[MUD-Dev] Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population

[Vincent Archer]

According to Damion Schubert:

> Mini-games for crafting comes up a lot on various fan-site boards
> as well.  One thing that I would caution, though.  If, say, it
> takes a game of tetris to craft something, then suddenly your
> craftsmen all have to be tetris players, and there's no guaruntee
> that the people who like crafting have that expertise or like that
> style of gameplay.  Most craftsmen in these games right now are
> social hubs who choose the role for that reason.

Yes, and if you look at the boards for almost all major games, the
single complain that always comes back isn't about the difficulty
(or lack of) associated with crafts but:

	"I don't make anything worth selling"

Most craftsmen in mainstream games aren't crafters. They're
merchants.  That's what interests them in the game, making stuff to
sell. Not making stuff in itself.

Putting a mini-game for crafting address the wrong motivations.

> minigame.  If anything, I wanted fewer steps and hoops to craft my
> armor.  I wanted a better meta-game - tracking down and collecting
> resources, bartering with players, etc (and it's worth noting that
> SWG may be the best on the commercial market in this regard).  The
> actual act of crafting was, for me, merely the middle step.  The
> fun was getting the goods, and then selling it.

Exactly.

--
	Vincent Archer			Email:	archer at frmug.org

All men are mortal.  Socrates was mortal.  Therefore, all men are Socrates.
							(Woody Allen)
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