[MUD-Dev] Total Annilation of Downtime

[Brad McQuaid]

On 12/13/02 2:11 PM, Amanda Walker [amanda at alfar.com] wrote:
> On 12/13/02 1:18 PM, Brad McQuaid <bmcquaid at cox.net> wrote:
 
>> 1. Inspecting someone does not reveal anything that a person
>> couldn't see in real life; it does not tell the player what's in
>> someone else's backpack, or what 'bra' they're wearing (not that
>> there is an 'underwear layer', but if there was, it wouldn't).
 
> This is not at all obvious in-game, at least to a relative newbie.

That's very true.  The challenge of EQ was to take inspiration from
a very compelling yet very niche style of game (text combat MUDs),
attach graphics to it, develop our own world, make some adjustments
to gameplay here and there, PR and Market it as professionally as
possible, and see if it would be commercially viable and mainstream
(mainstream as far as computer games go, mind you).

The result, despite it being far more successful than we'd ever
dreamed (still over 400,000 active, I think), was still a game with
some hard edges, especially for people who'd never played a game
like it before.  If you'd played MUDs, UO, M59, etc, you felt
relatively at home.  If you'd played computer RPGs, it didn't take
too long.  If you'd played paper & pencil RPGs, it took a little
longer.  And if all of this really wasn't your thing, but you were
attracted to the game for other reasons (say, your loved one played
all the time and you wanted 'in on it too', or the social aspects of
it appealed to you, etc.), the beginning part of the game could be
VERY unfriendly to newbies.

But, I think most all MMOG developers have recognized this and are
quite committed to removing barriers of entry and making the
beginning game more natural and less intimidating (but, hopefully,
without neutering the whole game at the same time).

>> 3. This all comes directly from MUDs and EQ IS a graphical
>> MUD. In the MUDs we original designers played, you could 'look'
>> at a player and it would list the items he or she was wearing.

> Sure.  Back in the 80s, I was in the habit of "look <everything>"
> myself, as I'm sure everyone was.  But when someone did it, the
> game didn't tell me I was being inspected (at least, in the MUDs I
> was on, which as I've noted were not primarily RPGs).  What
> annoyed me was the particular EQ habit of having someone walking
> up to you, and without even hearing a "hi, need some armor?", you
> get "so and so is inspecting your equipment" and then they leave.
> If the action is insignificant, it does not need to be highlighted
> in the UI.

*shrug* The games we played did tell you, and it's probably because
they were more item-acquisition-centric (but that's just a guess).
You generally did want to know people were checking out your awesome
suit of armor or your hard-fought-for sword -- it felt good -- you'd
head to the nearest city after a death defying foray into the depths
of an unexplored dungeon, returning with loot and treasure
heretofore unseen... And you and your party would strut through the
center of town smiling gleefully in response to each and every
message informing you that you were being inspected (which was also
preferably accompanied by the occasional /whistle or /drool emote :)

And, again, in 20/20 hindsight the toggle on & off probably should
have been there from the beginning, and it probably should have been
better explained, etc.  But, all in all, quite a nice first attempt
leap out of the niche and into the mainstream, if I do say so myself
:) And sure, with a time machine, I'd go back and make quite a few
changes, but I will say this: I feel strongly that the game turned
out much better WITH inspecting and the message than without (in
other words, if I had to choose either how we did it, or not at all
(no other options), I'd still go with how we did it).

--

---------------------------------------------
Brad McQuaid
President & CEO
Sigil Games Online, Inc.
---------------------------------------------


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