January 2003
- Crafting Money eric leaf
- Crafting Money Derek Licciardi
- Crafting Money eric
- Crafting Money Derek Licciardi
- Crafting Money Kent Peterson
- EthernalQuest Valerio Santinelli
- EthernalQuest Dubious Advocate
- EthernalQuest Jason Gauthier
- EthernalQuest Frank Crowell
- EthernalQuest Valerio Santinelli
- EthernalQuest Frank Crowell
- EthernalQuest Valerio Santinelli
- EthernalQuest Frank Crowell
- FOVs and rendering tricks to vastly improve immersiveness ceo@grexengine.com
- Brand Loyalty Dr. Cat
- Failure of Emulation was EthernalQuest eric rhea
- Failure of Emulation was EthernalQuest Valerio Santinelli
- Failure of Emulation was EthernalQuest eric rhea
- Treadmills (was Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM (wasComplexities of MMOG Servers))) John Szeder
- Massive Corporations and MMORPGs Michael Tresca
- Re : Persistent worlds in NWN (was: Retention without Addiction?) Louis d'Ambra
- Daily Turn-Based System atomly
- Daily Turn-Based System szii@sziisoft.com
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM (wasComp lexities of MMOG Servers)) Hulbert, Leland
- Casual player socialization & Bertering ceo@grexengine.com
- Casual player socialization & Bertering Ted L. Chen
- Casual player socialization & Bertering ceo@grexengine.com
- there.com susan wu
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Jacob Cord
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Koster, Raph
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Jacob Cord
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Michael Tresca
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Richard A. Bartle
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Koster, Raph
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Koster, Raph
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Richard A. Bartle
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook J C Lawrence
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Richard A. Bartle
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook J C Lawrence
- Whereabouts of 'Evil MUD Admin' Handbook Richard A. Bartle
- Treadmills vs. Skill (was Brand Loyalty...) Daniel James
- Treadmills vs. Skill (was Brand Loyalty...) Koster, Raph
- Treadmills vs. Skill (was Brand Loyalty...) Dave Rickey
- Treadmills vs. Skill (was Brand Loyalty...) Damion Schubert
- Treadmills vs. Skill (was Brand Loyalty...) Brian Lindahl
- Treadmills vs. Skill (was Brand Loyalty...) Ted Milker
- Treadmills vs. Skill (was Brand Loyalty...) Matt Mihaly
- Brand Loyalty Dr. Cat
- Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server) Damion Schubert
- Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server) Michael Tresca
- Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server) Dave Rickey
- Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server) Rayzam
- Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server) Amanda Walker
- Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server) Arnau RossellX CastellX
- Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server) Michael Tresca
- Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server) Damion Schubert
- Working with Franchises (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 char per server) Ron Gabbard
- There.Com Amy Jo Kim
- There.Com Rayzam
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM (wasComp lexities of MM Paul Boyle
- Powergaming (was Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server) Damion Schubert
From Michael Tresca
> John Robert Arras posted on Friday, January 03, 2003 10:29 AM
>> I think it's a question of how the game is set up. I have played
>> and run MUDs where powerlevelling is fun and worthwhile. The
>> problem is setting up the mechanics correctly. The system I've
>> seen has following:
> Wow. Everything you list as being "fun" I consider broken and
> considered these flaws to be issues we struggled long and hard to
> fix on RetroMUD.
For a huge part of the game-playing community, optimizing one's
gameplay is fun. I got to spend a day with Jon Van Canegham, who is
the guy behind all of the Might and Magic games. He taught me many
smart things during the day, but perhaps the one that has lingered
with me longest is that _powergaming is fun_. In his mind, the fun
part of Might and Magic can be defined by flying through the air,
felling dragons with your fireballs 3 at a time.
It seems that being a god is a pretty mass market fantasy.
In every other genre, the game designers put a game out, and
encourage players to optimize your way through it. Sure, you could
roleplay what you would LIKE your Civilization to be like, but
you'll eventually be steamrolled by the computer. In Morrowind, you
could roleplay if you liked, but I know a ton of people who found
great delight in recreating characters until they found the best
combination of skills, perks, disadvantages and whatnot.
MUDs and MMPs seem to be the only genre where designers actively try
to discourage players from finding the most efficient path. In
fact, every other genre of game is training players to powergame.
All in the name of 'roleplaying' - an activity that a minority of
the game population actually prefers.
The best games are the ones where efficiently gaming the game
systems is actually fun. The next generation of MMPs should do the
same.
> This is a huge problem because it encourages players to give hard
> earned equipment to newbies. That is, the barrier to getting an
> item is time and effort. Time and effort are in the hands of the
> player -- once the player gets the item, he can give it to
> whomever he wants. We learned very quickly that making things
> almost impossible to get but then making them incredibly powerful
> is NOT a balancing factor. Once it's in the game, it's in the
> game -- nothing should be so hard that it's ridiculously rare, and
> nothing should be so powerful that it has to be ridiculously hard.
> If you're creating such items, it's unbalancing.
Beware of the Overly Balanced MUD! I've seen MUDs where all of the
fun of discovering the most powerful weapon is sapped out of the
game by designers who insist that all weapons should be balanced
and/or equal. You want to make a player giggle with delight? Allow
him to find something that he feels certain shouldn't be allowed to
exist.
As for twinking, I've long held the heretical view that Twinking is
a Good Thing: It's a very welcoming feeling to log into a game and
be given a big uber-sword by another player when you come in. It
says "here. This would have taken you a whole lot of time and
effort, but I'm just giving it to you. Welcome to the
neighborhood." I say, try to allow, encourage, and moderate
twinking.
