[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs

[Greg Miller]

"Koster, Raph" wrote:
> I view simulated economies as anathema entirely. This is also a huge shift.
> I am much more interested now in letting a REAL economy develop by
> simulating as little as possible. People will do the work your code would
> have done--only better.

Indeed, this is an important distinction that isn't always made. It
comes down to whether you try to participate (through NPCs and other
agencies that you control to various degrees) or simply provide players
with the tools and let the chips fall where they may.

This same issue arises with in-game justice systems. A lot of people
fail to make the distinction between a system where admins attempt to
make the game detect good and bad behavior and punish players vs. a
system where players make those decisions and simply have tools with
which to deal with each other. I think there's a very fundamental
difference between a system where people get tagged with KILLER and
THIEF flags (or negative reputation points) and one where players set
bounties on each other or "vote" on each others' reputations.

[Wes Connell]
> > Of course this depends on the type of player (another thing
> > about the four
> > types of players discussed on Raph's page). If you have a
> > PowerGamer then
> > the above will happen. If you have a RolePlayer then probably not.

Indeed, and this is good. PGs enjoy learning the ins and outs of a
complex system and how to use it to their advantage. RPers, on the other
hand, are probably not there for the ecologies and economies. They want
a chance to play a role in some story, and such a simulation doesn't add
much (if anything) for them.
--
http://www.classic-games.com/
Conspiracy theorists mistakenly assume others think before acting.
*** Please limit .sigs to four lines and avoid HTML mail or posts. ***



_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev maillist  -  MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev