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Threshold · 04-14-2008, 10:15 PM

But that IS the consequence - the hit to your pride. That is why PK deaths rarely need any kind of level loss or other penalty to still have an emotional impact. The sheer fact of losing to another living, breathing player is harsh enough. And the joy of beating one is exciting enough even without the danger of losing a level or a big chunk of xp.

(tongue-in-cheek tone here)

When you died, did a probe come out of the computer, inject itself into your brain, and remove all memories of the fun you had that weekend playing the character? Did it literally remove the FUN you had from your overall emotional state, and replace it with a belief that you spent the weekend pulling weeds or some other dreary chore?

If not, then how can you say you "lost" the weekend of play? You didn't lose anything. You lost some xp, a level, or something of that nature, but the actual play you had over that weekend was still experienced and still enjoyed. If the only reason you played that weekend was to increase your points, then you may as well have been playing Progress Quest.

How is it wasted? Do you enjoy playing the mud for the sake of itself or not? If you do not enjoy the process of playing, then something has gone wrong with the game long before you died.

They have it back instantly, because the reason to play a game is to enjoy playing it. If you enjoy playing it, then you never have to "get back" anything.

Oh, I don't think that is a problem. It is very clear that MUD creators are massively catering to this new generation of players that want death to be almost meaningless.

When I first started playing MUDs, the typical death penalty was that you lost half of all experience you EVER EARNED. This would often mean a loss of 5-10 levels (or more) at a time. Knowing that, do you still think MUD creators are not affected by the continual "dumbing down effect" of new players wanting less and less penalties from death?

This is what I was getting at in my post. Tons of people say they miss MUDs, but then they seem to expect MUDs to stop being what made them exciting. They play WoW, get bored with it, play other games or MUDs, and then try to get the developers to make those games more like WoW. Then the developers listen, and the game becomes boring (for the same reason WoW got boring). You can't out-WoW WoW. WoW is good at what it does. Trying to make a MUD that does the same thing is a losing proposition. For players, trying to make every new game you play more like the last one you played is not going to result in more fun for you. There is a reason you stopped playing that other game, so don't lobby to make your new game like the old one.

04-14-2008, 10:15 PM	#14
Threshold Legend Join Date: Apr 2002 Home MUD: Threshold RPG Posts: 1,260	Re: Death But that IS the consequence - the hit to your pride. That is why PK deaths rarely need any kind of level loss or other penalty to still have an emotional impact. The sheer fact of losing to another living, breathing player is harsh enough. And the joy of beating one is exciting enough even without the danger of losing a level or a big chunk of xp. (tongue-in-cheek tone here) When you died, did a probe come out of the computer, inject itself into your brain, and remove all memories of the fun you had that weekend playing the character? Did it literally remove the FUN you had from your overall emotional state, and replace it with a belief that you spent the weekend pulling weeds or some other dreary chore? If not, then how can you say you "lost" the weekend of play? You didn't lose anything. You lost some xp, a level, or something of that nature, but the actual play you had over that weekend was still experienced and still enjoyed. If the only reason you played that weekend was to increase your points, then you may as well have been playing Progress Quest. How is it wasted? Do you enjoy playing the mud for the sake of itself or not? If you do not enjoy the process of playing, then something has gone wrong with the game long before you died. They have it back instantly, because the reason to play a game is to enjoy playing it. If you enjoy playing it, then you never have to "get back" anything. Oh, I don't think that is a problem. It is very clear that MUD creators are massively catering to this new generation of players that want death to be almost meaningless. When I first started playing MUDs, the typical death penalty was that you lost half of all experience you EVER EARNED. This would often mean a loss of 5-10 levels (or more) at a time. Knowing that, do you still think MUD creators are not affected by the continual "dumbing down effect" of new players wanting less and less penalties from death? This is what I was getting at in my post. Tons of people say they miss MUDs, but then they seem to expect MUDs to stop being what made them exciting. They play WoW, get bored with it, play other games or MUDs, and then try to get the developers to make those games more like WoW. Then the developers listen, and the game becomes boring (for the same reason WoW got boring). You can't out-WoW WoW. WoW is good at what it does. Trying to make a MUD that does the same thing is a losing proposition. For players, trying to make every new game you play more like the last one you played is not going to result in more fun for you. There is a reason you stopped playing that other game, so don't lobby to make your new game like the old one.