[MUD-Dev] Long-Term Rewards [was: Better Combat]

[John Buehler]

cruise writes:
> John Buehler wrote:

>> By eliminating cumulative rewards, players start to look at the
>> entertainment itself.  If they don't find it entertaining, they
>> move on - business suicide.  Because it's difficult to come up
>> with basic entertainment, but it's easy to construct a treadmill
>> for a particular type of player, game developers build
>> treadmills.

> But by eliminating the cumulative rewards, they may as well be
> playing a single-player game, for the most part. While, yes, the
> level-grind, trying-to-keep-up-with-everyone-else style gameplay
> is problematic, having some way to compare yourself, and be
> /better/ than others, is also a huge part of the draw. Take away
> these bragging rights and I think you'll use a lot of your
> players. No matter how good the actual game is.

I find it interesting that the very metric that you're applying to
business success of a game is the same one that you apply to in-game
success: being better.

The game I'm describing needn't be better.  It needs to provide an
experience that will attract players.  Not EverQuest players, nor
Ultima Online players.  Just players.  If the recipe is right and
people can be talked into spending enough money in return for an
entertaining online experience, then the game is a success.

I submit that Achaea is a success, yet its graphics stink.  It's not
better.  It just provides entertainment that enough people want to
experience.

JB
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