[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] What is agame? (again)was:[Excellentcommentary on Vanguard's diplomacy system]

[John Buehler]

cruise wrote:
> Thus spake John Buehler...
> > That's where I am.  Let the players decide their own ethics of
> > gameplay and then let the like-minded players get together.
> > All the game designer needs to do is present a context that
> > permits the players to find each other and then some privacy
> > so they can experience the game's entertainment in groups
> > of their own choosing.  Hopefully, they'll slowly learn which
> > ethics work and which ones don't.  Kinda like not following
> > the Bible.
>
> It's the privacy section that is possibly the hardest one. Instancing
> has been an attempt to solve this, but then people complain that we're
> devaluing the concept of a MMOG - whereas I think something of this kind
> is /precisely/ what is needed in an MMOG to stop the entire playerbase
> from constantly infighting.

This is probably best handled by changing the presentation of instances
sothat they don't seem quite so isolating.  Existing treatments are
veryisolating.  Because of the level-loot context, they require a strict
levelrange of a limited number of player characters.  They are
playedsequentially towards the ultimate battle with the boss, for his
loot.Instances are also for the expressed purpose of being "used up". 
Kill allthe stuff in the instance, then get a new one.  All of that
encourages amindset of getting some players together and fighting
through to the end toget the ultimate reward.  All in one go.

If instances provide similar experiences as Second Life, World of
Warcraft,Unreal Tournament, Deer Hunter, whatever, then the idea of
entering andreentering instances might allay some of the isolationist
concerns.  Suchinstances become a private area that people happily enter
and leave on awhim.

Having public cameras in private areas might entice people to knock on
thedoor of an instance to ask for membership/entrance.

Permitting interaction between instances according to geographic
locationwithin the instances might also help with that.  That is, I can
push abutton and see ghostly images of other player characters who are
operatingin the same instance.  What they're doing may be completely out
of whack towhat I'm doing because they can extensively customize their
instance, but wehave the potential for socialization, if that's
desired/permitted by bothinstances.

Combining public cameras and overlapping instances might permit a
non-memberof any instance to view ghostly images of many characters in
manyoverlapping instances.  Put viewers in taverns in the common area
and you'vegot instant entertainment that brings characters together,
giving them stuffto discuss and find where they share a common ground. 
That may serve as themeans of turning instances from a perceived combat
fatigue penalty into arest bonus.

Food for thought.

JB