[MUD-Dev] Removing the almighty experience point...

[Johan]

Byron Ellacott <bje at apnic.net> wrote:
> asteroid at rocketmail.com wrote:

>> That said, I think what most long-term players likes even less
>> then grinding is advancing too fast. There are a lot of
>> complaints about WoW's 10-15 days to level 60 journey, atleast
>> among the more "hardcore" players. At the end of the day, it is
>> all about the journey there, not the final level.

> There's nothing forcing players to level in 10-15 days.  From what
> I've read of World of Warcraft, there's plenty of content to enjoy
> at all level ranges.  So if the journey is what it's all about,
> the only person responsible for a player's journey being too short
> is that player.

> I believe that a "more hardcore" player's complaint about too
> little time required to reach the top level is based on their
> desire to achieve.  In EverQuest, it is a considerable achievement
> to reach the top level.  It represents thousands of hours of
> invested time, even if most of us know (or suspect) that the only
> difficulty is the out-of-game difficulty of finding playing time.
> In World of Warcraft, it is a relatively trivial achievement.

> It doesn't matter if the world offers many things for your
> character to do once you've reached the top level.  For some
> people, levelling is the primary achievement of the game, and if
> that is seen as too easy, it loses its meaning.

> (Of course, I suspect that these people are the ones who will
> complain about any levelling system with a shallower XP curve than
> LevelQuest, and that they're best ignored for the sakes of the
> other players, ie, me, for whom increased XP requirements soon
> take levelling time from 'long' to 'cancel subscription.' :)

The hardcore gamer wants to play longer, feel as if he is achieving
something.  The casual player is complaining about levelling taking
too long because they have limited time.

Now the big question. Why do the casual player want to hit max
level?  You can see hitting max level as the ultimate grind level
because no matter what you do, how many monsters you kill you cant
get to the next level. For a casual player to hit this limit must be
the ultimate frustration. At the end of the day an MMORPG is made to
hold players for a long time. Its a cash cow. It will be interesting
to see how WoW will do in the long run. Will the casual players play
for 3 years when hitting max after say 2 months or will they cancel
and move on?

For me, being max level is boring. There will be no more daily
achievements in terms of getting a level or gaining a 1/10 of a
level.  All you have to do is raid content and that takes time. You
get loot once in a blue moon. What most people tend to do is make a
new character and start the grind again. Now, why do people do this
if they hate it so much?  I think casual players will always
complaining about a game being too hard and hardcore gamers will
always complain its too easy.

What would be interesting to know also is, who are the
casual/hardcore players in real life?

Casual player = Busy CEO or Slacker Hardcore = Real world Achiever
or Someone with too much time

And on a final note you say the hardcore gamers should be ignored
and that if it takes too long to level you cancel. Well if there is
nothing more to do, a lot of people will cancel too. At least if it
does take a long time to level, there is something for you to
do. Worse when you are maxed out. Done all the raids and got the
gear in 2 months, you have not spend enough time in game to build
lasting friendships that hold you to the game so its very easy to
quit.

-Johan
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