[MUD-Dev] Acting casual about casual gamers

[rayzam]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Travis Casey" <efindel at earthlink.net>
To: "Michael Tresca" <mud-dev at kanga.nu>
Sent: Friday, June 30, 2000 2:22 PM
Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Acting casual about casual gamers

<SNIP>

> I agree with the principle that newbies should have more significant
> things to do, but I disagree with your statements here.  If any new
> adventurer can battle demons and kill dragons, how powerful can they
> be?  How can this be reconciled with tough city guards and/or
> shopkeepers?  And if you get rid of the tough city guards or
> shopkeepers, what's to keep newbies from looting in the cities?  (Of
> course, you can make it simply impossible for them to do so, but that
> limits the roles they can take on greatly).
>
> There are all sorts of significant things that can be done short of
> killing dragons and demons -- hunting down murderers, fighting off
> bandits, battling orcs and goblins, rescuing items from
> zombie-infested graveyards, and so on.  There's no good reason to
> belittle newbies or have them out battling squirrels and chickens, but
> that doesn't mean we have to go to the other extreme and have dragons
> and demons that newbies can take out.
>
> Someone need not save the kingdom to be a hero; there's room for
> heroes who protect villages, hunt down bandits, and rescue princes or
> princesses as well.  IMHO, becoming too powerful too quickly can turn
> people off of games as well.
>

    I've always felt that an idea for an area should be self-standing. That
is, it should work for any level of power. If a village is beleagured by a
beast, it could be done at a very easy level for new characters, harder for
midlevel characters, and hardest for high level characters. Of course, this
doesn't mean make 1 version for each. It's just that the thematic idea/plot
behind the area shouldn't be mentally trapping in terms of area. That's what
those other examples of demeaning newbies have been, i.e., newbies kill
chickens or butterflies. And the Dragon Lord must be for high levels. None
of that needs be true.

    Rayzam
    www.retromud.org





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