[MUD-Dev] TECH: Trusting Network Clients

[Sean Kelly]

On Thu, 29 Aug 2002, Koster, Raph wrote:
> From: Sean Kelly
 
>> I don't believe that there is any way to be recognized for your
>> achievements in the current crop of MMORPGs (though there is in
>> some MUDs).  Further, I don't think that there ARE any
>> achievements in the current crop of MMORPGs.  Time spent there is
>> completely forgettable.
 
> Now, that's just nonsense, to my view. So I assume you must have
> particular definitions of "recognition" and "achievements" that
> are coloring your perspective. Can you explain what you mean?

I'll define "achievements" since that's the crucial term.  By
achievements I mean anything that permanently affects the game
state.  The bulk of the current crop of MMORPGs follows the popular
MUD model where canned quests are constructed for players to play
through, and each element of those quests resets after a
predetermined interval so other players can experience the quest as
well.  There are no achievements because the world state resets --
nothing a player does has any lasting impact on the environment.
One might argue that completing the quest is an achievement whether
or not the effects are permanent, but it doesn't feel that way to
me.

In games designed for small communities, it's easier to maintain the
illusion that my actions do have a lasting impact because either the
effects of my actions actually do persist or because the community
is so small that I see the same people every day.  That is, in any
multiplayer RPG it's possible to affect the game in an abstract
sense by building relationships and history with other players.  But
in massively multiplayer games this quality is diluted because of
the sheer size of the population and because there is often no real
community among the players.  It's the small town vs. large city
dynamic.  This can be addressed to some degree by guilds but I've
never had much interest in joining a guild.

So as far as recognition is concerned, it's obviously possible to be
recognized for having helped another player and so forth, but again
there's no persistance to my claim other than player's memories and
perhaps a few screenshots.  And that's something I can get from any
multiplayer computer game.

I haven't played DAoC or Shadowbane, but I think that such
PvP-oriented worlds go a long way towards creating a more persistent
environment because the core of the experience centers around
players rather than designer-created content.  In this case, I think
my reputation among players would count for more.

Sean


_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev