[MUD-Dev2] The Great Mud Survey

[John Buehler]

Michael Hartman writes:

> Amanda Walker wrote:
> The idea of a "a  game you can play
> > for a half an hour at a time, without having to  assemble a classic tank
> > + mage + bard + priest party" seemed anathema  to many RPGers--yet
> > they're quite popular.
>
> What??? How dare you suggest there is anything possible other than the
> Holy Triad - tank, dps, healer!
>
> I agree that WoW was wise to get away from that, but this makes you
> wonder why in the high end game, it goes right back to it. Every 5 man
> dungeon needs tank, healer, and ideally 3 dps. If you have more than 1
> healer or more than 1 tank, you nearly double your time in the dungeon.
> As you get into the high end content, the flexibility goes away and you
> are stuck having to do things in one way. Oh, and god forbid you try to
> bring 4 into a 5 man, 7 into a 10 man, 15 into a 20 man, or 30 into a 40
> man (unless you so badly overpower it that the rewards are trivial).

My take on it is that the official raid content in World of Warcraft (WoW)
is structured as it is in order to cater directly to the classic 'hard core'
player, ala Everquest.  It is a min/max opportunity that requires players to
be playing their best game, focusing on the encounter for hours on end and
bringing a properly equipped character.

I believe that 'casual raids' exist in a rather informal way in WoW.  There
are large camps of monsters that many singles or small groups will converge
on.  They will semi-cooperate to break into the camp and work the quests
there.  Brief alliances will form and dissolve according to the schedule and
interests of the various players.  I found it a very enjoyable aspect to
gameplay.

The structure may have been accidental on their part, but I think that
future games should attempt to exploit it; provide 'camps' that have a
variety of levels of challenge, permitting as few or as many players who
arrive to work together.  The challenge is in getting player characters in
the same area so that they can naturally interact, yet avoid overcrowding of
the available game experiences.

JB