[MUD-Dev] Logical MUD Areas

[Brian Hook]

At 10:24 AM 5/5/01 +1000, KevinL wrote:

> Idle thought: Would random creation of treasure destroy the
> collectables aspect (and hence a big part of the addictiveness) of a
> mud?  Do you need to have _some_ named/unique gear or monsters in
> there, so people can talk about them without referencing the stats?

This is a very important observation, because a lot of the complaints
in EQ, if fixed, would destroy the feel of EQ.

As much as people bitch about zoning, zones are natural meeting areas
near combat zones.  As much as people bitch about camping, camps are
natural meeting areas near combat zones.  As much as people bitch
about message spam, that's how people meet.  As much as people bitch
about unique loot, that's how people meet.  The collectability is
definitely a part of this.

There are shared stories implied by the possession of certain items.
If someone has a rubicite breastplate, you know how they came by it
(unless they're twinked, but that's another discussion).  I remember
when I was a low level ranger and saw my first high level ranger (way
early in the game, when rubicite was almost never seen), and he had a
GZ and all rubi...I was in absolute AWE.  Hell, I was in awe when I
could /who and see that someone was in Upper Guk, places I'd only
heard about "in legend".

So let's take EQ and "fix" all its problems -- and don't get me wrong,
lots of it does need fixing -- such as the camping, named items, named
mobs, repeatable quests, etc.  There's no longer a Dvinn or Emperor
Crush or ghoul assassin to talk about back at the ranch, there's only
"Dark Elf Ambassador #2" or, even worse, some random encounter that
randomly dropped a randomly created item that might be useful.

  "Hey, Athamayn, what's that you got?"
  "It's a +4 Dagger, +2 Backstab"
  "Where'd you get it?"
  "Dropped off a DE rogue in the woods near Kelethin"
  "Oh.  I got a +1 longsword off a pop in that same area...hmm."

The personality kinda gets sucked out of it.

Car enthusiasts may recognize this.  Cars that are quirky,
problemetic, etc. have "personality".  Cars that are "perfect" are
considered incredibly sterile.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't strive for perfection, but I do want
to emphasize that "no-brainers" to fix aren't necessarily always
no-brainers.

Brian Hook

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