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

[Michael Hartman]

Amanda Walker wrote:
> On Jul 22, 2005, at 3:19 PM, Michael Hartman wrote:

>> My friend, you just said a mouthful. This whole "raid" phenomenon
>> that has infected MMOs since EQ has gotten completely out of
>> control. [...] You can barely even talk to any friends that might
>> be with you on the raid because the nature of such an activity
>> causes it to be gogogogogo.

> The issue, to my mind, is not raids per se.  Raids are clearly fun
> for a large number of players (and the success of Counter-strike
> supports this, I think).  Rather, when raids are the *only* type
> of high end content, you end up selecting for only that subset
> that likes raids, and some achievers who just have to collect
> every item in the game.

That is exactly my concern, as player. As game designer, I will
never allow "raids" to be the only high end content for players. I
will also never allow "raids" to be the only way to obtain "top end"
gear.

I think raids are a really good thing to have in your game. They
definitely can be a lot of fun when the encounters are well
developed. I also fully realize that there are many people who love
this stuff.

I also understand that on any MMO, the percentage of people who love
raids is generally very small.  Most people who end up going on them
do so grudgingly, simply because it is the only way to get top gear,
which is basically the only way to "level up" after hitting the
level cap. That is poor game design, imho.

--
Michael Hartman, J.D. (http://www.thresholdrpg.com)
President & CEO, Threshold Virtual Environments, Inc.
University of Georgia School of Law, 1995-1998
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, 1990-1994
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