@Rook said in How to Change MUing:
My ideas are these:
- Narrow the roleplay of all players on the game, giving all characters reason to interact with all others. WoD, as an example, does not seem to lend itself to this, in fact it does the exact opposite: segregate races and characters apart in order to keep thematic secrets. Make a game where the meta-plot can either be ongoing, episode-based, or
Tribalism is a strong urge, and not one created by in-game social structures - even though those can make the existing trends worse. Players in this hobby do create their own us-versus-them narratives even where none are intended, manufacturing a gap between them and the perceived competition if need be; this happens all the time.
The answer for me isn't in mechanics, it's in cultivated culture. But I'll revisit this in a second.
- Get rid of the dependencies on +jobs. Enforce interaction. Let's get back to Q&A on channels. Don't +job an activity, RP it. If something that you want to do seems non-RP fodder, then maybe consider something different. This would require people to wean themselves from dependency on the staff of the game to Do Things. Staff should structure the game to be player-run, player-resolved. Everything from coded systems for CharGen to any combat needs to any crafting, economy, etc. I am not saying that the game needs to be code-heavy, just code-supported.
An issue we're seeing in the hobby is that very often not being dependent on staff is usually a consequence of staff not being dependable; I've seen spheres in nWoD (HM comes to mind) function better when there was no one doing even basic administration, but then you are still depended on having proactive players willing to shoulder the burden of providing interesting dynamics and welcome others to play with their toys - however note the tribalism factor from above.
- Revamp XP gain to be non-singular, non-vote dependent. My idea here was to base a global XP gain pool based on the amount of RP happening on the game. Granted, it would take some hooks into POSE and likewise, but can be done. The more RP, the more XP gets split amongst active characters. On top of that, story goals being met, game being explored and added to, all of these activities add to the XP pool. If you don't RP, you are not active. Channels, paging and OOC conversation do not count. RP in private rooms does not count. While it might further your personal character, it does not further the game, so it is no different than a table-top ST in ruling that your pretty character sheet and folder of pictures gives back nothing to the game at large, so it is not worthy for an XP bonus.
I've coded something like this in the past (for a MUD) which worked pretty well... but the first question is always what you want XP to do for your game (rather than its players); what are the specific behaviors you are trying to incentivize, what are the effects you're after?
For instance Arx tapped into a very positive vein when they turned new players into XP generators, because suddenly you could count on players' greed to encourage socialization and inclusion. I think that might be an answer - it might be a cynical approach but perhaps assuming players will take care of themselves and their friends first, then fashioning the mechanic by which they achieve that to also benefit players in the process then you might have something going.
For instance - and from the top of my head - if a faction generates more XP/goodies for the hicher tiered characters in it when lower tiers are more active, participate in PrPs and advance their characters, then you are giving them incentive to figure out ways to make that happen. I have yet to be in games where someone wasn't trying to creatively exploit the system and improve their own lot, so why not mine those imperatives and make them work in your favor?
Maybe these are stupid ideas, but it seems like we as a community need to change the course of the ship.
I don't think they are stupid.
