July 2007
- [JOB] Linden Lab Brighton Party 26th July Jim Purbrick
- [JOB] Linden Lab Brighton Party 26th July Christopher Lloyd
- [BIZ] Forum software? Mike Rozak
- [BIZ] Forum software? Caliban Darklock
- [BIZ] Forum software? Adam Martin
- [BIZ] Forum software? Chan Yong Wei
- [BIZ] Forum software? Michael Chui
- [BIZ] Forum software? David Johansson
- [BIZ] Forum software? Dana V. Baldwin
- [BIZ] Forum software? David Johansson
- [BIZ] Forum software? Morgan Ramsay
- [DESIGN] Will players pay for public services? Nicholas Koranda
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Nicholas Koranda
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Tom Hudson
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Travis Casey
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Tom Hudson
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Travis Casey
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Aurel Mihai
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Michael Chui
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... John Arras
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Acius
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Tom Hudson
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Tom Hudson
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Jarod Reid
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
- [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Travis Casey
- [DESIGN] Believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Nicholas Koranda
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Nicholas Koranda
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Travis Casey
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Jon Leonard
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Peter Keeler
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Peter Keeler
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Michael Chui
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Caliban Darklock
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency John Buehler
- [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Johnicholas Hines
- [DESIGN] Expected value and standard deviation Nicholas Koranda
********************************************************************
* REPOST
*
* Original Poster: Jeff Cole
*
* Thu Aug 28, 2003 1:27 pm
*
********************************************************************
I have been playing poker for many years and recently have been
teaching a couple of friends Texas Hold 'Em (due in large part to
ESPN/Travel Channel). I had to recently explain to them that it is
not as much about maximizing expected value, as it is balancing
expected value with standard deviation.
And that got me to thinking. In MUDs/MMO* advancement entails
(ridiculously?) increasing the expected value of a player's
performance. Gameplay would certainly be more complex if, like
poker, advancement required one to balance expected value with
standard deviation--if advancement involved more decreasing of
standard deviation and less increasing of expected value.
My concern, though, would be that players, like my friends, would
have a difficult time recognizing such "advancement." Dunno. Such
an approach would necessarily require rethinking other "standard"
gameplay systems.
One of these friends I am teaching has experienced recently modest
(not to her!) success playing on-line and is eager to move up in
stakes. She is an engineer, but even if intellectually I can
explain her "success" has more to do with standard deviation than
with her skill, she resists "believing" it.
Still, it seems to me that if advancement were primarily based on
decreasing standard deviation rather than increasing expected value,
a designer could provide a much broader gameplay experience. Also,
if advancement were less obvious, maybe players would focus on
aspects of the game other than advancement.
Yrs. Affcty,
Jeff Cole - [DESIGN] Expected value and standard deviation Travis Casey
- [DESIGN] Expected value and standard deviation cruise
- [DESIGN] Expected value and standard deviation Darryl Woodford