MMODesigner.com is the professional blog of Matt “Positron” Miller, where he discusses his views on MMO designs, answers questions from MMO players, and in general bridges the gap between the decisions that an MMO designer has to make and the Player that has to deal with the consequences.
I know that you have spoken about rewards in MMOs, and how they relate to risks. What I was wondering is along the lines of punishment? Now, I’m not talking about banning or any disciplinary actions, but more along the lines of how developers steer players in specific directions using deterrents (maybe that’s a better word). For example, Jack was big on punis- deterring players from dying by adding debt, which Paragon Studios has slowly been alleviating to some degree. In World of Warcraft, the deterrent can be a long run from the graveyard, or more subtly in the case of professions, limited resources. Star Wars Galaxies used to require any Jedi-interested players to max out certain skills, one of which was randomly chosen for your character (and unknown to the player until you maxed it out). So, I was wondering if you had any insight to share on this thought process.
Game Developer In-Training
-William
on Twitter (and nearly every digital system I touch)
Wow posi never thought youd be the one to nab a domain name like this. Im sure its very popluar.