[MUD-Dev] MUD Wimping

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Wed, 2 Aug 2000, Patrick Dughi wrote:

> On Tue, 1 Aug 2000, Raph Koster wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Always add, never take away.
> > 
> > In other words, you can get away with all sorts of sweeping changes as long
> > as you always extend the capabilities of players, not reduce them. But if
> > you reduce them, then you're in trouble.
> 
> 	That's not true.  It works just as poorly as removing something,
> because they're both changes.  Some players, somewhere will always
> complain about changes, no matter how good or bad they seem to you.  Make
> battle harder and combat-oriented players complain - but make it easier
> and your non-combat oriented players (bards, mages?, thieves) complain
> because of the percieved inbalance between the two orientations.  Add a
> useful spell, and non-spell users scream. Change the attack rate of a
> weapon, and those that do not use it will cry foul.  Raise every stat for
> every player in the game, and someone's going to complain that there's no
> challenge anymore, or that now everyone can kill the mega-dragon, not just
> them.

This is definitely true. For instance, we just put in a new class
yesterday. The only way to get a class is to join a guild that is
associated with the class. I gave one mortal (who had helped a lot with
testing and design suggestions, and who will make a good leader) the
guildmastery and allowed him to pick which player-run city to base the
guild in. He picked one and posted (quite reasonably) that he won't allow
anyone who wasn't previously acting in support of this city to join the
guild. TONS of players got upset, even though this guild will actually
serve to potentially increase the capability of all players (as it can
produce about 30 new magical items useable by anyone). They got upset
because many of them perceive the choice of which city to base the guild
in as pre-ordained by divine providence (when, in fact, the mortal was
given the choice long ago which city to put it in) and because they view
it as having extended the capabilities of their enemies (the
cities are usually fairly hostile towards each other) by adding a new set
of powers upon which that city may draw upon.


--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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