<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Nation of shopkeepers --> <!--X-From-R13: Oqnz Ivttvaf <avtugsnyyNhfre1.vasvpnq.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: from major.globecomm.net [207.51.48.5] by in3.ibm.net id 867738222.112374-1 Tue Jul 1 06:23:42 1997 CUT --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199707010628.XAA19073#user1,inficad.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: Pine.GSO.3.96.970630220940.2858C-100000@tay --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] Nation of shopkeepers</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:nightfall#user1,inficad.com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg01631.html">Previous</a> | <a href="">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg01615.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01614.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#01632">Author</A> | <A HREF="#01632">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#01632">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Nation of shopkeepers</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] Nation of shopkeepers</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Adam Wiggins <<A HREF="mailto:nightfall#user1,inficad.com">nightfall#user1,inficad.com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 23:28:30 -3100 (MST)</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:nightfall#inficad,com">nightfall#inficad,com</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> [MK:] > Note that I said "coding"; actually implementing player-run shops would > appear to me to be extremely difficult - because giving players incentives > to sit around behind a counter all day rather than go out and adventure > would appear to be impossible. This same problem, of no-one being > interested in the more menial jobs in a mud economy, would seem to stymie > any decent attempt at a player-run economy, which is a pity. The solution is your definition of player-run shops. I don't consider standing behind a counter to be 'running' a shop, although that may be a part of it. Running a shop involves getting a space for the shop; buying shelves and counters and furniture; buying inventory; hiring staff; setting policy; bookkeeping (==counting the money); and so forth. The actual grunt-work of standing behind the counter is the *easy* part, and you might as well hire some young hobbit for five coppers an hour to do that part of it. Depending on the business things could get more interesting - finding the best places and people to buy your goods from, trying to keep your best selling items in stock, trying to deter shoplifters, hiring guards to keep an eye on things, dealing with taxes or other local economy regulation... and of course, if it's an actual craftsman's shop like a smith or a talior, you can actual charge people more for you to craft their armor personally, since you'll do a better job than the NPC you have working for you. Traders are pretty easy to do - just make supplies localized. Thus mithril is cheap at its source, but expensive everywhere else. Of course, if every starts hauling mithril to all corners of the land, suddenly it's pretty cheap everywhere. Then if the mines start to run dry, the price goes up again... I think this addresses the fundamental part of game design which is, for some reason that's beyond me, completely overlooked by a lot of game designers. Basically, the only reason a player would every want to do anything is because it's fun, interesting, engaging, and challanging. There's no point in giving them 'busywork', yet this seems to be a primary 'feature' of many games, including muds. If you ever find yourself thinking, "I can't wait until this part is over, so I can get to the _fun_ part..." then something is wrong. Of course, people's defininition of fun varies, but usually busywork is pretty easy to spot. I would consider tending a shop to be busywork unless there was something interesting going on. Dealing with all the factors I mentioned above, however, sounds pretty darn interesting to me. </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="01615" HREF="msg01615.html">Nation of shopkeepers</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Martin Keegan <martin#cam,sri.com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01631.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Nation of shopkeepers</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01615.html">Nation of shopkeepers</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01614.html">[MUD-Dev] The Difference between..</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#01632"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#01632"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01630" HREF="msg01630.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] A simple political/social system?</A></strong>, Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Tue 01 Jul 1997, 11:35 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="01629" HREF="msg01629.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Nation of shopkeepers</A></strong>, Huibai <a href="mailto:ashen#pixi,com">ashen#pixi,com</a>, Tue 01 Jul 1997, 11:35 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01631" HREF="msg01631.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Nation of shopkeepers</A></strong>, Jeff Kesselman <a href="mailto:jeffk#tenetwork,com">jeffk#tenetwork,com</a>, Tue 01 Jul 1997, 12:28 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01615" HREF="msg01615.html">Nation of shopkeepers</A></strong>, Martin Keegan <a href="mailto:martin#cam,sri.com">martin#cam,sri.com</a>, Tue 01 Jul 1997, 04:34 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01632" HREF="msg01632.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Nation of shopkeepers</A></strong>, Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:nightfall#user1,inficad.com">nightfall#user1,inficad.com</a>, Tue 01 Jul 1997, 13:23 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01614" HREF="msg01614.html">[MUD-Dev] The Difference between..</A></strong>, Jeff Kesselman <a href="mailto:jeffk#tenetwork,com">jeffk#tenetwork,com</a>, Tue 01 Jul 1997, 04:26 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="01602" HREF="msg01602.html">Additions to sensory planes</A></strong>, Wout Mertens <a href="mailto:Wout.Mertens#rug,ac.be">Wout.Mertens#rug,ac.be</a>, Tue 01 Jul 1997, 01:47 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="01601" HREF="msg01601.html">Senses & geographical events</A></strong>, Wout Mertens <a href="mailto:Wout.Mertens#rug,ac.be">Wout.Mertens#rug,ac.be</a>, Tue 01 Jul 1997, 01:20 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="01595" HREF="msg01595.html">thread splitting</A></strong>, Alex Oren <a href="mailto:alexo#bigfoot,com">alexo#bigfoot,com</a>, Mon 30 Jun 1997, 18:38 GMT </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>