[MUD-Dev] Better Combat

[Douglas Goodall]

Michael Hartman wrote:

> Were you solo?

On the boat, yes. On the teleport pad, very rarely (in which cases I
did try to make some use of the time finding a group with limited
success).

There was typing during downtime, but I wouldn't call it
conversation. As I said, it was stuff like, "make sure you're
wearing your necklace." There were jokes, occasionally, but that's
about it. And other members of my guild/alliance rarely hopped on
the teleport pad at the same time. When we did, it was because of a
relic siege or some other important event that prevented discussing
anything else. Planned events were really the only times we could
all chat at once... The social ties I had in DAoC came from RP
events which were organized in spite of the design, not because of
it. But without any support and the burnout of the organizers,
things like the Whispering Wyvern "tavern" shut down and the "Mayor"
of Mag Mel left. After which I no longer had social ties to the
game...

> I must say that both as developer and player, my experience is
> that forced idleness is absolutely crucial. There was a time that
> we had a problem on Threshold with mages and fighters (at the time
> the two most popular classes) fighting non-stop and rarely
> chatting with anyone.

You say this as if it's a bad thing... In another thread you
compared CoH to Diablo2 as if that were a bad thing...

I think our differences are mostly those of game preference. I like
different kinds of games. I think I'd enjoy my kind of game on-line,
but few attempts (CoH, Puzzle Pirates, maybe Planetside) have been
made.

> The result of this was enormously positive. There are places in
> the game that are very social where you will frequently find not
> just mages and fighters hanging out. Since folks know taverns and
> places of that nature will usually have people willing to chat, it
> is worth their time to visit such places.

I enjoy RP, but only willingly.

Prior to Shadowlands, AO's night clubs usually had people willing to
chat. But AO did not force you to go there. Creating a space to
socialize seems more important than forcing people to attend. Make a
space I want to visit, not one I'm required to visit. This doesn't
exclude numeric advantages to socialization (which can be done
well), I just don't want to be forced to do it. Especially not on a
fixed interval schedule.

AO had some beneficial socialization, but... It seemed more
"natural" to go back to the OA hill and talk to people while looking
for a team than it does to force the team to stop every half
hour. There was downtime in AO, but it was voluntary and didn't
break immersion. I didn't have to go look for another group, I chose
to do so. I didn't have to chat while waiting for a team, I wanted
to. People didn't hang out at the end of a mission because they were
required to, but because the team Accomplished Something and it was
cool to congratulate each other and divy the loot, etc.

> If you get a group, it feels like you are playing with
> bots. Barely a single word is spoken because the game is designed
> to be go-go-go all the time.

It does not feel like playing with bots to me. To do it well, you
need watch the other players carefully. There is some chat about
strategy, targets, and destination. Moreso in missions than outdoor
fighting (which, I suspect, is what most people do).

It is definitely go-go-go all the time, however, which is wonderful.

There are always people LFG, and I've heard complaints (or more
like, "Wow , thanks! I've been LFG for an hour!"). But this makes it
easier to get a group if you're motivated. Just start inviting
people. And sidekicking makes it even easier since the level range
is somewhat mitigated (at least at higher levels... it doesn't do
much good for me to sidekick someone under level 12 or so).

> Of course experiencing content should be a greater percentage of
> your time than travelling. I never said anything to the
> contrary. But 5-10 minutes of downtime for every 1-2 hours of pure
> gameplay is VERY healthy for the game as it gives you an excuse to
> life your nose from the grindstone and socialize.

Unless travel to and from a "social space" is instantaneous, there's
alot more downtime than that in your design. After CoH and
old-school AO, I will no longer tolerate more than a minute of
downtime. Nor will I tolerate more than a couple minutes of
travel. I want to play a game, not wait to play a game. Or spend a
year of my life levelling up to play a game. This is a very common
viewpoint among gamers, but not among MMORPG players who are
self-selected into other genres. If you want players like me, you
won't get them with this kind of design.

> You are making a huge assumption that the current, short-term
> success of CoH is a result of its game design. I think it is far
> more likely that the reason it is doing well right now is the
> enormous amount of advertising and free media it received, coupled
> with an absolutely brilliant premise .

I'm beginning to think there's a bit of jealousy (and maybe fear or
denial) about the success of CoH. If it was another EQ clone, I
doubt anyone would blame advertising or novelty for its
success. Whether it continues to be successful (and the reason for
it's success or demise) will only be solved by time. Until then,
I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev