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

[John Buehler]

Ben Hawes writes:
> John Buehler wrote:
>> cruise writes:

>>> 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.

> Uh - I wasn't talking about the /game/ being better - that line
> referred to the players. Players want to feel good about
> themselves, they want to feel like they have /and can continue to/
> accomplish something. Taking away or reducing long-term rewards of
> limits this feeling.

I think that's the most tragic appraisal of these games I've ever
heard.  And it's perhaps one of the most accurate, and most telling
statements about why these games have so many problems with their
player bases.

Imagine if something that made you feel good about yourself was
under somebody else's control - and they planned on dinking around
with it.  No wonder players get so upset at game developers; their
self-esteem is on the line.  No wonder players get addicted to the
games; what could be more addictive than a sense of growing
self-esteem?

You've given me that much more reason to work hard to figure out how
to shift the balance towards 'experience' and away from 'reward'.

> I'm not saying that there aren't people who will continue to play
> a game that just provides "entertainment" - but I think you'll
> limit your market, as there is no real difference between that and
> an offline game at that point - unless socialisation is the core
> /and/ entertainment. At which point it's now IRC :P

I think the exact opposite.  I think that when the recipe is right,
the market will be blown wide open and go as mainstream as
Disneyland.  The Achiever-centric treadmill will be as much of a
dinosaur as punched cards are today.  Achievement as entertainment
will still exist, but it will just be an also-ran.

JB
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