[MUD-Dev] Playing catch-up with levels

[Sean Howard]

"John Buehler" <johnbue at msn.com> writes:

> I want to present them with different ways of solving the in-game
> challenges based on a configuration of skills that they choose.

And you wouldn't be the first one either. Warren Spector, for
example.  However, in a multiplayer game, that just won't be
possible. Even in the most detailed simulation, there will always be
dominant ways of solving a problem, and when competing with other
players (even if just for status), you have no choice.

> That is what a game offers across multiple classes.  Eliminate the
> class boundaries and the skills can be mixed and matched to
> produce many different permutations of interaction.

Can you pick all the skills? Then every player would eventually be
exactly the same and uber powerful? Or can they only select a few?
Then they will use their limited resources to become exceptional in
just one area of expertise - the choice will essentially be made for
them.

> The one or two most effective skill combinations would quickly
> become the only character formulation that anyone would bother
> with.

Yes! Exactly! No matter how many options you have, no matter how
many ways you can go through a level, the player will ALWAYS choose
the path that is the quickest, easiest, and has the highest
rewards. They will min-max EVERYTHING in the game and there is no
balancing that can help that. The most obvious solution to make that
min-maxing part of gameplay.

> You're assuming that the goal is to kill stuff to accumulate cash
> and prizes.  Warriors kill stuff, true enough.  But that's the
> reward for being a warrior: killing stuff.  The actual process of
> killing things must be entertaining.  A stealthy character's
> entertainment comes from successfully sneaking around.

You are assuming that players choose which character they want to
play out of desire for that play style. Sure, some do, but very
few. The roleplayers, perhaps. There is almost always a greater goal
in a MMORPG than just the immediate thrill of stealth or combat -
and whichever path facilitates it best is the one most players will
prefer.

Almost nobody buys a game because they can be a thief or a
warrior.That's old news. They buy it because they can own a shop or
ride a Chocobo or defend a town or fly a starship. More MMORPGs are
bought on the basis of player ownership and licensed concepts than
immediate gameplay.

> Suppose you couldn't ever predict what an NPC was going to do?
> That you could only guess at trends and possibilities?

Rock Scissors Paper, without any external knowledge of who you are
playing against, is little better than random guessing. Random
guessing is not a game because games are about decision making. When
all decisions are equal or when one decision is dominant, the game
is not fun. It is not a game.

> Right.  And that means that instead of carrying 7,000 pounds of
> equipment, they have 7,000 pounds of equipment in the bank and
> they swap back and forth between those sets of equipment as
> needed.

You make it sound like a chore - and it would be if there were no
important decisions to be made. Choosing between six swords that are
all roughly the same is not nearly as fun as choosing a sword, axe,
bow, spear, or magic staff.

> It also clashes with a personal ethic where I like to think that
> it's the man, not the tools, that make him what he is.

I don't see how that is the problem. The man chooses his tools and
how to use them. James Bond has a PP7 and Q's gadgets with him when
he starts each mission. He's still quick witted, but those gadgets
do tend to come in handy.

>> And people will always find a way to maximize the grind.

> Because it's such an annoyance.

That's not what I meant. They will do it because they can. If games
are about making decisions, there will always be people who seek to
make the best decisions, and they will publish the results to those
who merely just don't want to make bad ones. It's going to
happen. It will ALWAYS happen.  It doesn't matter if it ruins the
game or not.

--
Sean Howard - www.squidi.net
Webcomic: A Modest Destiny
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