[MUD-Dev] Thought Experiment: Permanent Monster Death

[Sean Kelly]

On Thu, 11 Dec 2003, Brent P. Newhall wrote:

> What would a game look like, if monsters stayed dead?  E.g.,
> monsters can only be added to the game if the admins explicitly
> add them.

> Might this not create a game in which individual monsters are much
> more powerful -- thus requiring a lot of team co-operation to kill
> -- but less common?

Some MUDs are already doing this.  I know we're doing it on at least
some of the NWN servers in A Land Far Away.  But I'm not sure it's
feasible for a MMORPG, as it requires a pretty high ratio of GMs to
players to do well.  That aside, such individual monsters ARE more
powerful, simply because they are unique.  Any interaction with that
monster (or NPC) typically requires GM involvement, and if that mob
is killed the resulting power vacuum could have broad-reaching
effects.  But I think one of the goals of such a system is to make
mobs much more than just a difficult thing to kill--it's to bring
life to an experience that is intended to be epic or at least
memorable.  I know that I wouldn't want to do things any other way,
but then I also don't play on MMORPGs for exactly the same reason.

Sean
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