[MUD-Dev] trade skill idea

[Matthew Mihaly]

On Tue, 3 Oct 2000, Josh Olson wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "msew" <msew at ev1.net>
> > Someone should be able to be a bread maker and have JUST as much fun in
> the
> > game world as the mighty warrior that fights against the hordes of
> monsters
> > out there.
> 
> Why?  Do you know anyone who makes bread all day, every day for the sheer
> thrill of it?  Most breadmakers in the real world make bread for money, not
> for their own amusement.

Not only that, but if bread-making was considered actually fun in real
life, for instance, the price of bread would drop dramatically, as people
would not require the same level of compensation to make the bread, as the
reward would be in making the bread. If it was 'fun', the ability to make
a living from making bread very well might disappear (that's assuming a
realistic economy, which I realize no MUD has).

 
> > Trade skills should be designed in such a way that people get the same
> > adrenaline rush that they can get in combat.
> 
> heehee
> 
> No seriously... really?  :)


Chuckle. Sarapis screams out his warcry, "I'M BAKING SOURDOUGH!!!",
prompting immediate response from those concerned for their safety:
Bob shouts, "RUN FOR THE HILLS! SARAPIS IS BAKING AGAIN!!"

*whew* I'm drained from just imagining that kind of cut-throat excitement.

 
> The independence of actual player skill (vs. character skill) that you see
> in today's MMORPGs came about partially in reaction to twitch games like
> Quake where player skill was pretty much everything.  In other words, it's
> important for people without good hand/eye coordination or who are a little
> slower upstairs to be able to enjoy the game and have moderate success too.
> Another point in favor of different types of activities in the same game:
> something for everyone.

Despite my general snooty attitude about the lack of skill in the big
MUDs, it has to be recognized that there is some skill. For instance, go
to UO stratics and read about the tavernkeeper profession. There is _no
doubt_ that it takes managerial and entrepreneurial skill to run a
successful tavern and get it blessed, for instance. Skill doesn't just
have to be of the twitch variety.

 
> There's also such a thing as being too realistic.  Reality is boring.  Part
> of our job is to figure out which bits of reality to gloss over and which to
> emphasize.

Man, when I was lying face down in the mud in the 'Nam, charlie's bullets
whizzing over my head, I didn't think reality was very boring. =)

 
> > One might even create a system where there are no "pre generated" recipes
> > for items and just let the players combine stuff to make an item that has
> > various properties.  One can imagine having made some berry bread that
> > makes a certain race of creature food sick and another race completely
> > invigorated.   Or a sword that just shatters when using it in a cold
> region.
> 
> Sounds good, although *everything* has to be "pre generated" if you want to
> prevent abuse.  Inevitably it will turn out that certain recipes yield
> products that are far more effective than the game designers would have
> intended.  Suppose that same sword turned out to be far too powerful against
> denizens of hot regions because it was never specifically playtested.

Anyone familiar with the up-coming RTS game, Sigma? There's a bit about it
on Daily Radar archives:
http://www.dailyradar.com/features/game_feature_page_728_1.html

Briefly, you create your units in the game by combining real-life animals
(there are about 60 types) in different proportions. Interestingly, the
designers claim that they did not pre-generate the results. They claim
that, for instance,they were as surprised as anyone when they found that
melding a chameleon and a giraffe together makes some two-legged
super-fast monstrosity that chomps things.

--matt




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