[MUD-Dev2] Meaningful Conseqences

[John Buehler]

Christopher Lloyd writes:

> > John Buehler wrote:
> > >
> > It is my intention that they come to an end, and that's it for that
> > world; a month, a year, a decade.  The gamemasters declare that
> > they're going to start a new game, and players sign up for it.
> > That's the ethic of the nomadic MMO - experience it and move on.

[snip]

> I was thinking about how Richard Bartle's stereotypical games would react to
> this cyclic rebirth system.

To be clear, the style of MMO that I'm shooting for is patterned after an author that writes many stories, like Tom Clancy or
Stephen King.  Each story takes place in the same style of world, but in new venues that involve a different sequence of events with
new characters.  The nomadic treatment attempts to guide the players into a specific sequence of interactions, just like a single
player RPG.

Take any storytelling technique of a book author and apply it to the entertainment of these nomadic MMOs.  Instead of telling a
story, the gamemasters are inviting the players to experience a story.

> "Socialisers" and "Killers" might not care either way. Socialisers will
> probably want to maintain the same friendships they did before. They'll
> probably want to keep the same name as before, so maybe that should be an
> option. But such reboots will inevitably break up old friendships and there
> are likely to be plenty of cries of "it's not the same as when we all knew
> each other back then..."

One big disadvantage of nomadic MMOs is the need to rebuild a player base for each new story.  The model of the book author again
offers some consolation to those worried about the bottom line. If a good book author can bring back readers, then surely a good
game master can bring back players.

No doubt the same techniques would be used to keep players as those that are used to keep readers.  Sequels and such.  They attempt
to retain some continuity with prior successes so that the players identify with the new game.  Just having certain NPCs reappear
might be enough to make the transition palatable.

As with existing groups of players that hop MMOs, I'm guessing that a dynamic would develop where larger groups would form and
dissolve.  They would form during the game, but dissolve when players disagree on which 'next game' is most interesting.  That said,
knots of players who very much enjoy the same experiences would follow each other around from game to game.  When players who have
worked together well find themselves together in a new game, they'd be more inclined to work together again.

It would seem important to support a means of letting players maintain a public identity over time.  Perhaps not a character
identity, but a player identity.  A game service such as OnLive or Steam could help with that sense of continuity.  If a single
publisher runs all the games, then their player identity system could be leveraged.

The bottom line here is that players would not relate over a single set of content, but collectively over a whole raft of stories
over time.