[MUD-Dev] [bus][des] Anarchy Online and the free MMORPG...

[Damion Schubert]

Koster, Raph wrote:

> Whoa, whoa, I didn't say players don't want a challenge! I have
> said that during play, if there's a challenging and a
> non-challenging way to accomplish the same goal, they'll choose
> the less risk, which is merely a sane thing to do. I've also said
> that most players ask for less risk in gameplay in order to
> advance their personal agenda, which is also a very normal thing
> to do.

> Players will sabotage their own fun in this way, but it's for very
> logical reasons. Players want a challenge, but they're also not
> stupid: they will choose to maximize reward rather than risk.

What game designers often forget, but players never do, is that
persistence totally messes up the 'risk vs reward' scenario.  Many
players ENJOY learning by throwing themselves straight into the pit
trap and seeing what happens, and do that in many single-player
games (I'm one of those whackjobs).  However, in most MUDs/MMOs, the
cost of the death in simply too great, even if you're just talking
about the time it takes to run back to where you were.  There is no
Quickload button.

--d
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