[MUD-Dev] characters per account

[Zak Jarvis]

I'm with Randy Farmer on this issue.

I agree with Randy Farmer, multiple characters per player is a fact of =
life that you need to design around. (Wish I'd gotten to play Habitat =
and not just Club Caribe.)

I really do have to question the assumption that a single-character =
model is in some way innately superior. Partly I question it because =
it's anathema to my play-style.

When I play multiplayer games that are (ostensibly) about role-playing, =
what floats my boat is playing numerous roles and maintaining rigid =
boundaries between them. I don't use one character to assist another. =
I've had characters who would be glad to kill one another. The possible =
diversity of the experience is what attracts me to MP-RPGs. I really =
don't give a crap about numerical advancement or advantage.

I would specifically NOT play a multi-player game advertised as a =
role-playing that disallowed multiple characters. That's just not an =
interesting environment for me.

I have no illusions about how representative my view is of the larger =
gaming community -- I assume my preferences belong to pretty much me =
alone -- but I know there are other players (and designers) out there =
who play in a style similar to me.

My opinion is that the feeling that "If only there were a game where =
people were only allowed to have a single character, everything would be =
better" is a utopian fantasy born out of a fundamental disillusionment =
with virtual worlds. They promise to be alternate realities in which we =
can live out our leisure time, but they invariably fail to meet our =
basic standards for suspension of disbelief when we learn that there is =
a guy behind the curtain (or an algorithm or script). We are animals too =
hungry for new input to be fed by the inherently limited resources of =
designers. As designers, we can never satisfy the players forever. It's =
a rare conjunction that allows any player to stay in a game for years =
and years. The folks who can are very much the exception, and in my =
experience the ratio of permanent players to good game design is very =
whacked. It has more to do with the players that a game has attracted =
than how well it's managed and -- to a frightening extent -- how well =
it's designed. I suppose it comes down to marketing, really. And being =
just good enough to be interesting.

-Zak Jarvis
 http://www.voidmonster.com




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