[MUD-Dev] ghost mode (was Re: SW:G)

[Rayzam]

From: "Amanda Walker" <amanda at alfar.com>
> Justin Coleman <JMCOLE at MAIN.DJJ.STATE.SC.US> wrote:

>> Grossly unfair to those who do things "right", i.e. in character,
>> seeing and hearing only what their character can see and hear,
>> wouldn't you say?

> Less unfair than web walkthroughs, power-leveling and twinking,
> ebay, or any of the other common ways players acquire in-game
> cookies.

How about unfair in a different way?

When ghosting is around there are a few issues that get derived from
it:

  1) scouting - Ghosts can scout ahead and tell a party what
  monsters are waiting and where. They can search around safely
  figuring out solutions to puzzles. They can do all manner of
  things that removes the excitement and edginess of not quite
  knowing what's around. If you've played any RTS-style games, it's
  very much like the difference between having and not having the
  Fog of War. There's more tension, and more involvement for me at
  least, by having a fog of war. Even if I know what's coming at me,
  I don't know exactly when or where. In a mud/mmorpg, it's the same
  thing, at least for better-designed areas. A little bit of
  randomization aids in keeping content fresh, but there's no point
  in having that if it can be free scouted.

  2) Corollary to (1), while ghosting and exploring is a positive
  thing for explorers, it, like all game mechanics, will be used by
  players in other ways if it helps those players advance their own
  gamestyles. So ghosting will be used by achievers to level faster
  and better. It will be used by killers.

  3) Lack of socializing. If you can ghost through and see the
  content, you've no need of others. Some content, in a
  combat-oriented game, requires people working together to get
  to. Ghosts go through without that. Some is dangerous and may need
  a higher level character to clear it.

    As you pointed out: ghosting is no different than a higher level
    character clearing the dungeon. I wholeheartedly disagree. In
    that case, the player is interacting with another player.

    A ghost need not interact with anyone in the game at all,a nd
    yet can see everything. A game meant to be multiplayer should be
    designed around some minimum level of player interaction. It is
    that interaction that will retain players as they make friends,
    and it is that interaction that provides content for everyone,
    not just socializers.

  4) No pain, no gain. I'm an explorer type, but I gain a bigger
  feeling of accomplishment by earning my way there. A new room is
  much more satisfying if I had to solve a puzzle, fight my way in,
  etc, than just another room I walked into easily. I don't know,
  but I would guess that if I ghosted through an area, seeing every
  nook and cranny, I wouldn't enjoy it as much.  Maybe that's just
  the achiever in me, and isn't really related to exploring at
  all. No pain, no gain is a cliche, but it has a nugget of truth to
  it. There are places in areas and parts of puzzles that have yet
  to be figured out in Retro. Discovering the unknown, seeing what
  you haven't seen, were some of the reasons to allow
  ghosting. Wouldn't it be more satisfying to get somewhere that
  others couldn't, than to be able to just go anywhere?

I think the biggest point for being unfair is probably #3.  I want
players to interact, even if it just for a few minutes a
session. Otherwise, they may as well be playing a single player
game. So the lack of socializing isn't fair to the player-ghost, it
isn't fair to the other players, and it isn't fair to the game as a
whole.

rayzam
www.travellingbard.com
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