[MUD-Dev] characters per account

[John Bertoglio]

> From: Matthew Mihaly <the_logos at achaea.mudservices.com>
> > How is this going to keep people from having more than one character?
> > Encouraging people is not enough. You're still going to have multiple
> > characters per person, end of story. You may have slightly
> less, but this
> > wouldn't have a prayer of stopping everyone that uses multiple
> characters
> > from doing so.
>
> It won't stop them.  With the people I know in UO, this is the number one
> reason for having multiple characters.  Adding this would significantly
> reduce the value of having multiple characters.  Why logout and
> login with a
> different character, when I can do it with this one? Reduce the value, and
> increase the cost enough, and multiple characters become less frequent,
> right?
>
> AR Schleicher (Jerrith)
> ars at iag.net
>

Value is the key word here. In the end, it is the VALUE of an account
or an individual character which determines how it is used or abused.
People take care of things and relationships which have value.
They are cavalier with things which are perceived to have little value.
People tend not to soil their own nests. Adolescent rage (found in
people of all ages) tends to mask the value equation but does not
eliminate it altogether.

The key, therefore, is to find ways to add value to an online
game account. There are many ways to do this. The easiest is to
simply raise the actual price of participation in terms of real
money. Creating a financial relationship between makes the user
less anonymous. If I have your credit card, I don't really need
to know where you live! You are no longer truly anonymous. The
other fact is that being able to pay online requires some standing
in the community and adult participation (if only because the
player stole the credit card number from his mom's purse).
Any amount of money will do at this level.

An online world which raised its monthly fee from zero to
$10.00US would see a large change in behavior. Raise the price to
$100.00US and an even greater change would be noted. Money, alone,
does not solve the value equation, however. Other forms of value
need to be added. But let's look at the just the cash model.

A private club has more ability to control its environment than a
similar public body. This is not to say that being private eliminates
all the problems of human social interaction, but it gives the members
and club owners more tools in dealing with the problems.

Could an online game model with a $100 per month (or more) charge
work? I suggest it could. The important thing to remember is that
the maximum fee would only be paid by a portion of the user base.
On recent flight to Orlando, FL I paid about $400. Had I booked
earlier, I could have paid about $200. I could also have paid $1,800
for the same seat. An upgrade to business or first class would have
distorted the prices even more. The same is true of high-end college
educations and many other products. People pay wildly different prices
for the same product.

Why is this? It is because those customers have very different values
to the company supplying the service reverse is also true for the
customers. The same could be true of an online world. Pay your $100 and
you walk in the front door and get started.
The owners of the world have an interest in keeping you happy.
They have an interest in keeping others who pay $100 per month happy
as well. Will the high price keep all the jerks away? No, the money will
filter out a lot of llamas, but by no means all. But the money paid by
affluent jerks can be used to subsidize others and pay for active
administration
to control their excesses. Essentially, the goal is to neutralize the
llamas,
first diluting them with large numbers of motivated players. The customs and
norms
of the world will control all but the worst offenders. Finally by direct
control
and intervention can be used to remove the major jerks.

So what happens if I don't have $100 to enter?

*** Apply for a scholarship. Tell the world how your presence will enrich
the overall
experience for all players.

*** Do a work-study program. Spend a certain number of hours a week running
NPC
monsters or other characters. Be a newbie guide. Do something useful. Earn
system
access as a perk.

*** Try a apprentice. Help the coders expand the world.

*** Be cannon fodder. Let people play for free with constraints on what
their characters
can do, say, see, carry, etc.

*** Other things I haven't thought of. Go wild.

John A. Bertoglio
  _____
PulsePoll.com <http://www.pulsepoll.com/>
| 503.781.3563
| jb at pulsepoll.com |


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