[MUD-Dev] DGN: Reasons for play [was: Emergent Behaviors spawned from...]

[Damien Neil]

On 7/25/05, cruise <cruise at casual-tempest.net> wrote:

>> This leads to a vicious cycle where developers make raid rewards
>> uber enough to attract players, which forces them to make the
>> raids difficult enough to keep the power economy in balance.

> So why do people play these type of games?

Richard Bartle's personality types seem as accurate today as they
ever were.

> Can this be down entirely to game design? It seems that xp has
> become like money - intended as a representation of something
> (ability or work done, respectively), but has become the ultimate
> goal.

Most current games force everyone to be an achiever to some
degree--you need to gain levels to explore new content, to group
with your friends, and to compete in PvP.  As such, pretty much
everyone cares about advancing their character.

> Do we need to perhaps think about re-educating players somehow,
> rather than forcibly removing or hiding the xp/levelling? Current
> game-fashion seems to be favouring sandbox-style games, yet might
> it be necessary in some situations to enforce certain gameplay on
> players? It's well known that players make bad game designers -
> but can we say players make bad game /players/ in that they don't
> always know what they'd enjoy when given the option?

Most modern MMOGs reward players through character advancement.
Gain a level and you not only hear a nifty "ding!' but get new
skills to play with, new areas to see, and new enemies to
fight. Unsurprisingly, players seek to be rewarded.

It is definitely true that players will almost universally choose
the path of least effort or greatest reward over the path of
greatest entertainment.  There are, I think, a number of reasons for
this:

  - For achievement-oriented players, optimizing the path to the
  reward *is* the fun.

  - The "path of greatest entertainment" isn't all that entertaining
  after a while.  Someone who is trying to gain a level so he can
  see a new set of zones would rather spend 10 hours hunting in a
  high-xp area than 40 in a low-xp area.  No matter how much more
  fun the latter is, it's going to pale after the first 24 hours of
  play.

  - When the game requires playing in a group, stepping off the
  beaten path can lead to frustration.  It's not bad when playing
  with people you know and trust, but successful trips to unknown
  areas with pickup groups are relatively uncommon.

The problem, as I see it, lies not in the players but in poor game
designers.  It's absurd to reward players for doing something and
then criticize them for doing it.

If you don't want players to stay in the single zone that offers the
best xp/hour while grinding, offer rewards for moving around.  If
you don't want players to repeat the single mission with the best
risk/reward tradeoff, tie rewards to the number of different
missions run.  If you want players to fight through a 5-hour-long
dungeon, don't have it offer smaller rewards than the 2-hour-long
dungeon next door.

Or, of course, make a game where attaining rewards isn't the
point. Flatten out the advancement curve and give players something
to do other than grind for xp and loot.

                     - Damien
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