November 2005
- Computer Security for MMOs and Online Games Greg B
- Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation Chris Duesing
- Commentary on Recent PlayOn Blog Social Cohesion Christopher Allen
- quest engine design documents? Johnicholas Hines
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Ghilardi Filippo
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Kiztent
- Effort to produce a quest Vincent Archer
- Effort to produce a quest Damion Schubert
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Damion Schubert
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Randolf Richardson
- Effort to produce a quest Lachek Butalek
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) Sarah Bonner
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) Otis Viles
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? John Mauney
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Sean Howard
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Sam Pointon
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? John Mauney
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? justice@softhome.net
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Lachek Butalek
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs cruise
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Roger Hicks
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains cruise
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lydia Leong
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Dave Mitchell
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lost
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lachek Butalek
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lost
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains jack fredricks
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Mike Rozak
Lydia Leong wrote:
> Quests, in most games, are also not the most efficient way to
> level, thanks to the travel time spent running back and forth
> between them. Players who can endure just grinding will level
> more quickly. But that ends up feeling vastly more tedious than
> anything that has even the vaguest hint of purpose -- "Go forth
> and kill X foozles" is somehow more fulfilling than simply killing
> X foozles in order to get pure XP.
...
> But I want to ask: How does one reduce or eliminate the treadmill,
> rather than just trying to cleverly disguise it?
I think the treadmill part exists because (a) player's actions
against the game world have almost no effect (limiting any effects
to the player's character), and (b) players are in competition with
one another for power for relative PC power; Since the general rule
of MMORPGs is "He who devotes the most time wins", the time it takes
to achieve anything in a MMORPG is stretched out to the time the
most desperate player is willing to devote to it. (Kind of a
variation to the Iron Law of Wages.)
While quests in their current MMORPGs merely act as disguises to the
treadmill, I think quests can be used as a device to incorporate
goals, meaning, choices, problem solving, and various outcomes into
the PvE game.
If "Go forth and kill X foozles" were translated differently, it
might actually use the full potential of quests and help destroy the
treadmill (not just hide it). Some possible changes are:
- Use "NPC Y needs X foozle hides", not "Go forth and kill X
foolzes" ... Which means there are now any number of ways the
player could approach the problem, such as killing X foozles,
buying X foozle hides, stealing X foozle hides, doing a trade with
another PC/NPC for X foozle hides, or learning that NPC Y really
wants a warm coat for winter (which leads to other solutions).
- Provide a more varied impact to the quest than "you'll get XP
and gold reward"... How about: "NPC Y likes your character more
because you got the hides"... which leads to other outcomes, or
even have the foozle-hide quest temporarily affects the world of
all players (as mentioned recently).
- Once there are more varied impacts, players can choose to
undertake the quest (or not) based on the impact. They may even be
able to make choices within the quest. What if a player gives
secretly-defective foozle hides to NPC Y instead of good
ones... How does that affect the outcome? If it does affect the
outcome, it provides a valid choice for the player. Maybe giving
foozle hides to NPC Y makes NPC Y like the player character, but
turns NPC Z (the save-the-foozles brigade) against the player
character. Foozles might be illegal to hunt, and players might
have the option of turning NPC Y into the police.
- You can wrap some narrative around the quest and get the player
more emotionally involved in NPC Y, or the plight of the
rare-and-endangered foozles.
- Providing a world with more sub-games than just combat also
helps.... Maybe players can "study the behaviors" of foozles,
taking photos of them, or tracking them. Or, they could take a
counter quest for the save-the-foozle brigades and paint all the
foozles pink (as per arctic sea-lion cubs).
Mike Rozak
http://www.mxac.com.au - Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Arnau Josep Rosselló Castelló
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Damien Neil
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains ceo
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs cruise
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Jaycen Rigger
- (no subject) Koster, Raph
- Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) cruise
- Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lachek Butalek
- MMO a temporary phenomenon? John Buehler
- Sexism in design lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Sexism in design Marc Bowden
- Sexism in design Louis d'Ambra
- Sexism in design Sean Kelly
- Sexism in design Amanda Walker
- Value Brian "Ayavaron" Ross
- Griefing Brian "Ayavaron" Ross
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Jean, Yannick
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Marc Bowden
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lost
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Damion Schubert
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lachek Butalek
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look)
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Caliban Darklock
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Ryan S. Dancey
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Jeffrey Kesselman
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Ken Sewell
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Joe Ludwig
- Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation Chris Duesing