September 2004
- Tuplespaces and MUDs J C Lawrence
- Tuplespaces and MUDs Matt Cruikshank
- Dragon Empires is cancelled dienw
- Dragon Empires is cancelled ceo
- Dragon Empires is cancelled Jim Purbrick
- Dragon Empires is cancelled OWEN, Matt, FM
- Dragon Empires is cancelled Alex Arnon
- Dragon Empires is cancelled Dana V. Baldwin
- Dragon Empires is cancelled Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Room for more? (was Dragon Empires is cancelled) Michael Sellers
- Room for more? (was Dragon Empires is cancelled) Lee Sheldon
- Room for more? (was Dragon Empires is cancelled) Tamzen Cannoy
- Room for more? (was Dragon Empires is cancelled) Damion Schubert
- Room for more? (was Dragon Empires is cancelled) Lee Sheldon
- Room for more? (was Dragon Empires is cancelled) zgj22@drexel.edu
- Dragon Empires is cancelled Jim Purbrick
- Tuplespaces and MUDs Alex Arnon
- Tuplespaces and MUDs Zach Collins (Siege)
- Tuplespaces and MUDs ceo
- Tuplespaces and MUDs Jim Purbrick
- Tuplespaces and MUDs Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Out of Office AutoReply: Distributed State Systems John Borland
- "flat" power treadmill [was: Casual Crowd vs.Time Rich Crowd] HRose
- Cognitively Interesting Combat Mike Rozak
- DGN/TECH: exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info?
- DGN/TECH: exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- DGN/TECH: exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info? Douglas Goodall
- DGN/TECH: exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info? John MacQueen
- DGN/TECH: exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info? HRose
- DGN/TECH: exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info? Damion Schubert
- DGN/TECH: exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info? Mike Rozak
- DGN/TECH: exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info? Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- DGN/TECH: Implementing server side spatial partitiong was:(exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info?) William Leader
- DGN/TECH: Implementing server side spatial partitiong was:(exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info?) Alistair Milne
- DGN/TECH: Implementing server side spatial partitiongwas:(exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info?) John Buehler
- DGN/TECH: Implementing server side spatial partitiong was:(exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info?) Bruce Mitchener
- DGN/TECH: Implementing server side spatial partitiong was:(exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info?) HRose
- DGN/TECH: Implementing server side spatial partitiongwas:(exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info?) John Buehler
- DGN/TECH: exploiting/hacking in MMOGs - sources of info? Per Vognsen
- PHP Mud Jones, Channing
- PHP Mud Chris
- Anyone remember this thesis? Scott Jennings
- Anyone remember this thesis? Paul Schwanz
- SOC Roll play vs. Role play Matthew Rick
- SOC Roll play vs. Role play Zach Collins (Siege)
- SOC Roll play vs. Role play darksuit
- SOC Roll play vs. Role play richard@kavir.org
- SOC Roll play vs. Role play Christopher Allen
- Fwd: Distributed State Systems Alex Arnon
- Fwd: Distributed State Systems Michael Tindal
- Decision making... J C Lawrence
- Decision making... Mike Rozak
- Decision making... Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Decision making... Byron Ellacott
- Decision making... Rayzam
- Decision making... Matt Mihaly
- Decision making... Rayzam
- Decision making... Mike Rozak
- Decision making... Kalle
- Decision making... Jason Messer
- Decision making... Douglas Goodall
- Decision making... Mike Rozak
- Decision making... Byron Ellacott
- Decision making... Tess Lowe
- Decision making... ceo
- Decision making... Douglas Goodall
- Decision making... David Kennerly
- Separating newbies and oldbies Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Separating newbies and oldbies HRose
- Separating newbies and oldbies Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Adam Burr
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Sean Middleditch
- Removing the almighty experience point... Michael Hartman
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... HRose
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Removing the almighty experience point... HRose
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... brian@thyer.net
- Removing the almighty experience point... Paul Schwanz
- Removing the almighty experience point... asteroid@rocketmail.com
- Removing the almighty experience point... Byron Ellacott
- Removing the almighty experience point... Kiztent Hatepriest
- Removing the almighty experience point... Johan
- Removing the almighty experience point... Kiztent Hatepriest
- Removing the almighty experience point... Amanda Walker
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Ben Hawes
- Removing the almighty experience point... Johan
- Removing the almighty experience point... Johan
- Removing the almighty experience point... Amanda Walker
