[MUD-Dev] Retention without Addiction?

[Sasha Hart]

[rayzam]

> I enjoy the entire day of skiing. A session in an online rpg
> should be the same.

I think we'd all agree any game is going to involve some time doing
stuff that isn't pure fun. That's just realism on our part. But, to
be clear, what's more at issue is whether we should be actually
thinning out the enjoyable parts in a contrived effort to keep
players on longer. I really don't think so. I am even suggesting
that this practice (and not simply players enjoying the game a lot,
or being on for a while) is a lot of the problem we're having with
'addiction.' You can get people to play it, but it is frustrating,
not conducive to a pleasant life, etc.

> A death is like a wipeout. If the game balances the risk/reward
> ratios appropriately, i.e. doesn't reward for always skiing the
> bunny slope, and doesn't penalize so much for dying that noone
> wants to risk wiping out, then don't you think all 200 minutes can
> be enjoyable?

I think so, assuming (quite reasonably) that A) the rewards will
dictate the activity of taking the appropriate difficulty 'slopes'
and B) that this activity is enjoyable.

  A) is just a matter of engineering.

  B) is what I find questionable in most cases - recognizing colors
  and hitting a button is not at all fulfilling. I might do it
  (usually because I am after the prospects that come with
  accumulation of dungeon trash), but I can still recognize that
  it's junk time, it's not really worthwhile, it may even be getting
  me down.

> The reward doesn't need to be the food pellet, drop of juice, or
> safety from being shocked. The reward could be running the maze
> itself.

Clearly it has to be in most of these games. This can be a pretty
difficult thing to get your head around - often we assume that if
people are playing the game, it's worthwhile to them. With so many
people recognizing colors and pressing buttons, it seems hard to
imagine that this isn't just what everyone is enjoying.

The addiction flap causes me to wonder.

I would be interested to see even anecdotal comparisons of
'addiction' across different kinds of games. Single player, non
persistent multiplayer, teamplay, with clans, with rankings or
ladders, IRC, small MUD, big MUD, etc.

> That said, I don't think anything I've seen or played has hit this
> ideal I'm portraying. Some have for exploring. I'm hoping SWG does
> for crafting.  But for killing/running the treadmill, not yet.

Doing this may involve grasping a nettle: even if the fun stuff is a
finite resource, it may still not be appropriate to stretch it out
across time as much as possible.


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