[MUD-Dev] D&D vs. MMORPG "complexity"

[Sean Kelly]

On Mon, 28 Apr 2003, Dave Rickey wrote:
> From: "John Buehler" <johnbue at msn.com>

>> In CURRENT MMO's that may be true.  In a broader sense, value is
>> derived by entertainment potential.  These are games after all.
>> They're supposed to entertain.  In current MMO's that means time
>> and power because of the leveling treadmill being the focus of
>> entertainment in the game.

> And why is it the focus?  Because the players insist on it.

This is somewhat of a chicken and egg problem.  If MMO games weren't
initially created with this as the focus, would they have drawn an
audience that insisted on maintaining that focus?  Were any MMO
games created with a different focus, and how successful were they?

I know there are some players (such as myself) who have quit playing
MMO games specifically because of that focus.  It got too tiring to
continue playing games I didn't particularly enjoy in hopes that my
voice as a participant could influence the games positively in the
future.  Eventually I gave up and decided to spend my time enjoying
games that already were designed more in keeping with my ideas... or
just not playing games altogether.

The choice to cater to a known audience may indeed be a safe
economic move, but it's typically not the way that groundbreaking
games are made.

Sean

_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev