[MUD-Dev] NEWS: Why Virtual Worlds are Designed By Newbies - No, Really (By R. Bartle)

[Mike Rozak]

Martin Keegan wrote:

> The strength of the effect with which Point #3 concerns itself
> means that Point #1 *matters*. Point #1 is a consequence of the
> finite entertainment possibilities of experience on
> muds. Eventually, all the new experiences the mud has to offer
> will be "used up" (see Mike Rozak's various excellent articles on
> this, some of which I only discovered in the course of writing
> this piece) and so maintaining the playerbase becomes a matter of
> marketing features and players to those prepared to enter the mud
> for the first time thereby becoming newbies.

> To me this calls into question the benefits of muds which are
> expected to sell new experiences indefinitely. There's something
> wrong with this "neverending story" narrative structure, and maybe
> muds with a defined endpoints should be explored.

I'm surprised; I didn't think anyone was browsing my blogs... I was
just putting the articles out as a way to clarify my thinking, and
on the odd chance someone looked.

I assume you're talking about some of my later ramblings where I've
been thinking that a virtual world designed to keep players around
until they were bored enough to quit (500-1000 hours of play) isn't
such a good idea. (I think such never-ending games are bad because
very few people have the time or willingness to commit to the
approximately 500-1000 hours of gameplay a MMORPG is designed for. A
virtual world with 100-hours of play would be more mass-market; Such
an experience is just begging for a grand ending though, where the
player finally kills the spawned evil-overlord (or whatever) as
(s)he finishes up the last of the world's content.)

I suppose that if all the worlds did eventually kick the player out,
just as all movies do, it would be easier to attract new players to
a new virtual world, since the pool of candidates would be both (a)
people who had never played VWs before, and (b) players that just
finished their last VW. This weakens point #1 (virtual worlds live
or die by their ability to attract newbies), since attracting new
players becomes easier. (I'm not sure if it's weakened enough
though.)

A shorter virtual world experience weakens #2 (newbies won't play a
VW that has a major feature they don't like) because people won't be
committing as much time. (Example: Despite not liking most of the
romantic comedies that I've seen, I am willing to occasionally watch
one since it's only 2 hours out of my life, but if it were 1000
hours I would never take the risk.)

Point #3 (players judge a VW by their first one) actually becomes
worse for people that played never-ending VWs and lament, "I
remember when my character walked for 23 days straight to get to a
spawn point. You young-uns have it easy and don't have to work for
your experience. I don't see no calouses on your hands. Look at my
hands; see these calouses... twenty three days of pressing ADSW I
tell you..." However, players whose first world was a 100-hour
virtual world wouldn't have its UI and design burned into their
neurons quite as strongly. (Do you remember the first movie you ever
saw? I do; it was Bambi. However, I don't judge all movies I see
based on Bambi, although I'm not real keen on venicine, or forest
fires, or ice skating...)

Point #4 (players think some poor design choices are good) - I don't
think a 100-hour virtual world solves this issue.

Interesting though. It might break the induction chain... I never
thought of that.

The sword cuts both ways though: A MUD that kicks players out after
100 hours is highly dependent on the newbie flow, even more so than
a 1000-hour MUD.

Of course, a MUD with a defined endpoint isn't necessarily a MUD
(depending upon one's definition). I haven't broached the subject
here because the concept of a MUD with only 100 hours of content,
and which strongly encourages individual players to leave after they
have finished the 100 hours of content might be considered heresy in
"these here parts".

Mike Rozak
http://www.mxac.com.au
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