Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - Of playerkilling, equipment, and roleplay.

Alexander Tau · 06-27-2002, 04:36 AM

Any major change in an existing game is going to cause both complaints and loss of some players. Does not matter what the change is, but as you pointed out, once you are used to things being one way changes do cause problems.

The best way to make such a change is by introducing powerful RP adventures. Enlisting the assistance of good RP focused players is one way to do this, having Staff play NPCs is another. Make that side of the game good enough and people will get sucked in.

I think that powergaming is a necessary step all gamers have to take, learning games of different sorts and going for what it takes to 'win' is natural. Many people do find that this is all they really want out of a game. This is fine and I would never be against a game that is intended to be played in this fashion. But I neither create them, or really play them anymore because the power in RP is something I can never really master.

Putting depth into a game is not easy, it takes as much effort as creating the rooms, npcs, and other code that support combat and the more common Mud elements. There have to be things to gain, to protect, and real accomplishments involved. But if you can succeed, you open up the game to High Adventure, emotion, drama, or even real gut wrenching horror if that is your desire.

To get a real stage for RP you have to reconsider a lot of basic elements. One easy thing to eliminate is any sort of ranking display that is based on points of levels. If there is not such a list people will tend to focus on competition a little bit less.

A.T
(-)

06-27-2002, 04:36 AM	#4
Alexander Tau Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 101	Any major change in an existing game is going to cause both complaints and loss of some players. Does not matter what the change is, but as you pointed out, once you are used to things being one way changes do cause problems. The best way to make such a change is by introducing powerful RP adventures. Enlisting the assistance of good RP focused players is one way to do this, having Staff play NPCs is another. Make that side of the game good enough and people will get sucked in. I think that powergaming is a necessary step all gamers have to take, learning games of different sorts and going for what it takes to 'win' is natural. Many people do find that this is all they really want out of a game. This is fine and I would never be against a game that is intended to be played in this fashion. But I neither create them, or really play them anymore because the power in RP is something I can never really master. Putting depth into a game is not easy, it takes as much effort as creating the rooms, npcs, and other code that support combat and the more common Mud elements. There have to be things to gain, to protect, and real accomplishments involved. But if you can succeed, you open up the game to High Adventure, emotion, drama, or even real gut wrenching horror if that is your desire. To get a real stage for RP you have to reconsider a lot of basic elements. One easy thing to eliminate is any sort of ranking display that is based on points of levels. If there is not such a list people will tend to focus on competition a little bit less. A.T (-)