Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - The future of text-based gaming?

shadowfyr · 03-09-2007, 09:55 PM

Well. I don't necessarilly suggest using the SL model for running the server, just as an idea for getting land. If someone finds, hires people to do, and gains profit off of a mine, one might expect them to buy more "land" in the game. It might not be possible (especially if you do it right) to make huge profits off of such a mine solo. You might not even make huge gains with a guild. Founding a city, hiring NPCs to do some of it, etc., *will* gain you more. Point not being to micro-manage, but just to add some strategy into the game, beyond which spells to cast against the big mob you plan to take on.

Now, if you did want to do "profit", then you can't use the SL model anyway, since its all about land ownership, which would need to be artificially restricted by some factors to keep one race (or just player races in general) from over powering the lesser NPC races. Any RL rentals would need to be based on something that didn't alter that balance. Only thing I can think of would be something like additional optionals. Like, maybe if I ever got the 3D text script model idea working, one optional extra would be rendered images of specific rooms/items/etc., which would only work properly with the custom client and a paying account. Same with environmental sounds, etc. The more emersive effects you add, the more you "rent". The game balance itself is left uneffected that way and money *stays* something you have to earn in-game.

And really, profitability on SL is the *server* issue, not the world. Internally, within the game world itself, the system is very profitable (and functions as a real economic system, not just due to being tied to the real world one), its just the server usage and maintenance that isn't (even if they hint that its real close).

Its not necessary to mimic the entire model, including real world currency conversion, to impliment a working system. Its just... never been done totally effectively in most cases. In general, most in-game economies are derived based on models that limit what you can do at all. It hardly matter if you can make 10 types of pies if you *can't* find some new item in some other part of the world that no one has seen before and make a new kind of pie with it. You are stuck with 10 pies. Same with armor, equipment, etc. With SL, anything you make *needs* to not only work in the world, it has to do so within its limits and not look so lame no one will buy it. Now.. How you manage that in text, where what something is has nothing to do with its real appearance, you can't expand what something does without running into balance issues, etc... You would almost need to build a physics system that accounted for magic and alchemy, which internally limited what things can *do*, while letting people make almost anything. But then... You still have to have people checking to make sure its not the "Magic Dildo of Flatulence" or something. But heh, its a lot easier to QC a few items than build all of them yourself. I would think. Especially if there where clear time requirements for researching the design, etc., to give the staff time to look at them.

03-09-2007, 09:55 PM	#35
shadowfyr Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 310	Well. I don't necessarilly suggest using the SL model for running the server, just as an idea for getting land. If someone finds, hires people to do, and gains profit off of a mine, one might expect them to buy more "land" in the game. It might not be possible (especially if you do it right) to make huge profits off of such a mine solo. You might not even make huge gains with a guild. Founding a city, hiring NPCs to do some of it, etc., will gain you more. Point not being to micro-manage, but just to add some strategy into the game, beyond which spells to cast against the big mob you plan to take on. Now, if you did want to do "profit", then you can't use the SL model anyway, since its all about land ownership, which would need to be artificially restricted by some factors to keep one race (or just player races in general) from over powering the lesser NPC races. Any RL rentals would need to be based on something that didn't alter that balance. Only thing I can think of would be something like additional optionals. Like, maybe if I ever got the 3D text script model idea working, one optional extra would be rendered images of specific rooms/items/etc., which would only work properly with the custom client and a paying account. Same with environmental sounds, etc. The more emersive effects you add, the more you "rent". The game balance itself is left uneffected that way and money stays something you have to earn in-game. And really, profitability on SL is the server issue, not the world. Internally, within the game world itself, the system is very profitable (and functions as a real economic system, not just due to being tied to the real world one), its just the server usage and maintenance that isn't (even if they hint that its real close). Its not necessary to mimic the entire model, including real world currency conversion, to impliment a working system. Its just... never been done totally effectively in most cases. In general, most in-game economies are derived based on models that limit what you can do at all. It hardly matter if you can make 10 types of pies if you can't find some new item in some other part of the world that no one has seen before and make a new kind of pie with it. You are stuck with 10 pies. Same with armor, equipment, etc. With SL, anything you make needs to not only work in the world, it has to do so within its limits and not look so lame no one will buy it. Now.. How you manage that in text, where what something is has nothing to do with its real appearance, you can't expand what something does without running into balance issues, etc... You would almost need to build a physics system that accounted for magic and alchemy, which internally limited what things can do, while letting people make almost anything. But then... You still have to have people checking to make sure its not the "Magic Dildo of Flatulence" or something. But heh, its a lot easier to QC a few items than build all of them yourself. I would think. Especially if there where clear time requirements for researching the design, etc., to give the staff time to look at them.