[MUD-Dev] Do players enjoy farming? (was MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 7, Issue9)

[Sheela Caur'Lir]

From: "Rayzam" <rayzam at travellingbard.com>

> That assumes that monster farmers want to do those other
> activities.  That the activity is the enjoyment. I think when
> players enjoy farming, its and ends and means thing. They like the
> end: more levels, abilities, spells, gold, whatnot.

-OR-

They use camping and farming as stress relief.

While camping, they might want to read a book, or are cleaning up
the room besides the camp. Offcourse, that would mean a camp with
long spawn time, so there's enough time to do stuff besides the
camp.  Or perhaps do it around the time you are making food .. say,
a home- going housewife is making food for kids and husband but it's
kinda boring, so she mixes in a little bit of MMOG camping in the
mix.

Now farming MOBs would be a more intense setting, but perhaps the
person doing it just wanna kill stuff fast and enjoy slaughtering
those little creeps in the dozens in his best barbarian style.  It
can get boring to do long slow fights, even if they allow for far
more and interesting tactics - Sometimes you just wanna cut loose
and mow down everything that moves.

I think both camping and farming is used in several ways, some
boring and some not so boring and some straight up for the reward.

> It's slow gain, but with no risk, so its a good paradigm for the
> risk-averse individuals.

Absolutely, and I think the old paradigm "Risk vs. Reward" have to
be tweaked a bit in that case, since you'd get "Risk + Effort
vs. Reward" or something like that - Sure it's low risk, but it's
still a lot of effort.

Besides, if you were an NPC in an MMOG world, you would still have
that giant rat infestation problem after the heroes slayed the
dragon.  Someone gotta take care of that, don't they ?

> Being a farmer or a miner isn't the same thing, because while it
> may be the same sort of means, its not the same end.  What heroic
> farmer defeated the dragon by having the best crop yield?

There's a saying in my country that goes:

   "Uden mad og drikke, duer helten ikke."

Which translates into something like:

   "Without food and drink, the hero does not work"

I'm sure there's a prober english version of it, but I do not know
it.

- However -

The point is, that in the current games there's no support from the
miners and farmers that is so important that the heroes cannot go
without it, which essentually makes the miners and farmes
non-important.

---
Jens L. Nielsen
(aka. Sheela Caur'Lir)
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev