[MUD-Dev] Player-admins, was wimping/wiping and the big blind spot

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Wed, 16 Aug 2000, rayzam wrote:

> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Matthew Mihaly" <the_logos at achaea.com>
> To: <mud-dev at kanga.nu>
> Sent: Friday, August 11, 2000 8:52 AM
> Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Player-admins, was wimping/wiping and the big blind
> spot
> 
> 
> > However, a test character absolutely cannot be used to test other large
> > portions of the game. I can hardly try to enter the worlds of competitive
> > politics or competitive economics with a test character, because I can't
> > just hand my character the single most desired attribute: the respect of
> > other players. My avatars were respected of course, and likely if I had
> > said, "Ok, citizens of Ashtan, I am going to run for the position of
> > Archon, and I wish to be appointed to the position of city chancellor." I
> > would have gotten those positions, but aside from the fact that this would
> > seem (and would be) completely unfair to the players competing for those
> > positions with me, it wouldn't have simulated the experience of trying to
> > gain the respect of other players (which is the route to winning election
> > and appointment to the various political offices).
> 
>     But I don't see how you need to test gaining the respect of other
> players. The point of the original thread was about admins not playing their
> game and therefore wimping or nerfing the game. There may be a point to
> trying to gain a political office by having a character that is not known to
> be an alternate of your admin, and having that character run for election.
> But I don't see how that negates my suggestion of having a playtester
> character to test the skills/spells/abilities in the game, which is
> necessary, as many have pointed out, to determine balance, and keep contact
> with the game. Politics is a game in and of itself, the playing of which
> depends on the people involved, but that's an entirely different thread :)

Well, look at my example about fighting. I don't think that simply testing
ability/spell/item vs. ability/spell/item really shows you all that much,
because it isn't tested in the context of being a player. I can go out and
test class A against class B, but I'm going to do it by giving myself all
the skills and abilities in that class and all the relevant equipment.
When I use up limited-quantity things in the testing process, I don't
mind. I'm not going to hold anything back, because I can replace anything
that is destroyed, stolen, etc. This doesn't tell you what it's like to be
a player. I agree that you CAN test quantifiable things (and it's good to
do so) but I think that it rarely, if ever, gives you enough information
to make a decision on something.


--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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