- Removing the almighty experience point... Sean Kelly
- Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
- Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
- Removing the almighty experience point... Johan
- Removing the almighty experience point... Travis Casey
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- [SPAM] Removing the almighty experience point... Dana V. Baldwin
- [SPAM] Removing the almighty experience point... J C Lawrence
- [SPAM] Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- [SPAM] Removing the almighty experience point... Dana V. Baldwin
- Removing the almighty experience point... ceo
- Removing the almighty experience point... Dana V. Baldwin
- Removing the almighty experience point... ceo
- Removing the almighty experience point... Bloo
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Sean Kelly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Sean Kelly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Morgan Dodge
- Removing the almighty experience point... Douglas Goodall
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Ben Hawes
- Removing the almighty experience point... neild-mud@misago.org
- Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
- Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... David Wright
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... David Wright
- Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
- Removing the almighty experience point... Tim Schubert
- Removing the almighty experience point... Devin Smoth
- Removing the almighty experience point... zgj22@drexel.edu
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Jason Messer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Michael Hartman
- Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- Removing the almighty experience point... Devin Smoth
- Removing the almighty experience point... brian@thyer.net
- Removing the almighty experience point... Devin Smoth
- Removing the almighty experience point... Otis Viles
- Removing the almighty experience point... brian@thyer.net
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... brian@thyer.net
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Removing the almighty experience point... brian@thyer.net
- Removing the almighty experience point... neild-mud@misago.org
- Removing the almighty experience point... Sean Middleditch
- Removing the almighty experience point... neild-mud@misago.org
- Removing the almighty experience point... Sean Middleditch
- Removing the almighty experience point... richard@kavir.org
- Removing the almighty experience point... Sean Middleditch
- Removing the almighty experience point... Corey Cauble
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... brian@thyer.net
- Removing the almighty experience point... Ben Hawes
- Removing the almighty experience point... Brian Hook
- Removing the almighty experience point... Ben Hawes
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... brian@thyer.net
- Removing the almighty experience point... Bloo
- Removing the almighty experience point... ceo
- Removing the almighty experience point... Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Removing the almighty experience point... richard@kavir.org
- Removing the almighty experience point... Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Removing the almighty experience point... Corey Crawford
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Freeman, Jeff
- Removing the almighty experience point... HRose
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Mike Shaver
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Mike Rozak
- Removing the almighty experience point... Zach Collins (Siege)
- Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- Removing the almighty experience point... Mike Rozak
- Removing the almighty experience point... Will Jennings
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Travis Casey
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
- Removing the almighty experience point... P J
- [SPAM] Removing the almighty experience point... Dana V. Baldwin
- Removing the almighty experience point... P J
Mike Rozak <Mike@mxac.com.au> wrote:
> Here's a different way to look at the experience issue... What is
> the design reason to have XP in the
> first place?
Been following this discussion and it's provided a very good look at
the reasons dev's still use the level/skillup system. Milestones
are important to players, but everything suggested so far has been a
very linear 'gain power' approach. I'd love to see the xp point
really and truly removed.
Please be gentle, this is my first attempt at contributing here.
What if you looked at it from a more natural organic viewpoint?
One part about being a newbie is that you are a child, your skills
and powers aren't complete yet. Personally, I've always looked at
the 'skill gain' portion of a game as what I have to go thru to 'get
to the game', as such -- while I'm not a powergamer -- I do
powergame thru that portion of the process, and it's not much fun to
me personally.
