[MUD-Dev] Re: Mapping real money into MUD money

[Peter Tyson]

From: Kent Peterson [mailto:urquan at rocketmail.com]

> That Mindark did such a bad job doesn't mean something of this
> sort can't be done right, of course, but it does illustrate some
> of the pitfalls involved.

I am just not convinced it's possible to have a successful MUD where
money can be retrieved from the system. As Matt points out having a
game where players can buy in-game stuff with cash isn't much of a
problem, it's when cash comes the other way the issues really pile
up.

One of the biggest issues, I think, is that players play to try and
make money, not to enjoy the game. All game effort becomes trying to
turn the game from a negative-sum affair (what the developers are
designing for. They need to make money after all!) into a
positive-sum affair (specifically what the designers have tried to
design to avoid). This will innevitably lead to frustration for the
vast majority due to the impossibility of their goal and then
account cancelation.

Conversely, if I spend $10 a month on generic-MUD-X I will probably
feel I'm getting my money's worth, even if only half of that is
subscription fee and the rest is on topping up in-game
accounts/inventories with one-off payments. With no return-path for
the cash my focus isn't on making money and I see the $10 as the
cost of playing the game.

What I saw with Entropia players I've known is tell them that they
are going to 'lose' $10 a month and they feel cheated because they
have been unable to make money playing the game. Dollar signs flash
in people's eyes when you suggest you can make money playing and no
ammount of information will convince people that they shouldn't be
the 0.1% who actually -do- make cash.

Peter Tyson
Community Liaison Manager
Dragon Empires - http://www.dragonempires.com
Codemasters
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