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

[Michael Chui]

On 5/18/07, Lachek Butalek <lachek at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 5/17/07, Tess Snider <malkyne at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Aren't enemy corporations run by players?  Psychologically speaking,
> > that's apples and oranges.
>
> Why? In the Eve Online case, it's fun and exciting gameplay. Why is it
> not fun if the exact same thing happens, requiring the exact same
> gameplay, but driven by the game engine? The reason your adrenaline
> gland gets triggered - or the exact nature of the ultimate controller
> of the stimulus that causes it to trigger - shouldn't have any bearing
> on the effect of the adrenaline.
>
> 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?


Speaking as someone who's experienced boss monsters who were run by GMs
(called GMPCs in Dragonrealms-speak and typically merely your standard PC
characters with higher stats and skills than anyone else) it is much
different to go head-to-head against a human being than it is a computer.
One of the alternate mechanics is a headless invasion, in which a horde of
monsters invade the town and everyone fights them off. The latter is dull
and pointless, meant mostly to keep people awake, whereas the latter has
meaning, is attached to a storyline, and can be reasoned at above the level
of hack and slash. It is absolutely fascinating to participate in
discussions with GMPCs.

Conflict-based gameplay frequently is concerned with the psychology of one's
opponent. The algorithmic patterns of a computer are very different from the
more chaotic patterns of a human being. Now, you could certainly design a
computer program controller to mimic a human thought process, but how many
times over are you going to do it?

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.


It's a different game, though. Both are arguably richer than the other.
Uninterrupted crafting is like playing Jenga. Interrupted crafting is like
playing Jenga while people keep blowing at your tower while walking by.

> What is the hindrance in Tetris?  What about Bejeweled?
>
> Neither of those games have anything in common with MMOs. Puzzle
> Pirates perhaps, on the surface, but without the meta-game Puzzle
> Pirates wouldn't be called an MMO.


They're all games. There is no explicit need in MMOs for the application of
hindrances. As Tess says, there's a very, very important distinction between
challenge and hindrance. A challenge begins with the premise that the player
gets better through mastery of the obstacle; a hindrance begins with the
premise that the player is too good without the obstacle. The objective of
presenting a challenge is to make the player better; the objective of a
hindrance is to keep a player from doing well.

So the question becomes, why do you hate your players? Why do they need a
ball and chain on their ankle? Isn't there a better way?

> I AM one of "these folks," and I DON'T loathe teleportation or fast
> > travel, because why in Juno's name would I want to run through the
> > same stupid place I've already been 80 times, when I could be spending
> > my time seeing someplace new?
>
> 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.
>

Um, she's a counterexample. Speaking of which, I'm also an explorer type,
and one of my favorite mechanics is faster travel because, quite frankly,
walking is boring. It's far more interesting to me to explore the ways in
which I can streamline my travel speeds and those of the people I'm moving
around. Don't confuse "explorer" with "pastoral poet".

By the way, why would Nick Yee have an example? His model says Explorer
types don't exist.

-- 
-Michael Chui
The Information School
University of Washington