[MUD-Dev] MMORPG Cancellations: The sky is falling?

[Steven King]

Raph Koster wrote:

> This is exactly the sort of thing that I think we will see less of
> with a "start with game" philosophy. One of the commoner refrains
> I hear is "give players a more directed experience." The huge push
> towards instancing is all about this, and the risk is seeing the
> massively multiplayer part reduced to being a chat lobby--an
> experiment which we already saw tried in the mid to late 90s and
> which failed pretty dramatically.

There has been alot of talk about how Diablo is still alive and
kicking.  My roommate still plays.  I asked him why he likes it so
much, to which he replied, "Because you get to build up your
character, collect cool items, and there's not alot of downtime."
He doesn't use the social tools (chat, etc) much, but enjoys
questing after that special set of unique armor.

In the MMOs that I have played, few reduce downtime, few have cool
collectible items, and while they allow you to build up your
character, few have given me a good sense of ownership.

Running back and forth between a quest giver and a quest location is
downtime.  I believe WoW and UXO are (were) trying to avoid this
through quest continuations.  Getting a quest seed from one point,
then following several quest points, building up to a larger ending.
This does not inherently lend itself to short play times, but does
alot to add content.  It could also help involve the player in your
world rather than dropping him in a sandbox with a few toys and
expecting him to provide his own entertainment.

Player crafting is a great concept, but tends to add to downtime.
It also floods the market with generic items.  Sure, your crafted
sword may give more damage or last longer, but it still looks
exactly like every other sword.  Home decorations and trophies are a
great addition, especially if the game includes player housing.  One
downside is that the objects are normally stationary.  To enjoy
them, you must remain stationary as well.  Unique and rare clothes,
armor, decorations (jewelry, hair, tattoos), and weapons allow you
to travel with them.  The Mandalorian armor in SWG is a good example
of this.  The trick is to make the items potentially available to
everyone without flooding the market.

A sense of character ownership is one thing that RPGs require, in my
mind.  If I don't care about my character, why do I care about
playing him?  Character customization helps with this, but allowing
players to carve out a place of their own does, too.  Reputation
(the best thief in the area), a face in the community (online and
offline), the big house on the hill (or the guy with the winged
helmet).  Those all help players feel proud of their characters.
When everyone is a generic "peon", the characters don't feel
special, and the players lose the sense of ownership.

Diablo does it for my roommate.  He can easily find the action he
wants, he finds (or has the potential to find) rare or unique items,
and he's played the same character for years on the ladder, so he
feels a sense of ownership.  I have yet to find a MMORPG that I like
to play as much as an old MUD.
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