October 2000
- Interactive Fiction Competition 2000 Aaron Mitchell
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Travis Casey
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Zak Jarvis
- trade skill idea John Buehler
- trade skill idea Dave Rickey
- trade skill idea Zak Jarvis
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Buehler" <johnbue@email.msn.com>
> I find it humorous that only the result of a trade skill can be 'used'.
The
> tools of a trade were made by a blacksmith, so I can 'use' them in that
trade.
I don't recall implying otherwise.
> The bottom line is that any trade should be structured for enthusiasts of
that
> trade. Blacksmithing should involve many steps and many decisions along
the
> way for the player.
I agree.
But trade skills are ultimately formal processes with static components and
predefined outcomes. After the hundredth or thousandth time you've smelted
the ore, heated up the steel, and pounded it out just right, you're going to
start getting sick of it. No matter how complex or flexible the trade skill
has been implemented, the hobby eventually turns into a job because it has
no dynamism apart from random success factors.
The way to make the trade skill continue to be interesting after that point
is to somehow involve social dynamics in the process, making use of the "MM"
aspect of the game. The obvious example is commerce: be a merchant. There
are lots of other examples of course, including plugging trade skills into
large-scale player efforts or even world events.
> Analagously, consider combat. The enthusiasts want
> different weapons, different opponents, varying skill levels, ranged and
melee
> weapons, and so on. You want repetition? How about EverQuest? You do
the
> same thing over and over again, employing the same simple trade.
Not quite. In addition to dynamism (which is crucial), combat offers danger
and social interaction. As anyone who's played paintball or airsoft or
(dare I say) an actual combat veteran can tell you, that's a powerful
mixture. I know plenty of people who still play EverQuest not because the
combat is fun, but because the people they came to know while fighting
monsters are still there and they still enjoy fighting monsters together.
In my original reply to this thread, I pointed out that trade skills
shouldn't be compared to combat or modeled after combat because they have
different appeal. The original poster had suggested that the appealing
elements of combat should be injected into trade skills. I'm saying that
trade skills should be entertaining in different ways than combat, and that
to ensure that they *stay* entertaining, it's necessary to think about what
happens after the widget has been constructed, not just how it's
constructed.
-Josh Olson - trade skill idea Mordengaard
- trade skill idea Richard Tew
- trade skill idea Val Trullinger
- trade skill idea Phillip Lenhardt
- trade skill idea John Buehler
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Wes Connell
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Brad Wyble
- trade skill idea Vincent Archer
- trade skill idea Jeff Freeman
- trade skill idea Corey Crawford
- trade skill idea Yves K
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Tamzen Cannoy
- trade skill idea Robert Zubek
- trade skill idea Patrick Dughi
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Josh Olson
- trade skill idea Matthew Mihaly
- trade skill idea Koster, Raph
- trade skill idea msew
- trade skill idea Batir
- trade skill idea Arabis2000@aol.com
- Open Source 3D Interactive World Server Ian Macintosh
- Reactive keyboard J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #243 - 14 msgs Dr. Cat
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Madman Across the Water
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? sverre@munthe.net
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Jeff Freeman
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Matthew Mihaly
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Marc Bowden
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Zak Jarvis
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Madman Across the Water
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Vincent Archer
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Dave Rickey
- Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Mud / Web Integeration Lee Hulbert
- Mud / Web Integeration Wes Connell
- Mud / Web Integeration Bruce
- Mud / Web Integeration Bruce
- Mud / Web Integeration KevinL
- Mud / Web Integeration msew
- Mud / Web Integeration msew
- Mud / Web Integeration Richard Tew
- Mud / Web Integeration Nathan F. Yospe
- Declaration of the Rights of Avatars sverre@munthe.net
- Declaration of the Rights of Avatars Matthew Mihaly
- Declaration of the Rights of Avatars Justin Rogers
- Declaration of the Rights of Avatars Andy
- OT: Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- OT: Banning Players for Off-Site Activities? Ananda Dawnsinger
- Grandmaster Nuclear Safety Technicion or Grandmaster Warrior ( was John Szeder
- Alternate Means of EQUAL Enjoyment (formerly trade skill idea) Geoffrey MacDougall
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Richard Tew
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Zak Jarvis
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Inq Admin
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Richard Tew
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Matthew Mihaly
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Koster, Raph
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Richard Tew
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Matthew Mihaly
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Richard Tew
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Inq Admin
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain William McCarroll
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Matthew Mihaly
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Mordengaard
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Justin Rogers
- Realistic travel times/virtual terrain Matthew Mihaly
- Grandmaster Nuclear Safety Technicion or Grandmaster Willowreed@aol.com
- [world-create] Progressive Aristocracy (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [world-create] Progressive Aristocracy (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- VRML Richard Tew
- Admin: System outage J C Lawrence
- absolute vs. relative coords KevinL
- absolute vs. relative coords Inq Admin
- absolute vs. relative coords Nathan F. Yospe
- ADMIN: More troubles I'm afraid, and the details of the recovery. J C Lawrence
- integrated character webpages ala Black and White creature pages msew
- integrated character webpages ala Black and White creature pages msew
- Admin: Kang.Nu troubles J C Lawrence
- Admin: Kanga.Nu troubles... J C Lawrence
- travel times (commercial/graphical vs grassroots/text) Fredfish {E. Harper}
- travel times (commercial/graphical vs grassroots/text) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Admin: We're back in business J C Lawrence
- Triangular Damage Infliction System Ben
- Triangular Damage Infliction System Ben Chambers
- Triangular Damage Infliction System Travis Casey
- Fwd: absolute vs. relative coords Nathan F.Yospe
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Christopher Allen
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Chris Lloyd
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? tanis@mediacom.it
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Christopher Allen
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Federico Di Gregorio
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Christopher Allen
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Frank Crowell
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Frank Crowell
- Opinions (even harsh) on Castle Marrach by Skotos? Christopher Allen