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<H1>RE: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: "'<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>'" <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: RE: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: "Koster, Raph" <<A HREF="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 09:33:31 -0600</LI>
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<PRE>
On Thursday, January 08, 1998 5:27 PM, Travis
Casey[SMTP:efindel#polaris,net] wrote:
> - Remember that players will do what they're rewarded for doing.
On a
> mud in which the best rewards are available by killing monsters,
players
> will kill monsters. If the best rewards are available by killing
other
> players' characters, the players will do so. This is really the
last
> point taking a different form -- if players can choose their own
goals,
> but can only be rewarded for a few of the possible goals, the
choice
> becomes somewhat moot.
One pitfall here is that in any system where you can kill both
monsters and players, players will *always* be more rewarding. They
will have more smarts, an excellent level of challenge to them, a wide
selection of potential targets, and likely, a greater diversity and
greater quantity of treasure, rewards, goodies, etc. I find this to be
axiomatic. The question is how much *risk* they offer, and how much
other penalty the killer may accrue for his actions. But in a flat
choice, which is more rewarding "before taxes" I believe players
always win, hands down.
> [Aside: this is why I like advance-through-use skill systems.
They
> allow the player to choose goals (which, if any, skills they want
their
> characters to be good at) and reward them for pursuing those
goals
> (advance the skills which the character uses most often).]
A note here is that skill systems are notoriously difficult to
balance, and thus end up with "ideal combos"--the better the skill
system is, the more of them it has, until there are enough that you
can't call any single one the "ideal." A phenomenon worth mentioning
there is the "accepted wisdom" trap many players fall into with
skill-based systems, whereby everyone thinks there is actually only
one ideal combo, when in fact there are many. It can be damnably
difficult to get variety when the game culture suggests there isn't
any!
> - Lead by example. Create one or more characters of your own and
roleplay
> it/them on the mud.
The larger the scale of the game, the more difficult it is to do this,
btw.
-Raph
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<li><strong><A NAME="00145" HREF="msg00145.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Ling <K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk></li></ul>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00025" HREF="msg00025.html">[MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>,
Brandon Cline <a href="mailto:brandon#sedona,net">brandon#sedona,net</a>, Mon 05 Jan 1998, 09:41 GMT
<UL>
<li><Possible follow-up(s)><br>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00061" HREF="msg00061.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>,
Mike Sellers <a href="mailto:mike#online-alchemy,com">mike#online-alchemy,com</a>, Tue 06 Jan 1998, 20:16 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00130" HREF="msg00130.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>,
Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#polaris,net">efindel#polaris,net</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 05:46 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00132" HREF="msg00132.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>,
Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#polaris,net">efindel#polaris,net</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 06:04 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00139" HREF="msg00139.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>,
Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 15:33 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00145" HREF="msg00145.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>,
Ling <a href="mailto:K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk">K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 18:11 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00158" HREF="msg00158.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>,
Mike Sellers <a href="mailto:mike#online-alchemy,com">mike#online-alchemy,com</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 01:00 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00177" HREF="msg00177.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>,
Miroslav Silovic <a href="mailto:silovic#zesoi,fer.hr">silovic#zesoi,fer.hr</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 15:32 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00188" HREF="msg00188.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Commercial value of RP</A></strong>,
Mike Sellers <a href="mailto:mike#online-alchemy,com">mike#online-alchemy,com</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 19:17 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL></BLOCKQUOTE>
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