[MUD-Dev2] Specialization

[Damion Schubert]

Thus spake Sean Howard...
> "All players can succeed at all things."

What amuses me about this long rant is how you don't seem to recognize that
99% of contemptorary MMOs like World of Warcraft are designed with this
motto in mind.  It's easy to level.  Combat usually result in a death less
than 1% of the time.  Death penalties, when they occur, are trivial.  It's
easy for players to take part in PvP, and have a meaningful role there.
It's easy to get crafting materials, it's easy to engage in arbitrage, it's
easy to become the best crafter the game has to offer.  It's not hard to get
a group for a dungeon run together, and few dungeon runs take more than 3
tries if people have a general idea how to play their class.

One thing in WoW is hard: raiding.  It is hard precisely because it requires
strategy, teamwork, coordination, and trust.  And it is precisely because it
is hard that it is compelling to those who play the raid game.  Players want
a true test of their skill - they want a challenge in a world that is
otherwise largely absent of them.

If you really believe that an entire game should be easy, it's not hard to
find one.  Just log into a game shortly after it ships, since many games are
forced to ship without their endgame.  What you'll find is a playerbase
where the best, most devoted players quickly become disillusioned that there
is no 'there' there, and a live team desperately working to patch something
in for them.