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28101: RE: [MUD-Dev] Expected value and standard deviation.
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From: "John Buehler" <johnbue@msn.com>
Newsgroups: nu.kanga.list.mud-dev
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 18:21:25 -0700
References: [1]
Organization: Kanga.Nu
Amanda Walker writes:
> I like the entertainer/musician stuff in SWG. After a few hours
> of learning how it worked, it became clear that it would be great
> fun if I had the widest variety of options available (instruments,
> tunes, effects, etc.). In SWG, there's only one route to this
> (not counting bug exploits): punching a time card for hours and
> hours and hours of in-game time. There's only one way to that
> goal, and it becomes boring well before it accomplishes anything.
> It's not a matter of optimization: the game is structured so that
> boring repetition is the only thing that is rewarded (in this
> respect, at least). Only one path, no risk, no quests or other
> risk/bonus gambles, just an utterly predictable time clock.
> Luckily, I like to talk, so I set up macros to do the boring part
> and spent 6 weeks of casual but regular gameplay running those and
> otherwise treating the game as a chat room. Would I have taken a
> less predictable path if it were available? You bet.
> Unfortunately, this particular reward (in-game performance
> options) are given solely based on odometer reading. If there's a
> desirable goal with only one path to it, that path is going to
> become very well trodden by people interested in that goal. On
> the flip side, of course, is that if there are alternate paths,
> the achievers will figure out (and post web walkthroughs of) the
> least-effort path.
It has always been in the back of my mind that it would be very
revealing to produce a game where every action could be automated by
any player. Which actions players choose to perform manually would
be indicative of interest, I would think. The players would then
have a means of indicating to the game designers what they found
entertaining in a very blunt way.
Obviously your post reminded me of this. You were faced with a
barrier to the entertainment you wanted, so you hurdled the barrier
with automation.
JB
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