[MUD-Dev] ghost mode (was Re: SW:G)

[Smith]

On September 10, 2003, Justin Coleman wrote:

> I would argue that this is not only not practical in current
> (advancement-based) MMO's, but would actively damage game balance,
> and hence gameplay for those who enjoy the hack and slash part
> (ie, the game as it was designed).

At the core of this objection is the assumption that the game design
holds "ghost-mode" in some sense completely separate from the rest
of the design. This is born out in the concrete example:

> Imagine a group of adventurers navigating a tough dungeon, getting
> surprised by monsters and traps, and fighting for their very
> survival. Then imagine that same group, in constant communication
> with a "ghost-mode" player....

Why would a designer choose to ease communication between
"ghost-mode" players and non "ghost-mode" players? The choice to
allow players to experience content in "ghost-mode" could imply
integrating "ghost-mode" into the overall simulation. Following a
strategy of "modeling the simulation with regard to how the system
it simulates occurs naturally", a designer would probably make it
hard for ghost players to communicate with corporeal players. If a
corporeal player were to fit together a party of adventurers with
strong skills in necromancy (if the modeled system allows this, and
most fantasy-based worlds could probably accomodate it) and require
that the benefit be costly to one or both parties. The party would
then gain the benefit of a ghost partner, at a cost.

Overall, the choice to integrate ghost avatars is just that, a
choice to integrate an avatar with a given strength (an imaterial
existence) into the modeled world. Done consistently, it should be
balanceable, with correct drawbacks. What it would then provide is a
way for players who choose that type of avatar (and the associated
playing style) to experience your content in a different, but still
internally consisten (with respect to the rest of the simulation)
way.

Certainly, the ramifications are reaching, and it may prove
impossible to allow free ranging ghost characters because of content
spoilage. But there are ways it can be turned from an administrative
problem ("players are not allowed to write spoilers", come on...)
into a simulation problem. For example, it could be somehow costly
to the ghost character to explore the corporeal realm. If the player
is willing to trade off some appropriate cost for the benefit of
being a ghost, then a balance that preserves the content discovery
rate could potentially be preserved.

Admittedly, this approach may not fit the original desire of an
avatar entirely alike to a corporeal avatar, but
non-corporeal. Instead, it approaches the issue as though it were
"integrate the concept of non-corporeal avatars into the overall
game design".

-Dave
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev