On Monday, September 01, 1997 11:49 AM, Daniel Koepke
[SMTP:dkoepke@CALIFORNIA.COM] wrote:
< snip>
> <snip> that adding challenges to your MUD
> will cause your players to be somewhat disgruntled, whether or not it is
> for the good of the mud, or otherwise. This is because players get
> quite used to the skill-level at which they are playing, and, even if they
> are quite able to play at a more challenging level, they will still get
> pissed-off when you make the game more challenging. In essence, you are
> pissing-off your players for the good of the mud. But, you cannot make
> the game more challenging to the point where players leave, or get really
> pissed-off, because then you have imbalanced the mud.
It is a large part a matter of design. I see a lot of muds that have opened
yet are still in the midgame as far as game design goes. These muds have
very good ideas and much potential, but an early opening hurts their
potential, IMHO.
> Therefore, you
> must provide them with challenges, but ones with which they are quite
> able to acheive if given the time and resources; so that they know they
> are able to overcome the challenge, and thus, continue to play the mud.
> This is balance. This is the Art of Administration.
Exactly! The unobtainable goal is fine for a red herring, but in a mud people
generally want to know that they could obtain that goal if they put enough
time and thought into it.
<snip>
The reliance upon levels, exp, D&D stats and other throwbacks to the
old days of scarce resouces and compromised design are also a problem.
A good mud, in my opinion, is one carries the full entertainment value,
adrenalin creation ability and sense of 'belonging' while at the same time
creating a new system to explore and learn.
How many circlemuds have you seen that you couldn't advance a char
quickly, given your knowledge of the stock code? Sure lots of things would
be different, but the same formulas and conventions are still there for the
most part.
Remember the docs. It is you, the admin, who are inflicting your mud
upon the net, not the players inflicting themselves on your mud. :-)
--Mallory
I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate.
And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never
expect it. - Jack Handey
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