[MUD-Dev] Attractive Grouping (Was: Focus vs. Scope)

[cruise]

P J wrote:

> Back in beta, I heard WoW called - the best single-player game
> I've ever played with other people.  That pretty much sums it up
> in a nutshell. While there are things you need other people for -
> and I totally disagree that you have to FORCE grouping - it
> addresses the fact that there is little beyond game mechanic goals
> to retain users. You CAN 'win' WoW - or at least it feels that
> way.  Great as a game - IMHO longterm death for a MMO.

Interestingly, this is similar to the complaints many have about CoH
- the lack of socialisation.

It seems likely that this is a result of the streamlining...you're
too busy playing to worry about other people. I guess the question
then becomes: "Can we have focused MMORPGs that are also social?"

A better way of phrasing it might be: "Is it possible to make
socialising and grouping as much fun and /rewarding/ as just playing
the game as if it were a single-player game?"

So what of problems need to be overcome?

  - Time to group
  - Lumped with bad team-mates
  - Communication is awkward or too fiddly

And no doubt there's more...

Again, can we blame the grind? Is anything that doesn't contribute
to that next level going to be ignored? Is it possible to have
socialising aid the levelling process in other ways from just
getting more XP in teams?

--
[ cruise / casual-tempest.net / transference.org ]
   "quantam sufficit"
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