[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Player-generated content

[Vincent Archer]

According to John Buehler:
> This is the sort of thing that causes me to believe that
> achievement-based games are inherently limiting to game designers.  They
> have to concoct schemes that prevent players from violating the
> sacrosanct tenet that achievement must be earned.  It's not only a
> treadmill that must be run, but it must be run in a specific way.

Actually, it's a bit more complex than that. The tenet isn't that
achievement must be earned, it's that achievement must be earned at
so-and-so speed, and not too much faster, nor too much slower.

Player will make a model of expected "xp speed", then loudly complain if
an activity yields too little compared to that model, and scream
"cheating" if another yields far more than this model. Or, at best,
they're going to complain that they are "forced" to pick the fastest
method.

> I'm wondering if achievement entertainment shouldn't always be
> predicated on player skill.  Achievements based on character 'skills'
> certainly make a product marketable, but I wonder how far the genre can
> go with that approach.

The advantage of deriving achievement purely from your "character
ability" is that, no matter how much you, as a player, suck, you will
gain character power. The drawback is that, as an achievement, it is
meaningless for you, the player, since it does not matter how well you
play; the game conspires to throttle your "achievements" to the lowest
denominator. The difference between a character that hunt swamp rats and
the character that clears a bandit castle is the time spent getting to
the next level.

Achievement based on player skill is much, much more enjoyable, but
carries with it the risk that, at one point, the player will find out
that he cannot progress further, and will be tempted to drop out as a
result. In an xp/level system, he will as well, but usually, he has
reached "maximum level", and thus gotten the illusion he finished the
whole game.