[MUD-Dev] UO rants

[Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu 
> [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> John Buehler
> Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2000 2:26 PM
> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] UO rants 
> 
> So, despite Raph's opining about the stamp collector dilemma, 
> I believe that
> essentially arbitrary games can be incorporated together. 

Oh--that was not my opining. That was Dr Cat's opining. I was just citing it
because it was a succinct statement of the problem. I happen to agree with
you. Not only can they be incorporated together, they MUST be incorporated
together if the genre is to grow. To cite what's in the Laws:

Dr Cat's Stamp Collecting Dilemma
"Lots of people might like stamp collecting in your virtual world. But those
who do will never play with those who like other features. Should you have
stamp collecting in your world?" We know that there are a wide range of
features that people find enjoyable in online worlds. We also know that some
of these features are in conflict with one another. Given the above, we
don't yet know if it is possible to have a successful world that
incorporates all the features, or whether the design must choose to exclude
some of them in order to keep the players happy.

> Players are welcome
> to mix and match their game experience from the various games 
> that exist in
> the virtual world.  The one caveat that I will easily concede 
> about 'the
> dilemma' is that it takes time and energy to develop an 
> entertaining treatment
> of any game type, including stamp collecting.  If only a few 
> players are
> interested in it, the return on the investment obviously 
> isn't there.  This is
> not the same as whether it is tenable from a playability standpoint.

The difficulty comes in managing to make the mix happen (where Marion's
Tailor Problem comes in). It's not just time, as you cite. It's also whether
different modes of entertainment are compatible; whether a given feature
will become insular within the game and therefore folks won't interact;
whether the presence of any one given freature actually excludes or imposes
different gameplay upon players who like a different feature.

-Raph

 



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