[MUD-Dev] UO rants

[Chris Lloyd]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> John Buehler
> Sent: 24 August 2000 16:15
> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] UO rants
>
> I enjoy the games because of the constructive aspects.  Cooperation with
> others to accomplish goals, etc.  The cooperation is a challenge in and
> of itself.  As you say, it's harder.
>
> > > In the end, only the most powerful players are able to enjoy the
> > > experience.  And those tend to be the hardcore gamers.  Like yourself.
> >
> > Of course, the definition of "power" can vary greatly.  Perhaps it's raw
> > combat power, or perhaps it's the ability to organize a group
> > effectively, or perhaps it's the ability to rule over the masses.  Each
> > of these levels of power has their strengths and weaknesses.
> > Eliminating PvP eliminates some of the chance for a player to really
> > shine.  The accepted truth is that players are magnitudes of order more
> > cunning than even the smartest AI could ever be.
>
> Yes, power is a difficult word.  Yet your very means of conveying the
> various possible interpretations agrees with my own view of the word.
> 'combat power' versus 'ability to organize' versus 'ability to rule'.
> You only use 'power' when referring to an individual's direct ability
> to affect others.

Co-operation is at its hardest in a PvP environment where 'super-players'
are evolved. If there is a situation where there is player who can kill all
the NPCs, do all the quests and beat everyone in combat, something has gone
wrong. At that high level people get separated from the rest of the
population. there should still be some activities that requires the hardcore
super-player to ask assistance from either the lowliest newbie or the next
super-player. If they want to kill that dragon that gives loads of xp points
and the Ancient Half-Dwarf Armour of Immortality, then the top players who
fight each other constantly, might just have to work together.

Most newbies are keen to help each other out, especially with NPC killing,
because they are too weak to kill on their own and they really want as many
levels as they can get.

>                       This is the power that I'm most concerned with in
> these games.  That's because it is our way of putting atomic weapons
> in the hands of teenagers.  There's a reason we don't do that in the
> real world.

Not just teenagers! There are a certain amount of adults I would never trust
with a water pistol (no matter how powerful they might be), let alone
civilisation-levelling weapons. We've all seen some sensible and intelligent
newbies and some pretty dumb oldbies.

As far as co-operation on a larger scale is concerned, I believe the thing
to remember is that there are more than two sides to the coin. Take all the
different sides that people often take:

Life/Death
Good/Evil
Order/DisOrder
Light/Dark
Peace/War
Justice/Thievery

Each of these variables should be independent. Being Dark does not make you
Evil. I would have no problem with a Necromancer fighting against Darkness,
or judge siding with Evil. That's their choice. Since (and lets be honest),
everyone's perspectives of the above are different. If I was a
Peacekeeper-type, I would speak to every single guild I could if there was
rumour of a war, in order to try to stop it.

So lets say you have one or more guilds associated with these aspects - They
each have their own enemies (Paladins vs. Antipaladins, or whatever). They
each war with their opposite guild, and MAY OR MAY NOT choose to ally
themselves with guild that share similar ideals. Death, evil, chaos and
murder are generally lumped together as the 'bad guys'.

C.

--Chris Lloyd
--Mailto:crl199 at soton.ac.uk




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