[MUD-Dev] Quests - allocative efficiency

[Lovecraft]

> From: Madrona Tree <madronatree at hotmail.com>
> > Raph Koster wrote:
> > But how to do that? I don't know. I can write ONE. But it
> > would take a lot more time to write it than to play it.

> Funny you should say that - I just made the same exact comment about my
> cooking Sunday dinner - it took 4 hours to cook and 20 minutes to eat.
That
> doesn't mean I am unhappy that I did it - or that I think shouldn't have
> done it.  I think my dinner companions would say the same.


Allocative Efficiency
I agree with your thoughts and direction, except here; not content, but
scope of the analogy.  From my experience, for an accurate job analogy, you
would have to cook, clean, police the neighbors, create appliances, build
houses, instruct the painters, manage the sewage system, ensure electricity,
put out fires once a month, hold city council, stock the bar, book the
comedy clubs, organize the public library, and still have time for 4 hours
to cook dinner.  And if one spent 4 hours cooking dinner, but forgot to
update the toilet flushing algorithm, his or her delicious, loving-made
dinner would not be well-remembered for long.

Having said that, I still prepare my heart out in quest, when I have time.
I'm sure every honest game director/designer does, when they have time.

Game directing is a small army of jobs.  Few other jobs that I can conjure
get such misunderstanding from laymen.  MUD players comment like your above
paragraph, and I have to sigh a little, to keep the tears at bay, because I
share their desire. "Why don't you ... ?" and so on.  I politely reply to
the effect: "There's only one me to do it all."

Dave Kennerly             *             A world to live in
Game Director             *             http://www1.darkages.com




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