[MUD-Dev2] The Great Mud Survey

[David Johansson]

On 12/24/06, Matt Chatterley <matt.chatterley at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> A while ago, as part of another thread, I nattered on for a bit about the
> idea of attempting to conduct some research into what players like and
> dislike about Muds (in specific, and in general) - that seems a bit
> wishy-washy now that I repeat it back, so I'll try to nail it down a
> little
> more.
>

There is a simple truth to your question Matt Chatterley - No one knows what
they like!

It's easy as pie psychology to be honest. To make a metaphor - You know
those children that refuse to eat that new food, just yelling out: "I don't
want it, I don't want it, I hate it!", well, the same thing applies to
gamers. To use your MUD example with PK - A majority of people would say
that they "hate PK" or "hate griefers" - But, when they are put to the test
and thrown into a hostile PK enviroment for a while, they will understand
the additional dynamics of the game and begin to fathom the games fourth
dimension, politics.

You know just as well as I do that communities police themselves, and that
griefers are sorted out quickly (as long as game mechanics don't disallow
this). But, even so, many game masters, big or small, listen to the child
who screams "I don't want it, I don't want it" and think to themselves:
"Hey, that whole PK thing seems like a bad idea, let's scrap it, we don't
want griefing!"

It is ALL about how you implement your ideas - For sure, not everything will
appeal to everyone, but if you have a solid idea, that you yourself think
will create entertainment, go through with it. The only thing you know for a
fact, is that the people who use your product, are looking to be entertained
on some level. Well, just entertain them then! If you think fishing seems
like a solid plan, then implement it!

No matter how many polls or how open you are to your gaming community,
swallowing their ideas or whatnot, you will never find the "perfect game" -
Fishing might work in "Lands of FruityFairies" while PK might work in
"ShadowDeathWolfSlayer Realms" - But combine the two, and you might be able
to create a world, where some poor fisherman is constantly being griefed by
the evil PKers. One day, one of the guys that prefer only to fish, gets
pissed off enough to stand up and decide to do something about those
griefers. He stands up, uses the communitiy to channel his words and
thoughts, and becomes a figurine for the fishermen, the fishermen have had
enough. The fishermen rebell against the griefers, takes to arms and kills
the bandits. Now THAT, is a virtual world to speak of.

During this fictional "uprising", the guys who just wanted to fish, are
having a blast, discover the meaning of a community, and perhaps realizes
that fighting can be entertaining as well and hence, proving that eventhough
they said that they only want to fish, they actually enjoyed the whole PKing
thing as well.

Like my lovely mother said to me, oh so many years ago: "You never know if
you are gonna enjoy the food unless you taste it, if you don't like it, just
eat something else, but remember that one dish might be awful at one
restaurant, but gorgeous at the next, so always try everything."

// David Johansson