and water on the average mud serves this
purpose.  The second thing that I think is important is that you can
play the game without having to be good at it. At the moment on most
muds almost the entire game world is effectively closed to new play-
ers. They are restricted to some kind of silly newbie zone or school
and have to struggle through it.  Only the highest level players can
explore the game.  A better game would have  the largest part of the
world available to all players but limit their ability to affect it.
That way new players can have access to a vast game world  to wander
around in, as that gradually looses appeal  they may have found ways
to actually affect that world by playing the game.
A third thing that seems important to me is to provide entertainment
to players  who really are not very good.  Not everybody cares about
competing with other players.

Marian
--
Yes - at last - You. I Choose you. Out of all the world,
out of all the seeking, I have found you, young sister of
my heart! You are mine and I am yours - and never again
will there be loneliness ...

Rolan Choosing Talia,
Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey