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

[Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com]

From: Amanda Walker [mailto:amanda at alfar.com]

> Please be careful with your attributions: Tess wrote that in
> response to a message from me.

Oops, I replied to his post so will have it mis-attributed
too. Spare me from the hounds please!

> Is this a problem with my proposed "ghost mode", or is it a
> problem with having a "content totem pole"?  I'd say it was the
> latter. Besides, it's a lot easier to discover spoilers with
> google than by flying around in-game.  Your big puzzle is no
> longer a secret once the first achiever solves it and posts a
> walkthrough.

> Sure.  Build it so that knowing about it isn't the key to
> experiencing it or using it for advancement.  People love
> spoilers, but the existence of travel guidbooks doesn't make
> travel any less interesting or useful...

Fine, but I don't agree with your comparison. The spoiler on the web
is the guide book, and visiting it (even if its as a ghost) is the
travel. So giving open access would indeed destroy the 'content
totem pole'.

Whilst it is an interesting idea to remove the 'content totem pole',
I don't see how you can do that without removing advancement (or at
least any motivation to do it). After all, its what 'There' &
etc. seem to be about and I've not heard any stories about their
overwhelming popularity.

A lot of people ask for the advancement to be removed/de-emphasised
in online games, but do these same people actually play the games
that have listened?

Dan
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