[MUD-Dev] ghost mode

[Tess Lowe]

Dan Harman wrote:
> Tess Lowe wrote:

>> In single-player games I give myself all the cheats and play on
>> the easiest level. I'm just not somebody who gets any pleasure
>> from succeeding at a difficult task, unless that task depends on
>> real player skill, rather than grunt time. Now sit me in front of
>> Soul Calibur II and you can bet I'll be making everything as hard
>> as I possible can for myself. Get the difference?  Actually,
>> someone please make a Massively Multiplayer Soul Calibur II -
>> just dont make us level up.

> I think we are coming from poles apart here. I fundamentally
> detest cheats, for me they totally devalue any achivements I make
> within a game. The few times I've tried it, I run through the game
> at a ridiculous pace, get to the end and say 'I've done it'. Boy
> does the victory feel hollow. Nor do I feel inclined to play it
> again, but without the cheat - I've now seen it all and ruined the
> game for myself.

> I'm also not sure I understand what games you think its ok to
> cheat in, and which you wouldn't. How does lowering a difficulty
> level alleviate grunt time unless the reason its taking so long is
> through a lack of skill?

I don't think we disagree as much as you think we do. In another
post on this thread you expressed your desire for more MMOs that
rely on player skill, not grunt work, and your delight at the
aesthetic pleasure of stylishly decapitating a room full of
imperials - both of which I thoroughly agree with to the highest
degree.

I think it's okay to 'cheat' in games that demand grunt work,
because what I care about is having the toys that come with the
levels. For example, I played EQ only to level 14 (shaman). I wanted
two spells specifically, the ubiquitous 'spirit of wolf' to outrun
monsters, and the spell that teleports you back to your binding
point. That was it. If I could have cheated to get them, or - shock,
horror - bought them with cash from Sony, I would have done so on
day one. Whether I stayed or left the game after that is dependent
on something else entirely - how many friends I made.

I don't cheat in games that require player skill, because the toys
in those games are the respect and pleasure that comes from having
skill. There is true artistic pleasure from the battle with the
imperials that you graphically describe. There is none from moving
next to another orc and pressing 'attack'. I dont wish to spend my
time on that.

If there had been a 'ghost mode' spell available to EQ characters at
level 50, or 60 or whatever they're up to now, I may have endured
the time it took to get there, simply because that's what I needed
to do to get the toy I wanted in order to enjoy the game. But I
wouldn't have even considered that I was actually playing the game
until I'd reached that goal - it would be just another part of the
cost to play - $10/month, plus hours and hours of mindless hack n
slash, and irritating corpse retrieval.

  [Aside: I know that some people even enjoyed the corpse retrieval
  thing, or at least tried to. Well, there's no accounting for
  taste. For me it was like I was rushing to catch a train and
  having someone decide to stand in my path and keep moving to block
  me unless I walked back twenty paces first. When getting on the
  train is all that matters (so you can finally relax and enjoy),
  who cares how you got there?]

> One question I have though, is whether you really want all these
> things in a game, or perhaps is it your reaction to the parchment
> thin stretching of content in current games? The entertainment
> density is so low, that I could see that leading you to the
> conclusions you've come to. Would you feel the same though if
> leveling wasn't a boring slog of mouse clicking in a semi-comatose
> state?

If levelling were a reflection of how much you'd done the things
that you enjoy, rather than a goal in itself (which it becomes
because it increases security and content access and is the only way
of obtaining respect), then that would be great.

I wonder how much deliberate levelling there is in 'There' which has
only a few levels in skills such as hoverboarding, social event
management, etc.  For what it's worth I do think that 'There' has
the approach which appeals to my playstyle; you can obtain all the
toys if you work at it, peforming services for other players; but if
you want to, you can also use real cash to buy the boats, buggies,
hoverboards and teleport ability that make the game more fun.

The fun is having the toys and using them with skill, beauty and
flair. The fun is not in mouse-clicking for 6 months to get them. I
have a j-o-b for that.

respectfully,
~Tess Lowe
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