[MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items

[Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services]

> Tess Lowe wrote:
> > Personally I would like to see a level playing field where skill and
> talent
> > decided who rose to the top of the tree. But failing that I see no reason
> at
> > all why Money should be any less (or more) acceptable as a means of
> getting
> > ahead than Time is.
> 
Ryan Palacio responded:
> First person shooters, real-time strategy, anything that even remotely
> resembles "twitch" environments sounds like your level playing field.
> Personally, I have always attempted to devoid games I have worked on of
> "twitch" skill.  Reaction time is not a good judge of "role-playing" skill.
> How does one algorithmically judge "skill and talent" at role-playing?  In
> my mind that is akin to asking a computer to analyze the esthetics of a
> painting or piece of music.  It will understand the data.  But can it
> understand how it makes you "feel"?
> 
> If my understanding of your reference to "skill and talent" is incorrect,
> please correct me.  I would be interested to understand how personal "skill
> and talent" can be applied without detracting from the assumption of a role.
> 

Hand-eye coordination skills are a very small subset of those skills that each 
of us can bring to a game.  I won't speak for Tess, but I'd love to see games 
(especially MMORPGs) designed with much more emphasis on social, strategic, 
political, management, logical, and any number of other pursuits that allow the 
game to engage the whole person.

While you are correct that true role-playing is based on the skills of the 
character and not the skills of the gamer, trying to defend your decision 
regarding what many refer to as "Levelquest" on the basis that your game seeks 
to remain true to its role-playing roots will be hard for many to swallow.  What 
most participants in MMORPGs are engaged in (as dictated by the games design in 
many cases) is a form of Avatarism and not true role-playing.  A game which 
simply converts _time_ to _levels_, IMHO, is a greater detraction from the 
assumption of a role.

--Phinehas

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