Aelandron wrote:
Anyway stepping back from solution discussion, for a second, what would you say the problem you're trying to fix is, if you were to give it words? That's perhaps more interesting.
Is it Rp stagnation, lack of stories, lack of direction, etc.? That's what I'm getting out of it... but I could be interpretting things incorrectly. Anyway it's good to identify what you're trying to fix before we jump in with solutions.
The problem is that this game is advertised as being a combination of roleplay and player-killing, and only player-killing is rewarded. The only functional rewards provided by code ARE for player-killing: stat points, experience for more levels/more ability to reincarnate and get right back into a fight, better gear for better killing, et cetera.
The reward for RP? THIS IS A JOB/RESPONSIBILITY, NOT A REWARD.
The only benefit is the tiny speckle of prestige you get, which is often outweighed by the list of people who have managed to fit into the PAR position before. HERO was a much better system for rewarding for the sole fact of the prestige - you get your own helpfile, you have to be challenged and beaten to get overtaken, etc. People who RP tend to like the prestige factor of things, and it is sorely, sorely under-represented in the reward structure of SK.
Look at the raw composition of the Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology. You have four composing factors: achieving, killing, exploring, socializing. Killing, exploring, and achieving go hand in and on SK. The rewards for all three are rewards that help you kill better, and when you kill better, you get more of the achievement reward. It is an entirely recursive reward system that never breaks the cycle to get into that fourth, hard-to-quantify-and-reward factor of socializing.
Socializing lacks benefits or rewards from the game: it doesn't help you kill, it doesn't help you explore, it doesn't help you achieve. You get recognized as a PAR, which is a responsibility/job and not an achievement. The rewards for socializing don't even help you socialize better or more. The idea here is to promote socialization("RP") and reward it. If you want to reward it in ways that don't promote killing, you need to look at your other options: exploring, achieving, and socializing. Socializing needs a reward that is recursive, ie: socializing more helps you socialize more and in different ways. If not that, it needs a reward that factors into exploring or achieving: access of certain mazes/areas and storylines only for high-reward-score players, or much better recognition/prestige to factor into achievement.
My two cents lean HEAVILY towards the recursive reward structure. Play nice with others, you get more tools in your toolkit to socialize and play nice. Other potential rewards may include limited-access areas, which would require immense IMM involvement and must be
masterfully built and scripted to feel like a reward/real exploration. I also really love this idea, but I don't know if I trust any of the builders right now to make stuff this awesome happen. It has to be done once, correctly, creatively, and be completely enthralling and well-written to really tickle that exploration itch.
It could also mean much more prestige-factor, so people could masturbate to how good they RP. PAR doesn't allow that right now.
Superman makes a good point, but at a certain point you have to give something up if you want to move past a roadblock. A kid will always demand you help him tie his shoes unless you make that little brat do it himself - and then he does it himself moving forward. Same kind of mentality here. You have to give trust to have it rewarded with trustworthiness you wouldn't otherwise get. It is more risky, certainly, but...that's where the "you wouldn't get it otherwise" comes into play. If after over a decade of this game being up, that hasn't shown up yet...it won't without a nudge.
We are a community, and we
rely on eachother to have a good time. The forums refuse to reflect this fact, because yes - most people are bratty and immature. However, sometimes feeling like you're trusted by the man upstairs can help make you more trustworthy. In a business sense, culture comes from the top down - people have to have the framework to recognize and thrive upon that reliance before they will ever fit into the framework of reliance and cooperation.
I have always been optimistic and trusting of people. It has almost unerringly worked out well in SK, every time. When I take a noob/scorned player under my wing and give them a good time, it is almost always rewarded with a raised level of play. From my most recent outing, I've had a few shining moments that make me proud and more willing to endorse this kind of mentality/unerring optimism.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
