[MUD-Dev] Winnable MMO

[Talies the Wanderer]

At 12:04 AM 4/8/2003 -0700, "Threshold RPG"
<business at threshold-rpg.com> wrote:

> I think this would be very important. Assume a 50 level max system
> and the game resets every 6 months. For every "incarnation" you
> have an active account for at least 2 months of it, you can make a
> character that already has 10 levels at the start. Thus after a
> year, you could make a character that began at level 20. After two
> years, level 40. That would probably be the max. Thus you could
> keep long time players that would be interested in playing through
> the multiple incarnations, as the "level treadmill" would not be
> as much of a deterrent.

Returning the topic to A Tale in the Desert once more, this is a
partial description of the story arc design.  One year (whether or
not the players "win"), and the game ends, to be reborn anew,
possibly as something quite different, and with another year-long
story arc.

For those unfamiliar with ATITD, it's an MMORPG with no hack and no
slash - only cerebral competitions and lots of resource management.
Probably the greatest appeal in this game is it's ability to be
manipulated by the players.  Players have an in-game route to be
able to pass "laws" which can do anything from change the rules by
which they play, all the way to changing the course of the game
forever.  There have even been laws passed to ban unwelcome players.

Yes. Ban.  No refund.  No regrets.  There's been a lot of
controversy over that particular law (as well as the law that forced
a player with an "undesirable" name to be changed to "Flower".)
Despite that, I have seen about the same customer retention and
dropoff that was seen in the early days of EverQuest.  Not bad for
an indie-game.

Oh, and Michael - hope you haven't left us - I know I was enjoying
the discussion on the boards.

Talies the Wanderer 



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