[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue 9

[Tom]

From: Paul Schwanz
> Chanur Silvarian wrote:
>> From: "Rayzam" <rayzam at travellingbard.com>

>> You missed some of my previous stuff.  Yes, this would be true
>> with static spawn points.  If there is one thing I object to over
>> any other it is static spawn points.  The loot on the creature
>> doesn't cause camping, knowing the precise X, Y, Z coordinate
>> where the thing will spawn does.

>> Logically weighted random spawning is the only way to ever stop
>> camping.  By logically weighted I mean that the weighting will
>> cause certain creatures to be more prone to spawn in certain
>> zones/areas but precisely where in that area will never be known
>> without absolute certainty and, with randomness, there is still
>> the small probability of it spawning outside of the "normal"
>> area.

> I'm still not sure why we have it in for camping when players so
> obviously like to camp.  Or why we have it in for farming when
> players seem to prefer to farm.  Why don't these facts cause us
> instead to come up with better ways to help players enjoy camping
> and farming?

But players don't like to camp - they like what they get from
camping.  And players don't like to farm, they like what they get
from farming.  It feels like cause and effect are being mixed up
here.

As a player, I camp not for the pure joy of camping, but from the
benefits within the game I receive as the end result of the camping,
be it rare loot, additional experience to bolster character
development or whatever. But camping is inherently boring.

As for farming (quick definition here: the costant repetition of the
same act/quest to receive the same object) in games that rely on a
specific item for advancement (such as the Lore Tokens in Horizons),
earning these advancement-items will be accomplished via the path of
least resistance - or farming.

Personally I hate camping easy monster spawns/farming items within a
game (although having a novel handy does help with the ennui), but
the design of almost every single MMO requires it it one form or
another.  I need to do it simply to fulfill what I want out of a
game (apparently, I'm 93% Explorer, which is another way of saying I
die a lot without advancement) so that my character is "strong"
enough to deal with the auto-attack prevalent amongst "high level"
monsters out in the wilderness I want to explore.

Regards,
Tom "cro" Gordon
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