[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Rewards

[Mike Sellers]

Yannick Jean wrote:
> On 4/23/07 Jeffrey Kesselman wrote :
> 
> >> On 4/18/07, Yannick Jean wrote:
> >> (...)
> >> Social reward is not the cup of tea of all players.
> >
> > Certainly, but to many of the kinds of player attracted to MMOs it is.,
> >
> > Less face it, MMO gameplay sucks rocks.  There are lots of good
> > reasons for this but at the end of the day, thats the result.
> >
> > Why then are they hugely popular?  I'd argue because human beings,
> > even the most socially retarded (and god we see those in any MMO) are
> > inherently social beings.  And they come online for that social
> > contact.
> > (...)
> 
> I disagree.
> 
> I think a good part of actual MMORPG players prefer soloing or playing
> in near total social isolation rather than the social playing so many
> designers are promoting.

According to Nick Yee's data on the Daedalus Project, socialization is only
slightly second to achievement gameplay as a motivation for MMOG players.
And that's _current_ players, so it doesn't include those who would like to
socialize more and whack things less. 

These also aren't exclusive: achievers like to socialize in various forms
just like everyone else.  Yes, some solo more than others, but overall
socialization is a huge (and largely untapped) motivation for playing MMOs.



Mike Sellers