[MUD-Dev] DGN: Elastic Advancement in MUDs?

[David B. Held]

From: "Jeff Lindsey" <Jeff at nextelligence.com>

> Is this model worthwhile from a player's perspective? Would the
> general populace be happy and stick with a game that offers
> challenges related to their favorite facets, yet constantly
> returns them to ground zero?

I think this would work as long as there is always a nondecreasing
attribute.  In this case, that should be fame, status, glory,
whatever.  In fact, the "masterpieces" or "legendary battles" should
contribute a large amount to this attribute, which is essentially a
"free" attribute and serves as nothing more than bragging rights.
You could make fame have some value by using it to decrease the
amount a famous person pays at shops, etc.

> Has this model been used before? I am relatively new to MUDs, but
> a veteran of graphic MMOGs and have yet to see a similar
> progression system.

I personally like the idea of characters not being 20 or 30 times
stronger/faster/smarter than other characters, just because they've
been playing longer.  To that end, I think a bigger emphasis on
skills is a good trend.  However, I wonder about the motivation.
Will people produce masterpieces simply for the sake of doing so, or
will they need an impetus to pursue such things.  And if the impetus
is too great, will they simply spend all their time doing that, and
produce masterpiece after masterpiece, or will they "come back to
reality"?

For smiths, perhaps the king or some wealthy individual can have a
contest to see who can produce the greatest weapon, with a large
cash prize for the winner.  For warriors, a merchant could put a
bounty on a troublesome dragon or band of thieves.  But essentially,
the masterpieces would be non-combative quests.  They can be fun,
but require a lot of human intervention.  It's an interesting idea,
though.

Dave

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