<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch... --> <!--X-From-R13: Qnyvona Fverfvnf Rnexybpx <pnyvonaNqnexybpx.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 17:02:57 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199807150002.SAA03994#darklock,com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 19980714151128.B15673#humb,nt.com --> <!--X-Reference: Pine.SGI.3.96.980714132043.10987L-100000#zazu,angel.com --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch...</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:caliban#darklock,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="msg00214.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00216.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00216.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00218.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00215">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00215">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00215">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch...</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch...</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Caliban Tiresias Darklock <<A HREF="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 17:00:10 -0700</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On 01:44 PM 7/14/98 -0700, I personally witnessed Adam Wiggins jumping up to say: > >What you suggest here is simply changing that value (23, >above) from a constant to a variable (a calculated average, to be exact). >Now you ask - do newbies get their strength rolled based on that number? >(ie, +- 30% of the calculated average, or the original constant, 23?) If >so, this works as a feedback loop - working up your ogre's strength >slightly increases the strength of all newbie ogres created. My immediate take on this is that it will make PK-centered MUDs a good deal more palatable from my perspective, since my major problem with PK is how incredibly difficult it is to work up to any sort of even footing unless you use some sort of artificial restriction like "You can't PK someone more than 5 levels away from you". (And since we're often talking about doing away with levels here, that sort of restriction means very little in the first place.) I've been considering this sort of thing with a space-based game I'm in the process of updating (can't name it, I'm still negotiating the transfer of ownership with the original author). Basically, when a new ship is created, I think it only makes sense to keep some sort of running total of what most other people carry and use that to generate an "average" ship when new players log on. Combined with the "You're new, so we'll cut you a lot of slack on the first day and progressively less slack for the next few" concept the game already implements, I think this would help people a lot when they first started out. On the other hand, I can see this being something of a problem. Players who start the game with an 'average' amount of power based on the existing player base might be starting on a game where some people have several characters; it would then be to my advantage to create thirty characters and leave them sit around unplayed, thus keeping the average a good deal lower. If the whole player base did so, then you would actually end up creating a character that was completely screwed compared to the rest of the *active* characters. So I have a general thought on this that I thought I would air. I think a player should be expected to spend a certain amount of time *active* with a character in order to keep that character in the newbie-generation database. This can be measured through average time spent online, average amount of advancement achieved, and average *use* of that advancement for skill-based games that offer training; someone might make a trash character and go out killing things, but then never use his training sessions or experience points or any of that sort of thing once he gets his primary skill -- say, club proficiency -- to its maximum. Some of this can be offset by skill atrophy, which we have discussed here before. The major question is what should be considered 'active' and what should be considered 'inactive'? Some players have hours on end to spend playing the game. Some only have a few minutes here and there. On some MUDs, I log in for about an hour a week. On others, I log in for several hours a day, and occasionally play for stretches of time that exceed thirty hours. I consider myself 'active' on all of them, since I am indeed actively playing and advancing my character. However, on the latter type of MUD, my characters are outrageously powerful; on the former, they plod along and don't do all that much in terms of level and ranking. My immediate impulse on this is to have an 'active' that indicates "don't delete this character" and an 'active' that indicates "representative of the population". Here's my thought: Order the characters by total time logged. Go to the middle of the group, and then take the fifty characters surrounding this. Average everything out to find a general level of advancement achieved. Now order by advancement achieved, and go to this 'average' level. Take the fifty characters surrounding this, and average all of that out to determine where the new character's creation parameters should go. This seems workable to me. Does anyone else have comments or concerns about a system like this? I'm sure I've missed some part of the idea which is important to consider. </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="00207" HREF="msg00207.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Shawn Halpenny <malachai#iname,com></LI></UL></LI> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00209" HREF="msg00209.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Adam Wiggins <adam#angel,com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00214.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00216.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00216.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00218.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00215"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00215"><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>[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00212" HREF="msg00212.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></strong>, Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:adam#angel,com">adam#angel,com</a>, Tue 14 Jul 1998, 22:20 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00213" HREF="msg00213.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></strong>, Holly Sommer <a href="mailto:hsommer#micro,ti.com">hsommer#micro,ti.com</a>, Tue 14 Jul 1998, 22:35 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00214" HREF="msg00214.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></strong>, Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:adam#angel,com">adam#angel,com</a>, Tue 14 Jul 1998, 23:42 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00216" HREF="msg00216.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></strong>, Matthew R. Sheahan <a href="mailto:chaos#crystal,palace.net">chaos#crystal,palace.net</a>, Wed 15 Jul 1998, 00:10 GMT </LI> </LI> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00215" HREF="msg00215.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch...</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Wed 15 Jul 1998, 00:02 GMT </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00218" HREF="msg00218.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis</A></strong>, Katrina McClelan <a href="mailto:kitkat#the486,bradley.edu">kitkat#the486,bradley.edu</a>, Wed 15 Jul 1998, 02:42 GMT </LI> </ul> </ul> </ul> </ul> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00041" HREF="msg00041.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statistise your MUD?</A></strong>, Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Fri 03 Jul 1998, 01:54 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00018" HREF="msg00018.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: roleplaying farmers?</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 01 Jul 1998, 21:45 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00017" HREF="msg00017.html">[MUD-Dev] Summary: Recognizing Strategic Dispositions</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 01 Jul 1998, 21:38 GMT </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>