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
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Arnau Josep Rosselló Castelló
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Damien Neil
On 11/19/05, Lydia Leong <lwl@black-knight.org> wrote:
> But I want to ask: How does one reduce or eliminate the treadmill,
> rather than just trying to cleverly disguise it?
The simple, unhelpful answer is that you need to make a different
type of game. The current default MMOG design is based around a
treadmill. Not a game with a treadmill on the side, but a treadmill
with a game on the side. Players play to progress, progression is
achieved by investing time. Methods of advancement that don't
require time are considered bugs, and are removed.
There are two ways to move away from the treadmill: Remove the focus
on achievement, or remove the connection between time and
achievement.
If you remove the focus on achievement, you need to find a new
reason for players to play the game. To put it simply, the game
needs to be entertaining in and of itself, not a Skinner box. (To
put it harshly, the game needs to be good, not addictive.)
Many games succeed in this; few, if any MMOGs do. (Or try.)
Tetris, Solitaire, and Counterstrike are all examples of games that
have shown lasting appeal to one degree or another despite having no
focus on advancement. NetHack and other roguelikes are a good
example of games that are advancement-focused in the short term (you
find loot and level up) but not the long-term (you win or die and
then start over from scratch). Magic: The Gathering is a game that
has advancement (buy more cards, build new decks), but doesn't
strictly require it (you can play effectively with a relatively
small investment in cards). Guild Wars is a notable example of a
MMOG that seems to have drawn its advancement model from M:TG.
The other approach of decoupling time investment and advancement
requires a new means of advancement. Money is an common one--a
number of MUDs are free to play, but charge real-world cash for
in-game items. Magic: The Gathering also fits this mold. Among
MMOGs, Project Entropia is the only one I know of that officially
supports this advancement model. Another option is to use
wall-clock time rather than played time; characters advance whether
or not the player logs on. Eve Online uses this approach for
character skill advancement. Yet another option is player
skill--the better player gets a better character. World of Warcraft
theoretically rewards PvP combat in this fashion, although it
demonstrates how to fail at this approach more than anything else:
PvP advancement is as much a matter of time invested as it is one of
skill.
Whether a treadmill-free game can match the success of a
slickly-designed Skinner box like World of Warcraft is uncertain. I
strongly suspect, however, that there is a significant (if much
smaller) market for persistent worlds that try a different approach
than the same old treadmill.
- Damien
- 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