[MUD-Dev] Acting casual about casual gamers

[Charles Hughes]

On Sunday, June 25, 2000 5:23 PM, Madrona Tree 
[SMTP:madronatree at hotmail.com] wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Buehler" <johnbue at email.msn.com>
> > I have a model for this as well, but I'd first like to state that
> > trade skills should not be repetitive in nature.  If you're going
> > to put something into the game, make sure it's entertaining.
>
> Amen.  Although, with the interface we have at hand (mouse, keyboard),
> I'm not sure how one would make trade skills not boring or repetitive,
> and not screw up the game economy at the same time.  Mouseclicks are
> there as a kind of measure of time...
[snip]
> and use what instead?

Well, keyboard clicks for one.  I've been playing UO for a while (I suck)
and I really have to say that the mouse clicking really sucks.  Either
these games need to upgrade to joysticks/game controllers or downgrade
back to keyboards.  (Being a mud player, I have no problem with
downgrading to the keyboard. :)

(I'm going to pick on UO a bit below)
However, to answer your question more specifically, though not completely - 
a) start people off with skill points to spend as they like.  You would 
give
them enough skill points to put them halfway between what you think a
beginning player should have, and what you think a 24-hour a day player
that is really great should have. Why?  To avoid the problem of them
simply being online mouseclicking to increase skills.  This also lets
players see what a "normal" person in the game is, and gives them the
illusion that they are really powerful.
b) make skills increase slowly over realtime at the rate you really want 
players
to play. So if you want people playing 2 hours per day, you increase their
skills (up to the maximum) at that rate REGARDLESS of how much they play
or click.
c) make skills slowly decrease down to the starting point if the player
doesn't play for long periods of time. (Note: This encourages spending a
certain minimum amount of time playing - money-grubbing accountants
might suggest that skills never decrease in order to reduce the amount
of time an established player stays on, ignore them.  The established
player needs to be around occasionally in order to maintain some social
connections with the game.)
d) Guards shouldn't be stronger than beginning players (there can be more
guards, but a one-to-one fight should be an even match). (In UO, as a 
newbie
player, I tried to steal...about a blink of an eye or two later, I was dead
to a guard.  UO needs a good run-away-like-the-coward-I-am setting. :)
e) Item making skills should result in items based on the materials used.
(I'm going to pick on UO, since I've played it. :)  UO lets you
make superior bows from wood.  Maybe I missed the catgut part, but I 
haven't
found any oak or pine or teak trees, etc.  All the trees are the same type
and when chopped, produce the same wood.  If a superior bow required a
steel bowstring (or maybe sharkgut), a rare type of wood (or several 
types),
and maybe a special stain then you get away from clicking and into
adventuring (or paying others to adventure for you).
f) Item harvesting skills should require proper materials & proper 
location.
Using a pickaxe on a vein of gems should result in a lot of small pieces,
while using a small pick-hammer would result in a nice big gem. 
 Repetitively
digging in the same place should result in the same ore, not different ore.

Unfortunately, I also think (in addition to the balancing act above) that
you need:
g) no regens/repop. (UO has this island with a lot of birds and farm 
animals
and the sheer noise was just way too annoying.)

I'm looking at this from my own perspective which certainly doesn't match
everyone else's.  I like exploring and the solution above may be a bit too
tainted from that perspective.  I don't consider clicking to be a fun
activity, not even when I do it playing solitaire.

> > If we dump combat and magic and only have a game world
> > with trade skills - with as much complexity and graphical treatment
> > as is found in combat and magic today - we'd attract a different
> > group entirely.  I wonder if they'd be as obsessive  :)
>
> Oh - I'm sure.  Maybe even moreso.

Think Diplomacy combined with Mule.  It would make a great game I think.




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