[MUD-Dev] RE: Treadmills vs. Skill (was re: Brand Loyalty...)

[Matt Mihaly]

From: "Damion Schubert" <damion at zenofdesign.com>

> I'm actually very interested to see how Planetside solves the
> problem of what happens when you combine player skill and
> character skill.  Can a new player ever compete?  Can he be
> protected enough to not completely discourage him?  And will he
> persevere even if he initially loses a lot?

I've been playing or creating skill-based MUDs since 1994 or so. All
those concerns can be handled by design and administration. Can a
new player compete with the established experts right away? No, but
he doesn't have to. Can he be protected enough to not completely
discourage him? Yes, fairly easily, though that depends on the
personality of the player, of course. Will he persevere even if he
initially loses a lot? Depends on the player, again, and it depends
on the consequences of losing. If the consequences that you can
control (xp loss, equipment loss, whatever, as opposed to
accumulating shame, which the designer cannot really control) are
minor enough, you increase the proportion of players who will
tolerate a lot of losses. If, on the other hand, you make losing =
permadeath, and if there is some sort of character advancement
ladder (as opposed to straight FPS-style respawn), then I'd imagine
that proportion would be quite low.

--matt





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