[MUD-Dev] Proposed Law

[Adam Martin]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ola Fosheim Grøstad" <olag at ifi.uio.no>
> John Buehler wrote:

>> There's no entertainment in its destruction, but it facilitates
>> entertainment if used.

>> Part of this law is a prod to encourage designers to get away
>> from the motif of constant destruction.  I'm working on a design
>> document for a game, and combat is predicated on blunt weapons
>> and martial arts.  Nobody dies.  They get knocked out.  That way
>> I don't lose the content of my NPCs and their relationships with
>> other NPCs and players.  NPCs can die, but it's an unusual
>> occurrence, and not controlled by players.

> Not really sure what you mean here. Dying does not destroy
> content?  Burning creative user built content (i.e. a wonderful
> garden) destroys content.  Still, attacking defense systems,
> leaving 25% in ruin does not destroy content, it gives content a
> meaning. And thus enhances content... and probably stimulates
> further creativity, i.e. the search for an improved design.

> Designer originating content, hmm, that should not be destroyed
> permanently anyway, so how is that a problem?  The schema should
> not be destroyed, and design are better done at that level, not
> the instance level.  The real problem is tied to establishing
> visible and compelling non-destructive cooperative achievement
> scales for social comparison.  Which developers won't do because
> players expect to win by destroying things.

I think the point is that if you *do* destroy content as part of
your gameplay, then you have a major problem, which is typically
solved in say EQ by the grossly disbelievable system of
respawning. Yeah, the basic noughts and ones still exist, on the
server somewhere as a mob template (or whatever), but you've got to
come up with reasons why these things keep coming back to life (or
do as 90% of the stuff out there does and not even bother trying to
explain what is possibly the most [obviously - like a sore thumb]
unrealistic part of the games).

Adam M
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