[MUD-Dev] Morphable worlds, Reset based systems revisited

[Brian Hook]

Ola Fosheim Grxstad said:
 
> It is quite apparent to me that a commercial MUD is most
> interesting at the time of launch where you have lots and lots of
> players at your own level to interact with.

Lots of things here.  First, we need to differentiate between
"commercial" and "mass market" (where "mass market" means "mass
market of computer game players", not the REAL "mass market" a la
The Sims audience).  You can have a very small commercial MUD
(Achaea, Simutronics), and a lot of generalizations about EQ, DAoC,
AC, UO, etc.  don't apply to them.

I agree that when an on-line game is first launched that it tends to
be the most interesting, IF the game is centered around either
exploration or achievement.  It is not necessarily the most
interesting if it's centered around socializing, politics,
diplomacy, and other player-player interaction.

Everyone being "at your own level" does provide more opportunities
for socializing, but at the same time it's a pretty strong indicator
that you're already on a level treadmill somewhere.

> Arriving in or coming back to an established game is kind of
> lonely and discouraging, there is no level playfield, and
> everything has been discovered by somebody else...

This is only true if you're an achiever ("no level playfield") or
explorer/achiever ("everything has been discovered by somebody
else").  While this surely encompasses a large group of players,
it's important to note that this isn't an absolute.
 
> Why not design a flexible world that allows designers to rearrange
> the entire world, gameplay rules included?

They do, it's called "nerfing", and it pisses people off =)

Adding content is fine, changing existing content isn't, it
alienates too many players that have gotten into a groove and that
have achieved a level of familiarity and comfort with the way the
system works.  It's frustrating and annoying to spend a lot of time
figuring something out, only to have it change on you capriciously.

> Then you can massively improve the world and relaunch every six
> months...

The bigger problem is "how do you generate a constant stream of
content"?  I think the answer to this is pretty clear -- make the
players become the content.  If content is described in terms of
textures, zones, classes, models, etc. then it's a tough world for
the developers to live in, because they can't generate content at
the rate players consume it.  Player generated content is rife with
problems in so many dimensions it's not even funny.

Which is why, in the end, the players have to become the content.
PvP is the obvious direction for this, and I think that things like
DAoC's Realm Wars, EQ's Race Wars (even though it was a huge
afterthought that is balanced horribly), Shadowbane, Achaea's
emphasis on politics, etc.  provide an obvious direction for this.
When people get into a vibe where they're no longer trying to
"consume the environment" but must instead think in terms of social
alliances, then there's much less need to provide new rocks, new
monsters, new armor, etc. because the players can remain interested
even if it's a static world.

The extreme of this is something like Counter Strike, where the
world never, ever changes, there is no sense of discovery, and it's
a completely level playing field.  It's still popular as hell today,
because the challenge doesn't come from jumping across lava or a
battle of patience against a rare spawn.  The challenge is derived
from other players.  We're seeing this with Battlefield 1942 as
well.

A CS server that has been up for 300 days is just as exciting as one
that was launched 5 minutes ago.  I think in a gameplay environment
where the level treadmill is a means to an end, instead of the end
itself, and where other players provide a significant amount of the
game interaction, you'll find that things don't grow as boring,
stagnant and predictable as you would expect.

Unfortunately I don't think a game design like this is tenable for
large commercial ventures -- it's McDonalds vs. Ruth's Chris Steak
House.  But for niche genres, it's definitely one way to avoid the
constant need to provide new stuff for players to acquire and
become.

-Hook


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