[MUD-Dev] DESIGN: Study of MMORPG/MUD friendliness

[Mike Rozak]

Has anyone ever done a study on MMORPG/MUD player friendliness, and
how UI designs influence friendliness?

For example:

  If I show up to an area to kill monsters or finish a quest, and
  other players are there, I say "Hello" or "Do you need
  help?". Only about 50% of the time do I get a response
  back. Sometimes I try to see if the other player (usually alone)
  wants to group to complete the quest and don't even get a
  response.

  I've also been randomly buffing up lower-level PCs that wander
  by. (Random acts of kindness.) About half of them say thanks. Is
  that because they don't notice the buff, or because they're not
  being friendly/polite?

  I've been contemplating handing equipment/treasure to random
  people, but MMORPGs make it awfully cumbersome to do so, and
  players are usually running by too quickly.

Does this vary amongst MMORPGs/MUDs?

What UI design decisions influence this? For example: With whispers,
party-chat, and Teamspeak voice-chat, no one seems to use local
chat. Are these features solely to blame, or are other design
decisons responsible?

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