[MUD-Dev] Retention without Addiction?

[Terrence Martin]

On Mon, 2 Dec 2002, Ted L. Chen wrote:
> Paul Schwanz ruminates:
 
>> .....  Of course, we tend to value items based upon the work
>> needed to aquire it and this new paradigm could indeed cause
>> players to value possessions or skills less.
 
> I agree with most of the stuff you said.  But if you think about
> the stuff players get when logging in as 'gifts', I think it might
> be useful to point out that people probably value gifts based on
> uniqueness, not necessarily the work required in getting it.  That
> is, a set of expensive socks might be worth the same as a DVD of
> my favorite movie.  The first is almost ubiquitous, the later is
> more unique (to some extent) to me.

First I am very much in agreement with the original poster. I find
it extremely unfortunate that the current crop of MMOG are limited
primarily to power gamers or people who are regularly online for 4-6
hours a day.  Particularly when, from personal experience, most of
that time is spent executing the kind of repetitive tasks best left
to a computer or machine.  It is not suprising most games suffer
from macros soon after launch. Who can blame people for wanting to
give their wrist a rest from drag and drop crafting hell.

Repetitive addictive gameplay is what eventually drove me away from
Asherons Call. Unfortunately from what I have seen the AC2 devs also
learned nothing and have if anything made the requirement to stay
"logged in" even greater. SWG looks more promising fortunately.

However I do disagree with the poster that an item must be "unique"
to have value. Moreover I think unique items are actually a
hindrance to balanced gameply between power and casual
players. After all unique items are seldom unique, only more rare
and game developers tend to tie their aquisition to the exact type
of repetitive addictive game play that is plaguing current MMOG's.

Generally in order to make something more "rare" you need to
restrict access to it. In my experience this is done through
requiring many hours of in game time. If it is not handled this way
the casual gamers would get their 1 item, and the power gamers would
aquire thousands thereby making that item not that rare at
all. Since rarity is the only measure of value the item becomes
worthless. The familiar result is much complaining and the devs add
yet another layer of time sink to slow down the power gamer...of
course the side effect is the casual player is left wondering why
they are paying $15 a month to run around the world like an infant
beside gods.

I think that what we need is a different approach to value and not
depend solely on "rarity" to assign value to something.

Take the DVD vs socks example. The value to me is certainly not
because of the rarity of the DVD. Chances are pretty good that there
are thousands of copies in stores just waiting to be bought. Also is
it really more rare than my socks? I have maybe 10 pairs of socks
that are worth wearing, but about 20 DVD's so my socks are twice as
rare. So why do I value the DVD's more?

DVD's provide entertainment. I can share DVD's with others either
directly or comparing notes on that extra DVD commentary on LoTR
extended edition.  As a result DVD's are not only useful to me, but
in a greater social context. I suppose I could share my socks with
others, but somehow that makes me uneasy...:) Lastly, DVD's are a
lot more interesting than socks , therefore I apply more value to
them.

As or worse than rarity for creating addictive repetitive gameply is
leveling as it is currently implemented. Leveling is definitely a
power gamer plus feature that I think should be eliminated from
games, or at least completely redesigned. By tying advancement to
in-game time you make it necessary to power game to keep playing
with your friends. I found this first hand when I took a 3 month
hiatus from AC. After all I am paying the same $$ in subscription as
the power gamer, should I not get the same quality of gaming
experience??

The problem is even more accute on PvP/KvK/FvF games where godlike
high level characters lord over the low level casual players like
erratic vengeful gods. Personally I get more drama and excitement
out of a game like Battle Field 1942. At least if someone gets me a
good one there is a better than fair chance within the next 15mins I
will be able to give as good as I got. PvP in an MMOG is too often a
lesson in futility.

Perhaps game devs should explore using alternative valuations and
perhaps a little more player involved drama to keep its audience,
rather than the strategy pioneered by the tobacco industry...:)

Cheers,

Terrence
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