[MUD-Dev] Secondary characters as a mechanic

[Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com]

From: Damion Schubert [mailto:damion at zenofdesign.com] 
> From: Brian Hook
 
>> These characters can be played simultaneously, but the game would
>> focus on the "party as character" and "primary as character".
>> For example, faction would be carried at the party level.
 
> I've considered this idea before.  Where I end up getting stuck is
> why anyone would join a group with another person if they could be
> this self-sufficient.

That's one good reason it may not work, the other is interface
difficulties.  Most multiple character RPGs have a pause button so
that each character can be given individual orders, but that won't
work on a multiplayer game and its not a mechanic I much like
anyway. Of course without one you'd have to be terribly clever to
sort out the control issues or find a way of getting the computer to
do it convincinly.

An easier first avenue of exploration is to give players pets that
need to be nurtured tamagotchi style and which will confer some
abilities/be able to perform certain tasks. Perhaps similar to those
in 'Phantasy Star Online', but with extra breadth. Players have
certain expectations of human characters, but far less of
animals/robots etc. Thus computer control of a pet is less jarring
than of a human party member.

Dan
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