[MUD-Dev] Are crafts fun?

[Adam Dray]

Hello.  I just joined the list.


On Fri, 21 Dec 2001, Bobby Martin wrote:

> Is there a MUD or similar game now in which crafting is fun?
> That's an honest question, not a troll.  I have yet to see one in
> which crafting is more than clicking a button/entering a command.
> Gathering materials is fun, finding out how to craft new items is
> fun, selling items is fun, building a reputation is fun, getting
> increased skill is fun, but crafting is not fun, unless you want
> to build a game for every type of crafter (where they learn to
> take the bread out of the oven when the color of the firelight is
> exactly this shade of orange, etc., which is very subject to
> client side hacking).  I want to move the not-fun part offline and
> leave the fun part online.

I run FiranMUX (www.legendary.org/firan).  Firan has a fairly
detailed craft system that simplifies the making of objects, but
allows the player to customize each item by name, color,
description, and ornamentation.  The people who play crafters tend
to be the artistic ones who like to write and draw ASCII art.  The
stuff they create is valued much higher than the "generic" stuff
that the coded market generates with a stock description.  Players
tend to pay 10-100 times the base value for an item that has been
personalized for them.

I would think that even on a graphical mud, you could set up a
system of customization.  Even if it's just to let them choose
colors, patterns, or shapes from a common stock.  It's more fun than
just clicking over and over.

Games are fun because of the choices they offer players.  Crafters
need to be given choices that make a difference.

Adam Dray

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