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KaVir · 12-05-2011, 09:19 AM

This discussion rather reminds me of , about the way many players will burn through game content as fast as humanly possible to reach the maximum level (or equivalent), using bots and exploits if possible. Even if the real meat of the game is along the way, and there's little to do at the end, many players seem to focus on reaching the maximum level rather than enjoying the journey to get there. And as I mentioned on that thread, "I've heard players complain about muds that leave all the exciting stuff to the end game. But if most people are going to ignore everything that comes before it anyway, maybe those muds have got the right idea after all."

However end-game content really needs to be open ended, which generally means it's more of a system, tool or sandbox. PK and roleplaying are often mentioned - but what are those really? They're simply ways of allowing the players to entertain each other. Likewise, scoreboards and achievement lists are ways for players to compete with each other, while the more advanced crafting systems start moving in the direction of player-generated content.

Consumable content (such as traditional staff-written areas and quests) is fine for decorating the rungs of the levelling ladder, but it's poorly suited for end game, because your players will eat through it like a frenzied school of piranha - far faster than staff can produce it. And if most of your players are only really interested in reaching maximum level as fast as humanly possible, it does raise the question of how much time and effort the staff should spend on consumable content.

That's not to say you shouldn't have any consumable content, and of course the motivations of players will vary from mud to mud, but I find myself increasingly favouring tools over traditional content. Spending 10 hours developing content that players complete in 10 minutes is not sustainable, I'd far rather spend that time developing a tool that can keep players entertained for years - giving players fishing rods rather than fish, so to speak.

12-05-2011, 09:19 AM	#13
KaVir Legend Join Date: Apr 2002 Name: Richard Home MUD: God Wars II Posts: 2,052	Re: "End game" content? This discussion rather reminds me of , about the way many players will burn through game content as fast as humanly possible to reach the maximum level (or equivalent), using bots and exploits if possible. Even if the real meat of the game is along the way, and there's little to do at the end, many players seem to focus on reaching the maximum level rather than enjoying the journey to get there. And as I mentioned on that thread, "I've heard players complain about muds that leave all the exciting stuff to the end game. But if most people are going to ignore everything that comes before it anyway, maybe those muds have got the right idea after all." However end-game content really needs to be open ended, which generally means it's more of a system, tool or sandbox. PK and roleplaying are often mentioned - but what are those really? They're simply ways of allowing the players to entertain each other. Likewise, scoreboards and achievement lists are ways for players to compete with each other, while the more advanced crafting systems start moving in the direction of player-generated content. Consumable content (such as traditional staff-written areas and quests) is fine for decorating the rungs of the levelling ladder, but it's poorly suited for end game, because your players will eat through it like a frenzied school of piranha - far faster than staff can produce it. And if most of your players are only really interested in reaching maximum level as fast as humanly possible, it does raise the question of how much time and effort the staff should spend on consumable content. That's not to say you shouldn't have any consumable content, and of course the motivations of players will vary from mud to mud, but I find myself increasingly favouring tools over traditional content. Spending 10 hours developing content that players complete in 10 minutes is not sustainable, I'd far rather spend that time developing a tool that can keep players entertained for years - giving players fishing rods rather than fish, so to speak.