[MUD-Dev] DESIGN: WoW quests and content

[Mike Rozak]

First off, thanks to everyone that responded. Your comments have
given me something to think about.

Travis Nixon wrote:

> And to be completely honest, I don't know why it feels so much
> better than the others I've played.  But there's no question that
> it does, because as a player, I'm enjoying it a lot more than I
> have past games, even though as a developer, I KNOW that I'm doing
> the exact same thing I've done in past games.

I noticed this too, but wasn't sure if it was just me. I think it's
the same trick that programmers use to undertake a really long
project. Thinking about 1-3 years of work for a project is daunting,
but breaking it into small 1-5 day tasks makes it seem much less
difficult. The same goes for hiking and mountain climbing; You just
think to yourself, "Make it to the next hill", and when you get
there, change your goal to yet another hill or landmark. Hiking is
pure grind... just one foot in front of the other, watch out for
venemous snakes, and take a drink of water every 20 minutes.

Everyone's comments bring up an interesting issue:

  None of features that people thought WoW did well are that
  difficult to apply to other MMORPGs. The only reasons other
  MMORPGs couldn't completely impliment WoW-like features is because
  they don't have armies of content designers. Even without armies,
  they could go a long way to being more WoW-like in the limited
  quests they do have.

In 6 months time, how many MMORPGs will have more WoW-like quests?
Conversely, how many MMORPGs will want to be distinctly unlike WoW
in order to attract a different market?

Mike Rozak
http://www.mxac.com.au
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