[MUD-Dev] MMORPGs & MUDs

[Freeman]

> From: Michael Tresca

> I think part of the difficulty in arguing any points around art,
> entertainment, MMORPGs and MUDs, is that there is not a clear cut
> separation between designer and player.  We like to think there
> is, but the more customizability that is included in any game, the
> more the player becomes the designer.

Yeah.
 
>   They are not:
> 
>     1) conducive to role-playing
>     2) conducive to long-term gaming styles
>     3) conducive to creating social groups
>     4) discouraging griefers
>     5) rewarding non-griefers

I agree with #1 anyway.

What constitutes "long term" to you?

Creating social groups, discouraging griefers and rewarding
non-griefers all seem to me to be the same thing - carrot and stick
of the same pursuit, anyway, the purpose of which is to foster
communities to develop in game: MMO's try *very* hard to do these
things.  IMO, The social groups are key to retention.  Retention is
The Name of The Game.

I think EQ does a wonderful job of creating social groups.  Not as
good a job of then tying that group to the world, but I think MMO
design, in general, is making a lot of progress on that front.

One of AC's core systems was designed to foster the creation of
social groups.  I don't know how well it worked in practice, but I
know the developers thought that important enough to make it a key
component of their game.
 
> Players are partners in creating a social structure.  Failing to
> recognizing that they, not the developer, ultimately sets the tone
> of the game, is to be irresponsible.

I agree, to a point.  I think the systems in place have an awful lot
to do with what tone the players set for the game.  Game systems
that force the players to compete, vs. game systems that force the
players to cooperate, vs. game systems that don't really do either
one, result in three distinctly different tones.

> I believe that MUDs have a valuable, non-tangible lesson that has
> yet to be learned by MMORPGs.  It's a lesson in human dynamics.
> MUDs are managing to generate fun without graphics and have been
> doing it for over a decade.  Instead of building on MUD errors and
> failures (a road littered with the stinking corpses of a thousand
> ill-conceived MUDs), MMORPGs are venturing into the universe of
> multiple players unprepared because everyone thinks that it's a
> different gaming paradigm.  It isn't.  It's just larger.  And on a
> larger scale, the small, player-focused approach is critical in
> ensuring player loyalty.

I've posted much the same sentiment to this list, not all that long
ago.  So, "everyone" doesn't think that.
 
> Flashy graphics, exciting gameplay, cool effects -- that draw
> players.  Viable social communities keeps them there.

I don't know of any designers that believe otherwise.

> For my own curiosity, what's the average lifespan of a single
> character (not player) on a MMORPG?  That is, how long does one
> player play one character consistently before permanently retiring
> them?

Well, assuming there's really a difference between the character and
the player in an MMORPG (and often, there is not): Longer than the
player plays any given MMORPG. :)
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