[MUD-Dev] DESIGN: Loot on demand (was: Will company sanctioned cheating hurt theMMOcommunity?)

[Cosmik]

On 5/11/05, Freeman, Jeff <jfreeman at soe.sony.com> wrote:
> Chris Richards wrote:

>> Does this extend to strategy guides?  Fan sites?  Have you used a
>> fan site to lookup how to solve a quest, find an NPC, or see the
>> drop rate for a specific item?

> I've been thinking that since players go to fan-sites to look-up
> where and how to obtain specific items, a better quest system
> ought to deliver the functionality that the players want.

> When you want a magic sword, you go to a website and find out
> where there's a sword for you to get. We could eliminate that sort
> of thing by putting it in game: A seer or soothsayer sort of NPC
> that you tell what you want, and they gaze into a crystal ball and
> tell you who you gotta kill.

> I kind of like the idea of eliminating "Just do quests 'til you
> finally get something you want" and "Just look it up on a website"
> and even "Just do it over and over 'til you win."

Although I like the direction your step is going, would that be
enough? Players would still visit fan-sites for maps and possibly to
also look up quest spoilers on the off chance that another player
has listed a strategy that completes the encounter faster and easier
than the hints outlined by the soothsayer.

In fact, fan-sites have becomes such an integral part of questing
these days that many players aren't fazed by the quick 30 second
alt-tab and would likely prefer to keep looking at those kinds of
spoilers.

Many MMOs these days are utilizing in-game email systems. Perhaps
its time we move bulletin boards in-game as well? One thing I
especially liked about the MUD called Kingdom of the Winds was its
email/bulletin board system which allowed players to communicate
(roleplay and non-roleplay) with each other in ways I haven't seen
translated into any MMO I've played or followed.

Apparently talk has already started about in-game blogs.

  http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/05/wo/wo_050605hellweg.asp?p=1

- Cosmik
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