DGN: Emergent Behaviors spawned from - Re: [MUD-Dev]SOC:Willcompany sanctioned cheating hurt theMMOcommunity?

[Jaycen Rigger]

cruise at casual-tempest.net wrote:

>> If the only reason raids are high-end is because high-level
>> players are the only people with the time and incentive to do
>> them, then it's propbably fair to say that something else should
>> be found for high-level players to do that's a bit more
>> enjoyable.

Not to sound asinine (for a change), but I'm missing something.
Don't all the games have some kind of on-line staff who run plots
and story lines for players?  Some kind of over-arching plot with
sub-plots?  NPCs (played by staff) who are reoccuring, who have
minions, with secret hide outs, that the players can band together
to either help and join or try to take down.

It seems to me that if those kinds of events are occuring, then
smart monsters become somewhat less important.  Smart NPCs played by
staff members are FAR more important and exciting and the AI just
becomes the cannon fodder.

In my experience, NPCs run by staff are eminently easy to adjust for
skill level, leave "clues" or quest loot on the NPC upon death, or
have support staff who are there to make sure you don't die until
you get through the entire script for that adventure....  Often, for
BOSS type npcs in these plots, we have created temporary monster AI
in the form of henchmen for the BOSS, so those henchmen can "take
over an outlying town" (temporary spawns set up in a city), or tamed
to the the staff member playing the AI so he can solo a small
adventure where his henchmen follow him around and follow his
commands (Kill them!)

Maybe these are stupid questions.  No doubt cost is a factor, I
guess.

Thanks,

Jaycen
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