[MUD-Dev] [News] Virtual goods--Oh, the controversy!

[Brian Miller]

Amanda Walker wrote:
> On Apr 12, 2004, at 11:53 PM, Paolo Piselli wrote:

>> IMO, a player who has 'purchased' their character with logged
>> time is more likely to contribute to the long-term health of the
>> game in many ways.  OTOH, it is concievable that a player who has
>> 'purchased' their character with money is more likely to grief
>> play, demoralize players who cannot afford to buy power, and
>> otherwise negatively impact the long-term health of the game.

> On the other hand, many non-griefers want to play with their
> friends.

> I quit both EQ and DAOC because, despite having many friends in
> the game and on the same server, I could never overcome the 3
> month head start they had.  I would have been a much more loyal
> customer of both if I'd been able to enter the game at a higher
> baseline.  Sure, I wouldn't have known as much about how to play
> the game, but I'd have been able to let my friends teach me the
> ropes instead of soloing for months in Faydark or Hiberbia before
> giving up in complete boredom, while hearing my friends talk about
> all the fun they were having that was closed off to me simply
> because I arrived later.

City of Heroes has a very interesting solution to this problem.  One
character of at least 10th level can take on another character as a
'sidekick'.  The sidekick is able to perform at a level only
slightly less than his mentor as long as they remain within a
certain range of each other.  This enables the low level character
to be useful in combat and contribute to the success of the team.
It does have the problem that although the lower level player's
skills are enhanced they still have the same amount of health so the
first time one of the high level enemies connects with an attack the
sidekick is most likely dead.
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