What happens if you either had a singleplayer portion of the game --
the 'tutorial' that stepped people thru what they needed to know on
game mechanics and world rules and then introduced them full grown
into the multiplayer environment?
I'll grant a lot of players will find this concept foreign, they are
looking for the 'game' in the game. The game at the point becomes
what you give them to do and the community that they form. All
players eventually get to this point anyway. Once
skillgain/leveling is out of the way, many players have focused so
much on that AS the game they are at a loss. IMO, in the long run,
that does more harm than good to developing long running goals and
continued interest.
Another organic element that has always been missing is aging and
eventual retirement or death. This would very handily replace the
milestones that you lose in the xp grind. You are born with X
number of life credits and activities, injury and time eventually
whittle that down so you aren't as effective. Look at it as a
backwards instead of a forwards counter. You are born, you have so
much time to accomplish great deeds, and then you retire or could
die if you participated in very risky events. While I'd make great
death possible in heroic circumstances, it wouldn't be something
that could just happen without the player specifically volunteering
for the risk. If training other skills took life credits you could
virtually allow anyone to do anything but they simply don't have
enough 'time' to do everything and still be effective.
The most common problem with permadeath is -- 'Well, I don't want to
play my character for 9 months and DIE!... That's absolutely a
problem, but using another natural and organic mechanism this can
actually be used to advantage.
One of the chief complaints MMO players have -- it's nearly
impossible to make any kind of mark on the world. If during the
player's lifetime they have children, which they pay to have
trained, raised, clothed -- yadda yadda yadda -- not only are they
an immediate set of goals -- but also long-term, never ending goals.
Players could have families, one of which would be their next
playable character. If the rest went into local pools from which
NPCs in an area are drawn -- you then have mechanisms of influence
over an area. Personal factions which are inherited are possible and
you have multigenerational goals instead of first person immortal
player goals which always eventually end.
Guilds are good but the primary social unit of humanity is
family. Guilds, religion and national affiliations all come
secondary but should not be ignored. The 'other' is very important
in MMOs, family introduces another 'other'. Twinking is a natural
human impulse that has no 'good' outlet (from balance standpoints)
at the moment -- but would not only be accepted but encouraged under
this system.
If the playing character is head of a family, while I wouldn't
recommend letting them play the auxiliary family members directly --
I would let them have a great deal of influence on them when they
popped up in the world as selected townsfolk.
There are infinite possibilities for family reputation, family
influence, family wealth as counters once a system such as this is
established. This would put away all the 'grind' that many players
find tedious and focus on the world.
If families share reputations and these are tracked by account, it's
also a way to put teeth into player justice and discourage griefing.
Player justice cannot work unless the player actually has sufficient
recourse to the offender. Reputation and family factions are active
and tracked by account -- not just player character so what you do
DOES matter and it affects the world directly. Someone being a real
putz would soon find that he cannot buy bread or armor or weapons in
an area because none of the child NPCs serving duty as shopkeeps
will deal with him. The guards would be hostile and the healers
won't heal him. His grandchildren might be able to migrate back to
the area -- but only if they've changed their ways. Someone being
enough of an arse might find that their children all changed their
name and fled home to escape the shame and won't deal with him
either. While an extreme case -- they've effectively banned
themselves by their own actions.
It's been my personal opinion for quite a few years that as long as
the immortal viewpoint is used, MMOs won't progress to their true
form and potential and that a large percentage of the problems
players have with them just won't be solvable.
