[MUD-Dev2] Combat Systems (was: Reasons for Play)

[Jeffrey Kesselman]

On 3/22/07, Adam Martin <adam.m.s.martin at googlemail.com> wrote:
> On 19/03/07, John Buehler <johnbue at msn.com> wrote:
> > Here's a sincere question for anyone who has been involved with developing
> > a > published game in the action genre: why are combat systems the way
> > they are? Is it inertia from the past, failure to find a new sweet spot,
> > simple > enjoyment of things the way they are, difficulty in producing
> > anything much more involved than exists today, something else?

>From my experiences with the industry:

Inertia and NIH syndrome.  Most of the developers have not yet even
realized that their half-assed character/combat systems are a problem.
 The believe doing a roleplay system is a trivial exercise they can
dash off in an afternoon.

Its a matter of not even understanding how hard the problem is to
start with.  Most of them have not reached the first step of wisdom...

"The first step on the path on the road to wisdom is knowing what you
do not know." -- trad.