[MUD-Dev] MMO Quest: Why they're still lousy

[Mike Shaver]

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 07:45:34 -0500 (EST), Sporky McBeard
<sporky at squidi.net> wrote:
> "Michael Hartman" <michael at thresholdrpg.com> wrote:
>> Sporky McBeard wrote:

>>>  4) Allow certain players to create their own quests - I think
>>>  it would be pretty nifty for a player to post a mission saying
>>>  that they need X number of monkey paws and that they'll pay Y
>>>  dollars for it.

>> Not a bad idea, but really not a very effective one. Players can
>> already do this through interaction. Perhaps a formally coded
>> method might help, but I suspect the impact of this would be
>> minimal.

> What people seem to miss is that some people enjoy playing in a
> world that other players affect, even if they don't talk to
> them. Even just the existence of something like an auction house
> is enough to make or break a multiplayer experience. Any way that
> gives players the ability communicate with each other passively is
> a new branch of communication worth taking.

An important element of auction houses or simple quests like the
ones you describe (which could really take place within an auction
house as well, via a sort of reverse auction or "job board") is that
they allow players to interact with each other asynchronously.  That
asynchrony increases the set of players who affect my world from
"those that are logged in when I am" to, theoretically, "all players
with characters on my server".  I think that increase is of
tremendous value, and that providing even simple primitives --
in-game email, auctions, etc. -- allow players to dramatically
increase the richness of the game for themselves and others.

Mike
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