[MUD-Dev2] [Design] [REPOST] Food in MMOs

[Michael Hartman]

Lachek Butalek wrote:

> As a follow-up, what if a "boss monster" attacks while controlled by a
> GM? Worse or better than if it attacks at random by game rules? Worse
> or better than a player assault?

Some would consider it the worst of all possibilities, and some would
appreciate the GMs taking an active effort to run events in the game. It
really depends on the culture of the game and how accepting they are of
GM involvement (which in turn is a product of how the GMs handle this
power and whether or not they use it for the overall entertainment of
the populace rather than the coddling of friends and sycophants).


> And if your game doesn't have permadeath, who cares? I'm not sure if
> maybe I'm the exception, but when playing WoW I really couldn't give a
> hoot if some monster killed me, since the penalty equated to
> absolutely zero. In fact, if I'd gotten killed by some random boss
> dude instead of being ganged by Hungry Wolves it would have broken the
> monotony of my day.

Maybe you haven't gotten very far into WoW, but on a particularly bad
raid night gear repairs can cost 20+ gold, with each death equaling
2-5g.

Incurring a 2-5g cost simply because the AI of random uber monster sent
it in my direction would tick me off. Furthermore, if I was in a hurry
to get somewhere, that random death could set me back 5-10 minutes in
getting there. That would be additionally annoying - particularly if I
had friends waiting for me.


> I see no gamebreaking design in interrupting crafters with combat. I
> see only opportunity for gameplay, and perhaps some missed opportunity
> for the designers to implement features that would make this potential
> gameplay more fun and appealing to players.

I don't understand why crafting has to be inexorably tied to combat.
WoW, LOTRO, etc. require that you level up via combat in order to
progress your trade skills. This has never made sense to me.

Combat players don't have to level up crafting to break their combat
level cap. Why do crafters have to level up their combat level in order
to break their crafting cap?


> No, the issue is that few games have managed to disconnect character
> advancement with player satisfaction. In fact, as you mention, most
> games revel in it, and use it as a crowd control method.

This is true. All you hear about now for MMOs is "what is the end game?"
This is because the "mid-game" is generally just a painful hurdle to get
through so you can get to the "real game." This never existed in MUDs.
It is a shame that MMOs have devolved such that levels 1->Cap are
worthless. The real game takes place at Cap Level.


> Sorry, I made that one too easy to respond to. Let me try again.
> WHY would RKO be inherently more fun to play than a game featuring
> gameplay just as involved and complex, though it centers around
> economy and crafting rather than killing mobs?

I think ATITD proved that for some people, WFO is indeed more fun than
RKO. But a lot of people enjoy action/combat oriented games, and thus
RKO would be more enticing. Action Movies make a whole lot more money
than dramas too.


> I maintain that generally speaking, Explorer types aren't fond of
> teleportation or fast travel, given my experience with that type on
> message boards and the like. I can't prove it, and you can't prove the
> inverse. Nick Yee or Richard Bartle might have a study or a book
> reference somewhere, but we don't. So I suppose we'll have to agree to
> disagree on that point, until someone proves either of us wrong.

On top of the fact that I don't know any explorer types who loathe
teleportation, this doesn't compute. Most games that have teleportation
stuff generally require that you visit the location "the hard way"
first.

Explorers like to explore... That means seeing new places. Mindless
travel over the exact same terrain day in, day out is not exploring.
Teleportation and fast travel allow you to skip the monotonous stuff you
already explored.