[MUD-Dev] Maintaining fiction.

[Dave Rickey]

-----Original Message-----
From: Travis Casey <efindel at earthlink.net>

> Huh?  Min/maxing was given that name before D&D even
> existed... the term comes from game theory, where min/maxing is
> attempting to create a strategy that minimizes your possible
> losses, while maximizing your possible gains.

Actually, aggressive "powergamers" almost perfectly fit the game
theory definition of a "rational player", which is defined as a
participant with perfect knowledge of the rules, who *always*
pursues the strategy that maximizes his personal payoff.

Just as a demonstration of the Prisoner's Dilemna can reduce an Econ
101 class to a screaming match, conflicts between min-maxers and
players pursuing less numbers-oriented goals get pretty intense.

But the solution, I think, is not in "taking sides", or in removing
the numbers (players will reverse engineer them eventually, no
matter how obscured).  It's in finding rulesets where the desired
behavior is also the optimum behavior.  Ideally, "Functional
Roleplaying", a system where it is impossible *not* to play a role.
This, of course, leaves out issues such as whether it is or is not
acceptable to discuss the NBA playoffs in a fantasy RPG.

> When min-maxing really becomes a problem is when min-maxed
> characters are considerably more powerful than non-min-maxed ones.
> When that happens, there are two basic choices:
 
>   - Eliminate some of the opportunities for min-maxing.
 
>   - Publicize info on how to min-max characters, so that people
>   are on a "more level playing field" when it comes to min-maxing.
 
> Personally, I tend to prefer the first.  However, that usually
> requires giving players fewer choices, which some game designers
> don't like to do.  Thus, some prefer the latter option.

We're pursuing the first option in DAoC, and it is an incredibly
complex task, trying to equalize all possible paths of character
development while not making classes "cookie cutter", either
internally or relatively.  It seems to be the most promising (at
least for projects with the man-hours to pursue it), however.  The
second is viewed by the more "Character" oriented players as an
abandonment of their playstyle.

--Dave Rickey

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