[MUD-Dev] Justifying twinking

[Geoffrey Z.]

On Tue, 18 Apr 2000, Raph Koster wrote:
> TWINKING: the act of assisting a lower level player to advance in the game
> at a much faster rate than they would be able to achieve on their own, via
> the giving of experience (often via XP split systems inherent in grouping
> systems), items, goods, or money.


The general problem I have with twinking is that it can create a
disproportionate expectation for a newbie. By general human nature in a game
which items determine the power of your character, once you have item A, you
then want item B (which is presumably "better" in some way). Once you get
item B, you then want item C. Giving a newbie item X or Y (using the
alphabet as a linear power description - the sword of ultimate slaying or
some such) to start the game with puts them in a situation where no matter
what they do, the player can never achieve their reward (getting a better
item) - there is no carrot leading them on. There is nothing they can
achieve on their own (or with a party their own level) that can possibly
equal the item they have been twinked.

Outfitting a newbie with something "good" (maybe a C or a D) lets the newbie
experience a taste of power, but still leaves them in the realm where they
could reasonably be expected to find better items along the way. Outfitting
the newbie with one especially good item still lets the player find better
items with other purposes (giving a sword still lets them find a suit of
armor). Twinking a newbie with a full set of uber items means that that
player will never have anything to shoot for (no carrot), and will lead to
the person becoming bored and quitting the game.

In my general experience, the optimal path for twinking is to give a newbie
one good item, or several OK items. This hooks them - giving them more power
then the design intended and letting them feel like they are accomplishing
something while still leaving room to grow. Overtwinking, similar to an
initial "bad play experience" both lead to shorter then desired play time
experiences.



Geoffrey C. Zatkin (GZ)
Game Designer: Verant Interactive





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