[MUD-Dev] I Want to Forge Swords. [Another letter to game designers]

[Vincent Archer]

According to Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services:
> Vincent Archer wrote:

>> Well, having a large world is a good point when one wants to
>> emphazise the Explore aspect of the game. It might even be argued
>> it is good from a Social aspect, since it will probably force you
>> to interact with more people. But it's also bad for community,
>> because, unless your entire community migrates, you lose contact
>> with it everytime you move.
 
> Perhaps the problem is that you have to move...and often you have to
> move a long ways away.  Note that this movement typically is not
> based solely on a desire to explore.  Note also that exploration
> doesn't always have to be solely geographical.  Most MOGs seem set
> up to reward the nomadic life.  Is there any that offer comparable
> advancement, rewards, or 'fun' to city dwellers?

It is a lot easier to provide contents in the form of new areas than
it is in the form of new game mechanics/interactions.

I had the odd experience yesterday in Asherons Call. I was "sweeping a
road" with a friend (i.e. going from one town to another, killing
everything inbetween) when we met a character, going the opposite way.
We said hi, explained what we were doing, and got rewarded by "but the
experience is bad here. You should be in dungeon X or Y, it's a lot
better". He got flabbergasted when we told him we just came from
dungeon X, we were the only ones there, but moved on and were on the
road "because we never went up that road, and my friend wants to visit
Cragstone".

That's what you find when someone in an explorer mood meets someone in
an achiever mood.

For us, the world is interesting at all levels, and we want to see
all.  In EQ, we (the same friend and I) have visited about every zone
we could get in (with the exception of the keyed dungeons of Kunark
and the tail end of Velious). And lots of people want at one time to
do that.

--
Vincent Archer                                         Email: archer at nevrax.com

Nevrax France.                              Off on the yellow brick road we go!
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