March 2005
- MUD-Dev dinner at GDC: 10 March 2005 J C Lawrence
- Time travel, borrowing from LegenMUD olag@ifi.uio.no
- Time travel, borrowing from LegenMUD Tiago Carita
- Is content on demand bad? olag@ifi.uio.no
- Is content on demand bad? John Buehler
- Is content on demand bad? Jaycen Rigger
Quick intro:
RPG player/game master for 15 years.
Got involved in UO 6 yrs ago as a player and became a game master.
Learned what I hated about on-line gaming in the first 6 months
and began the journey to creating my own world.
Currently, scripting/developing a free UO server.
I ran across Raph Koster's website about 5 months ago and
downloaded all the pages and links. I've been consuming
everything I can on the subject since then and I go back and
re-read sections of the original website every few weeks or so, or
when I'm concerned I'm caught in a trap.
I intended to observe here a while before trying to contribute,
but it's killing me to talk about some of these issues with people
who have so much experience. If I'm out of line or to tangenty,
just let me know.
Ola wrote:
> What kind of the design would be optimal? I'd propose a two-phased
> iterative design:
> A. Week-day play involves preparation, socialization and
> planning for events.
> B. Week-end play involves executing the event.
As game masters on a free UO server, my wife and I took a server
with a solid player-base (predominantly 20-somethings who'd had some
pen & paper experience, i.e. mature and relaxed) and doubled the
nightly on-line peak numbers within a couple of weeks. We ran
several nightly "mini-quests" and about once a week (sometimes twice
when work would allow) we'd run a scheduled event for the long-term
plot line.
Our style was to broadcast server-wide messages a few minutes prior
to the event (giving people time to prep who weren't aware of it, or
contact buddies to draw bigger crowds, etc.), then after the event,
we'd pop in as our GM characters as the after play role-playing
wound down. Appearing and walking off the scene allowed players
immersed in the contextual afterglow to continue "in-character"
discussions, but others would see a game master and come over to
chat about what just happened. Newbies found this time especially
useful as they always had questions about some of the less well
defined "house rules" of the server.
The mini-quests certainly helped nightly numbers, but I think you're
right about the "big event" at the end of the week in terms of
satisfaction of human-interaction needs. Even players who typically
spent late nights on the server would log within an hour of
finishing a big quest event. In fact, it always bothered me that
after this kind of event, the server seemed to become somewhat of a
ghost town. Players were by no means complaining, and they always
came for the next event, but I couldn't explain it. Maybe this
does.
It's immenently more satisfying to be part of an event with 3 or 4
well prepared and coordinated game masters acting as various NPCs
along with the typical ai monsters to kill. Player tactics become
more developed over time (smarter tactics on the part of the
gamemaster-placed and possessed ai) and player interaction over the
course of the storyline went up on a huge scale. Not just in
in-game terms, either. The "roleplay" discussion boards for the
server actually flared to life as people related their experiences.
In fact, the real reason I've been so amped to find this particular
discussion forum is related to this topic. I'll start a seperate
thread for that, though.
Thanks,
Jaycen Rigger
- Efficient AI? olag@ifi.uio.no
- Efficient AI? Brian Lindahl
- Efficient AI? olag@ifi.uio.no
- Efficient AI? Brian Lindahl
- Efficient AI? Miroslav Silovic
- Efficient AI? Douglas Goodall
- Efficient AI? Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Efficient AI? Robert Zubek
- Efficient AI? olag@ifi.uio.no
- Efficient AI? Brett Bibby
- Wish revisited olag@ifi.uio.no
- Wish revisited Peter Harkins
- Wish revisited olag@ifi.uio.no
- Wish revisited Zach Collins (Siege)
- Wish revisited olag@ifi.uio.no
- secured mud connections Ammon Lauritzen
- secured mud connections Ammon Lauritzen
- secured mud connections Zach Collins (Siege)
- secured mud connections William Leader
- Encounter Crafting (was Wish Revisited) Allan Hill
- Encounter Crafting (was Wish Revisited) Zach Collins (Siege)
- list of open source engines/games sszretter
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Mike Rozak
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vladimir Cole
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Dana V. Baldwin
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Travis Nixon
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Mike Rozak
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vincent Archer
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Exar Kun
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Shelkey, Doneld
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Kelly
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vincent Archer
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Paolo Piselli
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vincent Archer
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Kelly
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Mike Shaver
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Koster, Raph
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Koster, Raph
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Koster, Raph
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Jaycen Rigger
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population ghovs
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Jaycen Rigger
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Barry Kearns
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Jaycen Rigger
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Food (was Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population) John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Paolo Piselli
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] cruise
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] Michael Hartman
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] Michael Chui
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] jbarry
- Dgn: Currency free game [was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population] Pandora
- Dgn: Currency free game Tony Hoyt
- Dgn: Currency free game Kirinyaga
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Kyle Leithoff
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Damion Schubert
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Vincent Archer
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Damion Schubert
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Paul Schwanz
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Allan Hill
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Tony Hoyt
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Craig Huber
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Craig Huber
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Ken Snider
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Howard
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Morris Cox
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Howard
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Morris Cox
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Paul Schwanz
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Tony Hoyt
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Lydia Leong
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Koster, Raph
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population John Buehler
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Damien Neil
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Amanda Walker
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Howard
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Dana V. Baldwin
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Michael Hartman
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population J C Lawrence
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Kelly
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Sean Kelly
- Convenient Community Tools (Was: Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population) Paul Schwanz
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Jaycen Rigger
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population ghovs
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population Max Battcher
- Blog about GDC implies changes to MMORPG population cruise
- Swedish Developers Shailejron
- Burning House Challenge Bloo
- DESIGN : informations about mud design Lethal Thanatos
- DESIGN: Source for free audio clips Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Descriptions Bernard Graham
- Dynamic Descriptions William Leader
- Dynamic Descriptions Christopher Allen
- Dynamic Descriptions Douglas Goodall
- Dynamic Descriptions Tess Snider
- Dynamic Descriptions Bernard Graham
- Dynamic Descriptions Peter Keeler
- Dynamic Descriptions Eric
- Dynamic Descriptions Alex Chacha
- Dynamic Descriptions Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Descriptions Bernard Graham
- Dynamic Descriptions Peter Keeler
- Dynamic Descriptions Bernard Graham
- Dynamic Descriptions Nathan Yospe
- Dynamic Descriptions Alistair Milne
- Dynamic Descriptions Nathan Yospe
- Dynamic Descriptions Paul Schwanz
- Dynamic Descriptions Max Battcher
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Richard A. Bartle
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) John Buehler
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) John Buehler
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) John Buehler
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Max Battcher
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) J C Lawrence
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) William Leader
- XP as gift (was: Attractive Grouping) Eli Stevens (WG.c)
- SOC: Use of MUDs as teaching/organizational tools for schools and businesses Chris Yeh
- DESIGN: Why do MUD players prefer MUDs over MMORPGs Mike Rozak
- Suggestions on Books and Articles Chris
- Suggestions on Books and Articles Sean Marshall
- ANNOUNCE TECH CODE Robert W. Fuller
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) Eric Random
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Kiztent Hatepriest
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Travis Casey
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces John Buehler
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces John Buehler
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Bloo
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Jaycen Rigger
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Koster, Raph
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Koster, Raph
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Louis d'Ambra
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Jaycen Rigger
- DESIGN: The game with a thousand faces Michael Sellers
- Procedural content (was [Sweng-gamedev] Patent 4, 734, 690) (fwd) Hulbert, Leland