--d - Nick Yee's Daedalus Project Koster, Raph
- Nick Yee's Daedalus Project Sasha Hart
- Nick Yee's Daedalus Project apollyon .
- Nick Yee's Daedalus Project Louis
- Nick Yee's Daedalus Project Dave Rickey
- New Graphical Mud chris johnson
- Chatbots charl7676@yahoo.com
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers)) Marc Fielding
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers)) Rayzam
- Treadmills (was Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM (wasComplexities of MMOG Servers))) szii@sziisoft.com
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM (wasComplexities of MMOG Servers)) Sasha Hart
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM (wasComplexities of MMOG Servers)) Rayzam
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM (wasComp lexities of MMOG Servers)) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers)) Sasha Hart
- Demodom (was Brand Loyalty (was...)) Ted L. Chen
- Demodom (was Brand Loyalty (was...)) Russell Lewis
- Demodom (was Brand Loyalty (was...)) Travis Nixon
- Demodom (was Brand Loyalty (was...)) Ted L. Chen
- Demodom (was Brand Loyalty (was...)) Damion Schubert
- Questions for User Surveys Nick Yee
- Questions for User Surveys Ted L. Chen
- Questions for User Surveys Marc Fielding
- Questions for User Surveys Quinn, Keith
- Questions for User Surveys Marc Fielding
- Questions for User Surveys Marc Fielding
- Questions for User Surveys Madrona Tree
- Questions for User Surveys Marc Fielding
- Questions for User Surveys bhoyt47@hotmail.com
- Questions for User Surveys shren
- Questions for User Surveys lynx@lynx.purrsia.com
- Questions for User Surveys shren
- Questions for User Surveys lynx@lynx.purrsia.com
- Questions for User Surveys shren
- Questions for User Surveys Jo Dillon
- Casual Powergamer Ben Hoyt
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM(wasCompl exities of MMOG Servers)) Sasha Hart
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM(wasCompl exities of MMOG Servers)) lynx@lynx.purrsia.com
- Treadmills vs. Skill (was Brand Loyalty...) Koster, Raph
- Treadmills vs. Skill (was Brand Loyalty...) Zach Collins {Siege}
- Product Reviews of two MMOG server middleware products ceo@grexengine.com
- EPMG: New acronym on the block Arnau RossellX CastellX
- [MUD-De] Questions for User Surveys Jian Zhang - SISA
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM (wasComp lexities of MMOG Servers)) Sasha Hart
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Freeman, Jeff
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) shren
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Sean Kelly
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) shren
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Sean Kelly
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Dave Rickey
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Sean Kelly
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Sean Kelly
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Rob Bartel
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Ted L. Chen
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Robert Zubek
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) Valerio Santinelli
- NWN gets more MUD-like (again) silk@blackdagger.com
- Random? Numbers (was:Brand Loyalty (was Require ments for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers))) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Random? Numbers (was:Brand Loyalty (was Require ments for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers))) Brian Hook
- Random? Numbers (was:Brand Loyalty (was Req uirements for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers))) Freeman, Jeff
- Random? Numbers (was:Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers))) Dave Rickey
- Random? Numbers (was:Brand Loyalty (was Require ments for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers))) Lars Duening
- Random? Numbers (was:Brand Loyalty (was Req uire ments for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers))) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Brand Loyalty Rayzam
- Brand Loyalty Sasha Hart
- Brand Loyalty Rayzam
- FW: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- FW: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server shren
- FW: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Brand Loyalty Rayzam
- Moral / legal responsibility of games Sasha Hart
- Moral / legal responsibility of games Koster, Raph
- Moral / legal responsibility of games Sasha Hart
- Moral / legal responsibility of games GARY P WILLIAMS
- Moral / legal responsibility of games Koster, Raph
- Moral / legal responsibility of games Ben Hoyt
- Moral / legal responsibility of games Koster, Raph
- Moral / legal responsibility of games Ben Hoyt
- Moral / legal responsibility of games Amanda Walker
- Moral / legal responsibility of games Chris Holko
- ANSI/VT100/VT102 Emulation Bernard Graham
- ANSI/VT100/VT102 Emulation Jacob Cord
- ANSI/VT100/VT102 Emulation J C Lawrence
- ANSI/VT100/VT102 Emulation Kwon Ekstrom
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers)) Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM(wasCompl exities of MMOG Servers)) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Brand Loyalty (was Requirements for MM(wasComplexities of MMOG Servers)) Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Spam: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server John Buehler
- Spam: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server Marc Fielding
- Spam: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server John Buehler
- Spam: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server Travis Nixon
- Spam: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per serve r Koster, Raph
- Spam: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server Travis Nixon
- Spam: Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server Greg Roberts
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Ben Chambers
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Sasha Hart
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Jo Dillon
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Coyote
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Zach Collins {Siege}
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Kwon Ekstrom
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Valerio Santinelli
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Damion Schubert
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Sean Kelly
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Udo SchrXter
- Programming Languages and I/O Algorithms Kwon Ekstrom
- Reply to Caliban Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server CaBil@aol.com
- online games as economies, question from German journalist Konrad Lischka
- Working with Franchises Geoff Lane
- Working with Franchises Damion Schubert
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel Sulka Haro
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel F. Randall Farmer
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel Matt Mihaly
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel Vincent Archer
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel Matt Mihaly
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel Richard Aihoshi aka Jonric
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel Steven J. Owens
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel Matt Mihaly
- Greetings from Habbo Hotel Sulka Haro