[MUD-Dev] Continuous versus Discrete Functions

[Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com]

From: John Buehler [mailto:johnbue at email.msn.com]
> Caliban Tiresias Darklock writes:

>> The key to encouraging this behavior or that behavior in a game
>> context is to make the behaviors you *like* measurable and
>> quantifiable. As the software industry has said for many years,
>> "you get what you measure" -- if you attach a number to it,
>> people are going to start performing boolean comparisons with
>> it. If it has a measurement, it must be important. If it doesn't,
>> it must NOT be important. Violate that little expectation often
>> enough or blatantly enough, and players will hate you.

> I disagree here.  I think that behaviors are made desireable by
> making them entertaining.  You're coming at it entirely from the
> achiever's standpoint.  Achievers want things to be measureable so
> that they can know that they are achieving.  Socializers,
> explorers and killers are looking for other avenues.

Surely socializers, explorers and killers are all achievers too,
they just use different measuring sticks. I defy you to find any
human activity that isn't measurable should one choose to. Just
because you have no interest in measurement, doesn't mean others
won't.

Harking back to the balance aspect of this thread, I'd like to add a
point.  As a player I don't object to perceived imbalance of my
class , I object to changing balance as I progress in the game -
when the designers change the terms of the contract. People resent
their roles changing completely as they level. If I picked a wizard
because I want to be a damage dealing class, I'm not going to be
happy if after 80 days played I'm no longer any good at it.  Its
particularly easy to pick out these flaws in a PvE game too, as you
will be fighting creatures the designers deem level appropriate and
seeing how you measure up to others doing that. If your game
requires grouping, then god help you as even if the person doesn't
mind being comparitively less effectual at level x, they sure as
hell will mind never getting invited into groups because everyone
thinks their class sucks. So no, in a co-operative PvE game one
can't ignore balance, and I suspect this is true for most types of
game.

Of course you could always rely on the plethitude of un-analytical
people who really think they don't suck as a class when all the
maths shows otherwise.

Dan

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