[MUD-Dev] Re: The Future of MMOGs... what's next?

[Talanithus HTML]

From: "Amanda Walker" <amanda at alfar.com>

> Why not?  There are a number of hidden assumptions here that I
> think are not at all given.  Examples:

>   - Game play can affect player abilities ("leveling").  Easy to
>   fix, toss out the ideas of levels and experience points.  I've
>   had problems with the whole concept from the days of D&D onward,
>   and even in paper RPGs the groups I played with never paid much
>   attention to it.  I don't think there's anything that *requires*
>   the whole xp/ability cycle to make a game fun.

>   - Items/objects from a private world will unbalance the main
>   one.  Why?  Who says that ray guns have to work against dragons?
>   A user may create a piece of content where their assumptions do
>   apply, but nothing says that they have to apply in the areas
>   that you (or anyone else) control.  You could even make this a
>   feature: consider a plot device similar to Zelazny's "Amber"
>   books: "dang, I forgot that gunpowder doesn't work in this
>   dimension."

> If MUD admins can let other people be wizards who can create
> content, thus making that MUD more fun and engaging, I see no
> reason the same can't be true for MMO games.

Excellent examples, thank you Amanda.  I also posted a few other
ways to combat these issues in a previous thread.  Basically, the
concept that allowing players creative power in a world will
unbalance and created the potential for abuse is only true if the
developers allow it to be.  The key is to allow *limited* control
that gives creative access without unbalancing the game.  Yes, it is
a tricky situation, but certainly not an insurmountable one.  And
isn't the pay off worth it? Nothing keeps a player interested in a
game as much as ownership, and this is ownership taken to the next
level.

=======================================
Talanithus Tarant
  UO Lake Superior - http://uols.net
  Tel'Mithrim - http://www.grey-company.org
  UO Powergamers - http://uopowergamers.com
=======================================

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