[MUD-Dev] Crafting/Creation systems

[John Buehler]

Paul Boyle writes:

> I think everyone agrees that endless clicking is definitely out of
> style.  And from everything I've seen, most game designers believe
> the fun of crafting systems is not in the crafting itself, but in
> the achievement play you gain from being a crafter.

> Personally, I think something that gets overlooked is the explorer
> style play that can come from crafting.  The thrill of discovering
> or creating something new noone else has managed to.  That's why
> I'm looking for alternatives to reciepe-style systems, where all
> the possible results have been mapped out in extremis by the
> system designer.

> I realize that leaves the possiblity of unbalance items coming out
> of the system.  I'm curious if anyone has thoughts on this as
> well, if anyone's looked at balancing crafted items not by knowing
> the possibilities at the beginning, but by coupling an evaluator
> at the back end of the system to see if the product is allowable.

If you want to find out if your crafting system is inherently
entertaining, make it such that the items that it creates are
useless.  If players still craft, then you've got something.  Of
course, everything has a value to somebody, so it's a difficult test
to establish, let alone pass.  But that's the general idea.  Beyond
that test is the test of whether other players will find what is
crafted desireable, etc.

Imagine a game that only exists for the purpose of crafting.  There
are no achievements.  You just spend time creating things.  It's
"Legos Online" or whatever.  Can that be made into an entertaining
game?

JB

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