[MUD-Dev] Too much magic?

[Brian Hook]

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 09:18:25 -0000, Richard A. Bartle wrote:

> Items don't have to be magical to be over-powered. "Magic" is
> merely a fiction used to explain why some items have features
> beyond what makes physical sense.

> The real question is why virtual worlds "need" super-powerful
> items in the first place, magical or otherwise.

While that's a related question, it's really not the crux of my
concern.  The specific phenomenon I was trying to illustrate is the
need to have "powerful accessories in all slots" -- rings, earrings,
toe rings, anklets, necklaces, etc.

Super-powerful items that make sense in context and which are not
"unique-but-not-really" don't have the same effect on the world's
fiction.

Two warriors wearing very similar armor made by craftsmen "make
sense".  Two warriors wearing the same set of named items and, even
worse, 10 rings of varying types of power, just sort of ruins it for
me.

The magical allergic reaction at least provides a kind of fiction to
prevent people from loading up on magical accessories to a
ridiculous degree but without actually removing magic or magic items
from a game.

To answer your question, "why do we 'need' super-powerful items", I
think that's pretty obvious -- a constantly escalating level of
power between players and a need to objectively assess advancement.

Brian
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