[MUD-Dev] The Player Wimping Guidebook

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Tue, 1 Aug 2000, Raph Koster wrote:

> Matt Mihaly's horror at the notion of a playerwipe and Tenarius' horror at
> the nerfing of a sword are merely a matter of degree. Both are about a sense
> of accomplishment being removed. To be nitpicky over whether a small
> housefire or a big one are worse is silly--either one can claim something
> valuable.


Well, let's be honest here Raph, you CAN get away with nerfing spell X in
UO. You could _not_ get away with doing a player wipe. The difference is
several orders of magnitude in size. Take all a player's equipment and xp
and abilities away, and he still has a massive attachment to that
character, as personified by his name and any special touches (custom
descriptions, etc) that he's done. You can't nerf a character completely
away no matter how hard you try, because even after you've taken
everything 'tangible' away from him, he's still 'him' in his mind. Player
wiping is another thing entirely, as it completely destroys the persona.


--matt
"He that is wounded in the testicles, or have his penis cut off, shall not
enter into the congregation of the Lord." Deuteronomy 23:1




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