Thread: Botting - why?
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Old 04-23-2012, 04:09 PM   #26
KaVir
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Name: Richard
Home MUD: God Wars II
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Re: Botting - why?

People bot for items when those items are randomised, consumable, or sellable.

If Quest X always gives you an identical "Hat of Happiness", and it never decays or breaks, and can't viably be traded, then (assuming you've only got one head) there's no point having more than one. But that doesn't necessarily mean the item isn't worth having - it might even be the best hat in the game.

Not "everyone", but a significant number of players will if it gives them an advantage. Your mud has strict rules against botting (as well as rules against various competitive activities), so of course you'll see less of it if you're laying the smack down on those you catch - but I've been running highly competitive muds with no rules for 17 years, so this is a subject I'm intimately familiar with.

No, as I mentioned in the example scenario in my previous post "...If you spend 50 weeks developing some really cool non-repeatable content, then you've got a game where players can reach the top level in 50 hours. Then you can add repeatable and sandbox end-game content. If players decide to bot the end-game content, and it doesn't give them any advantage over the other players, then does it really matter?"

Of course there is, end-game content is essential for long-term player retention. If players have nothing to do once they reach the top level, they'll quit.
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