[MUD-Dev] [MEDIA] Finding an Interesting Middle Path in the RPG

[Koster, Raph]

J C Lawrence wrote:

>   http://www.ludonauts.com/archives/000057.shtml

> There is no system or outcome in place that could make money a
> major motivation, thus depriving the game of an interesting middle
> path.

> Tapping motivations traditionally difficult or impossible to have
> in most RPGs, I think, will be key to revitalizing a genre that's
> become increasingly stale, thanks to its banal, exclusionary
> emphasis on good/evil morality and the typical situations that
> inevitably result.

Hmm, for online worlds you usually see this phrased the other way
around--there's plenty of morally gray areas--accumulation of wealth
being a key one--but what you are lacking is clear morality, a clear
sense of being a hero.

Let's not kid ourselves, of course--a hero in KOTOR is *pretending*
to be a hero, not actually a hero. What muds and MMOs often fail to
do is offer a good enough pretense of being a hero for those who
want to pretend. Since you are not driven along a narrative line,
you often have other motivations polluting the heroic arc.

On the flip side, muds do permit people to ACTUALLY be heroes, in
struggling against genuine bad behavior, evilness, moral cowardice,
etc, on the part of other players or even the game admins. But
actual heroism is, alas, too hard for most people--they'd rather
pretend to be a hero than actually be one. After all, actual heroes
have uncomfortable and often abbreviated lives. It's not as fun an
experience as "the good parts" version of heroism that a a *lack* of
moral choices can give you.

-Raph
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