[MUD-Dev] The Player Wimping Guidebook

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Wed, 2 Aug 2000, Koster, Raph wrote:

 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu 
> > [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> > Matthew Mihaly
> > Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 12:45 AM
> > To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> > Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] The Player Wimping Guidebook
> > 
> > 
> > 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.
> 
> Often, we (meaning those of us on the larger commercial muds) have "not
> gotten away" with it in that a substantial number of people quit as a result
> of the nerf. Anything that causes the playerbase to shrink as opposed to
> grow, is frankly, unusual and therefore to be feared (the MMORPGs seem to
> have always-rising player numbers currently). So we'd rate that as "not
> getting away with it."

Ok, fair enough.

 
> In any case, my point was better expressed by another poster. It's all about
> the emotional investment. Either way, we are talking about removing
> something players are emotionally invested in. So we're arguing about how
> much we can hurt someone's feelings before they quit. The answer will vary
> by player. The better answer is where the average breaking point lies for
> your playerbase.

Well, putting it that objectively (and I agree), it then behooves you to
make your game as addictive as possible so that the average breaking
point is raised. (Bandwidth issues aside of course.)

--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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