[MUD-Dev] Interesting EQ rant (very long quote)

[John Buehler]

Matt Mihaly writes:

> Listen, I quote: "All activities in the world must be inherently
> entertaining." I just find that to be bollocks. Changing my password
> should be inherently entertaining? Breaking up with my lover in the
> game should be inherently entertaining? I'm assuming you don't think
> that either of these should be inherently entertaining (or if you do,
> then good luck ever turning out a product).

Criminy.  I'll quote too: "All activities IN THE WORLD must be inherently
entertaining."  [emphasis is new]  This means that if you are getting your
character to do something in the game environment, it should be entertaining
to you.  Changing your password doesn't qualify, nor does breaking up with a
real-life girlfriend.  Why would anyone want to contest such a statement?
I'm not saying that walking should be a moving experience (nyuk, nyuk), but
there should be some casual entertainment that can be derived from it.
This, as opposed to being bored to tears waiting for the game to let you get
to something that you CAN find entertainment in.

Eating in EverQuest is an example of what I'm talking about.  Eating is
something that players in EverQuest have to put up with.  It's only
marginally entertaining, and for the most part people buy the cheapest food
and drink they can find in the largest volumes they can fit into their
inventory and then forget about it until they're in town or they run out of
food.  If you like, you can make up entertainment on your own, by carrying
different kinds of food for chuckles, but different foods have no impact on
your character's performance or well-being.  It's a gratuitous task that
everyone has to manage.

I'd like eating either to be more entertaining for players, or to be
eliminated from the game world.

Unfortunately, eating would be a fairly mandatory thing for players, and if
they're not interested in dealing with it, it could be a real pain to them
instead of being entertaining.  Other tasks in the game world would tend to
be voluntary, such as the skills you embark on, and where you go in the
world.

> I suppose ideally I'd like my players to be entertained every minute
> they are online, as that would lead to them being online more and
> spending more money. How do you reconcile it though? If a player found
> a game that was _always_ without fail entertaining, I suspect that
> game or world would quickly begin to take up all of his or her free
> time. I know I'd spend all my time playing it, as nothing else I've
> ever found in life is 100% entertaining.

It all depends on the entertainment provided.  If I hook someone up to a
sexual climax machine, they'll stay in that machine until dead.  If I give
someone a deck of cards, they'll play for a while and then move on.  They'll
also return to the deck of cards every now and again.

I'm shooting for entertainment at the level of a hobby - real life crafting,
in general.  Lots of people shout "Immersion! Immersion!" so that the game
world will be more engaging, drawing out emotions, powerful experiences,
etc.  I think that is ill-conceived for the very reason that you're talking
about - it tends to increase the number of players that would get sucked
into the game world, searching for fulfillment or their next dramatic high.
I'd like players to visit my game world because it's fun to spend an hour a
night in it, and/or to spend a few hours on a weekend.  I want them to be
able to put the game down just as they would any other hobby, but also to be
ready to pick it up again because they truly enjoy it.

The notion of having multiple game experiences is one avenue to attempting
this.  If blacksmithing is a game as complex as fighting a battle, then I
can blacksmith when I'm interested in that, and the go try my hand in battle
later on.  If stamp collecting catches on, do that in detail as well.

Having multiple clients for interacting with the game is another avenue.
Receiving email messages when my character is interacted with by another
character is possible.  ICQ as a means of low-end chat-style interactions is
another.  Pager alerts when a given character hands my character a specific
item that I was waiting for.  I should be able to get into the game world as
seriously or as casually as I like.

JB

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