If the pressure to constantly balance and rebalance “power' is
removed, wouldn't that free up a heck of a lot of time for content
and expansion of the actual world? If you aren't constantly fighting
the battles of tacking on power goals to retain players, wouldn't
that free up creativity to develop 'fun' goals that aren't as likely
to create the mudflation and elder gentrification problems, painting
yourself into a corner? - Removing the almighty experience point... Will Jennings
- Removing the almighty experience point... Mike Rozak
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Amanda Walker
- Removing the almighty experience point... Miroslav Silovic
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Miroslav Silovic
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Miroslav Silovic
- Removing the almighty experience point... Mike Rozak
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Miroslav Silovic
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Miroslav Silovic
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Removing the almighty experience point... Miroslav Silovic
- Removing the almighty experience point... Matt Mihaly
- Griefer repellant (Was Decision making...) Mike Rozak
- Griefer repellant (Was Decision making...) Chek Yang FOO
- Griefer repellant (Was Decision making...) Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Griefer repellant (Was Decision making...) Corey Cauble
- Griefer repellant (Was Decision making...) Damion Schubert
- Griefer repellant (Was Decision making...) Mike Rozak
- Griefer repellant (Was Decision making...) Chek Yang FOO
- State of Play Conference Invitation Noveck, Beth
- BIZ: Breaking the VW marketing model Mike Rozak
- Has the circle gone rusty? (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Has the circle gone rusty? (fwd) Chris
- Has the circle gone rusty? (fwd) Ren Reynolds
- Has the circle gone rusty? (fwd) zgj22@drexel.edu
- Has the circle gone rusty? (fwd) Chek Yang FOO
- Has the circle gone rusty? (fwd) Paul Schwanz
- ClicheQuest J C Lawrence
- Putting the crawl to a halt David Johansson
- Putting the crawl to a halt Vincent Archer
- Shift in time Brian Lindahl
- Shift in time Peter A. Harkins
- Shift in time Mike Rozak
- Shift in time Michael Sellers
- Shift in time Arnau Rosselló Castelló
- Shift in time Robert Zubek
- Shift in time Thomas Clive Richards
- Shift in time Mike Rozak
- Shift in time Robert Zubek
- Shift in time Amanda Walker
- Shift in time Paolo Piselli
- Shift in time Damion Schubert
- Shift in time Paolo Piselli
- Shift in time Michael Sellers
- Shift in time Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes
- Shift in time Sunny Gulati
- Shift in time Brian Lindahl
- Shift in time Matt Mihaly
- Shift in time Brian Lindahl
- Shift in time Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- TCP/UDP/IP Offload NIC for gamers? Harlan Beverly
- TCP/UDP/IP Offload NIC for gamers? Ben Greear
- TCP/UDP/IP Offload NIC for gamers? Jay Moran
- TCP/UDP/IP Offload NIC for gamers? Harlan Beverly
- TCP/UDP/IP Offload NIC for gamers? Ben Greear
- TCP/UDP/IP Offload NIC for gamers? Harlan Beverly
- TCP/UDP/IP Offload NIC for gamers? Jay Moran
- OpenTNL and DirectPlay (hardware acceleration) Harlan Beverly
- OpenTNL and DirectPlay (hardware acceleration) Brian Hook
- OpenTNL and DirectPlay (hardware acceleration) Jeremy Noetzelman
- OpenTNL and DirectPlay (hardware acceleration) Harlan Beverly
- OpenTNL and DirectPlay (hardware acceleration) Brett Bibby
- BIZ: Gaming Hardware Startup, looking for good Gaming Business Development Person Harlan Beverly
- BIZ: Gaming Hardware Startup, looking for good Gaming Business Development Person
- BIZ: Gaming Hardware Startup, looking for good Gaming Business Development Person Amanda Walker
- The Lag monster... Harlan Beverly
- The Lag monster... Matthew D. Fuller
- The Lag monster... Kiztent Hatepriest
- The Lag monster... Kiztent Hatepriest
- The Lag monster... Sean Kelly
- The Lag monster... Justin Randall
- The Lag monster... Sean Kelly
- The Lag monster... Harlan Beverly
- The Lag monster... Amanda Walker
- The Lag monster... lynx@lynx.purrsia.com
- The Lag monster... Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- TCP/UDP/IP Offload NIC for gamers? Byron Ellacott
- DGN/TECH: Implementing server side spatial partitioning William Leader
- DGN/TECH: Implementing server side spatial partitioning Damion Schubert