[MUD-Dev] Our player's keepers? (long)

[F. Randall Farmer]

Someone mentioned "Randy Farmer's" suggestion (implying my "Timmy" quote
that started this
thread... :-D)

- BTW, I chose the name "Timmy" on purpose, implying a < 18 year old. Sorry
that I didn't make
that clear. -

Anyway, I wasn't suggesting that we _tell_ users how to play. That's silly.
:-) This is what I get
for being a lazy instigator. {Though the thread I wanted to start did
follow...}

I was saying that how we design our games constrains how they will likely be
used. An obvious
example is that you can build a MUD with locks, but without lockpicks. No
matter what the
players do, they can't pick the locks. Or if you have no unique persistent
magic items at
single unique locations with timed spawns, you get less camping, etc. User
behavior is directly
related to what a system empowers. (Sometime at a dinner, y'all will have to
ask me about "Chatless
Chat" sometime...)

So, when I say I won't design systems to _encourage_ behavior that will
directly harm the lives of the
player and their family, I was thinking of stuff like this the following
Straw Man:

ExperiencePointAward = BaseExperiencePointAward * ( 2 ^ ( 1.00 +
SessionLengthInMinutes/120 ) )

Name: "Anti-Burst 1.0"
Description: User gains exponentially more experience for longer session
times.
Expected short term effects: Significantly longer user sessions.
    Presumably more user interaction (due to increased hours).
Expected long term effects: [subject to much debate.] More stratification.
    More player burnout. Late/Missing homework assignments.

I think this feature is evil. I think many people on this list may too, or
it would already be in MUDs out
there, right? More time = better MUD? At least some seem to espouse that
view.

I know Matthew Mihaly will say I shouldn't have to care about this, but I
do. {Read that already, a few
times. :-P}

Will anyone besides him stand up and say something like "More per-user hours
at all costs!"?

I too believe deeply in personal responsibility. I believe it to the point
that I feel that it is my personal
responsibility to do my best to provide experiences that entertain without
willfully damaging the people
participating. I can (and have) done this without assuming my customers are
idiots. I will always
encourage others to accept this level of personal responsibility. :-)

[Clearly, Matthew and I are entrenched. :-) I've tried hard not to repeat
myself, but I can see most of what
I would say on this subject has been written by myself or others, so I'll
stop fanning the flames now...]

Randy





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