[MUD-Dev] Richard A. Bartle talks MUD Design

[Johan]

"Dana V. Baldwin" <dbaldwin at playnet.com> wrote:

> When I go to the pit of Mount Doom with said fellows, however, I'd
> prefer not to see leetBob standing there chatting with his group,
> camping the spawn or forming a line for the next drop. There is
> nothing remotely epic or immersive about that, to me. There are
> places, even in a vast populated realm, where my fellows and I
> should feel that we are alone on our quest to save ... Well
> whatever it is we are questing for.

> Instancing is not the only way to convey this type of content but
> it is effective IMHO, none the less.

I think the majority of players don't care much about the immersion
of 'Mount Doom' after the first or second time. They go there to
camp the spawn for their gear. Instancing is good in a way. I'm
tired of camping for 6 hours just to be OD'd or to find my Guild
won't be online in time to assist with the kill.

Instancing is a great way to solve this. The bad part is that it's
harder to keep the gear rare unless you have a very rare drop rate
and this is not very popular. Look at AO: AI and its 'Viral Bots'
that are needed for the very latest and greatest armour. It's
driving people crazy running 40 Alien Raids to get 1 sample (and you
need A LOT).

The second bad thing about instances I would say is that you tend
not to run in to people that might save you or you save them and
making new friends. Big guilds might not care too much about this
since they only play together or sometimes team with other guilds
they have alliances with.

At the end of the day, I must say I prefer instances when it comes
to the very high end gameplay. Lower and mid levels should be kept
in open dungeons to help build friendships and community. When you
are in the high end you tend to play with your guild and don't care
much for meeting new people who might interfere.

-- Johan
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev