[MUD-Dev] Re: Implementing god.

[Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Adam J. Thornton [mailto:adam at phoenix.Princeton.EDU]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 1998 11:23 PM
> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Implementing god.
> This is actually something I've never understood about the UO 
> model.  Say
> I've been at work all day.  Am I really going to want to get 
> home, log in,
> and go to work for a few more hours?  *I'm* not.  Are there 
> people who are?

Yep. Tens of thousands of them.

Actually, we provide means of automating some of the work; for example,
you do not actually tend the counter, which is dull for most people
(except for the few exceptions like roleplayers who enjoy running
taverns). Instead, most people opt to make running a shop a
supplementary income, and the "work" involved is stocking the shop. An
automated NPC we call a "vendor" can be hired (initial setup fee and
ongoing costs based on value of goods in stock applies) and this NPC
handles the counter. The role of the player is then to play how they
like--say, killing orcs--and dropping off the loot they don't want at
their vendor to serve as stock for the shop.

Of course, a catchall stock like that doesn't tend to do  all that well.
The most successful merchants are those who corner the market on
valuable resources, such as the reagents needed for magical spells, or
healing potions. To do this does indeed involve a huge amount of
scouring the NPC shops (whom the players treat as wholesalers--they buy
them out completely, then turn around and resell the items for a markup
from their vendor). Also successful are the specialty shops, such as
those that carry only the best of the magical items, or the shops
devoted to the work of master craftsmen (for example, a grandmaster
smith's shop can do quite well selling his exceptional goods).

The thing to remember is that no matter how dull this may seem to a
given player, to someone else it's the coolest thing since sliced bread.
What we found with UO is that eventually everyone who has a house runs a
vendor too. (You have to be able to won a building before you can run a
shop). Which is to say, almost everyone in the game is shooting for
trying this feature at some point. It is an "elder game" in the best
sense. Players suddenly start worrying about things like optimum
visibility for a trade shop, traffic flow along major corridors of
travel, issues with warehousing and supply, etc. They're playing a
different game than they used to, which makes them stay players longer.

I count the basics of the vendor system, and the crafting skills as well
(not necessarily the implementation of any given one, but rather the
proof of concept) as some of the great successes of UO...

-Raph