The Population Pyramid

[Narf]

I had a thought stemming from the recent discussed changes to the karma system, but it seemed different enough to warrant its own thread.

One of the stated reasons for the karma loss and regeneration seemed to be to shift the PC population to one that is a little bit more in line with the world population. It created a system where people would usually be unable to roll unusual character types (or character types that required staff oversight) over and over again, and would have to occasionally sprinkle in a more normal character into the mix. This isn't an absolute, and wouldn't affect everyone this way (long lived characters aren't affected), but from a staff viewpoint of changing to overall population of the MUD a bit it makes sense as it would affect enough people to have an impact to effect the MUD on a census level.

This is actually a goal I'm very much on board with. I have a personal distaste for games where most are playing the exception. I admit this is a personal preference, but given the karma changes I'm assuming it might be a desired direction of the MUD. That said, I think a reward mechanism might be a better way to achieve this population dynamic. Preventing or punishing people from playing the exception will certainly work, and making this punishment intermittent is one way to mitigate some of the issues that stem from discouraging people from playing the exact character they want, but even so you might consider coming at it from another direction. How about coming up with a reward mechanism for people that willingly help fill out the bottom of the pyramid?

Because you're dealing with large populations you wouldn't even have to make the reward that big a deal. Just enough to tip people who are on the edge already. Some ideas:

*A small skill bump to the 0-karma subguilds could be announced (I suspect they already start with higher skills, but it only works as an incentive if people actually know this).

*Giving some minor cantrip-level psionic abilities to people with no magical skills, maybe slightly stronger if they're a 0-karma character has always been my personal favorite solution.

*Adding a small addendum to the character approval email that acknowledges bog-standard characters as a valuable contribution to the MUD

*A ticker that counts how many hours each player plays 0-karma characters for that appears on their player info in the main screen. You could even code it to actually look like an e-peen if you were feeling ambitious.

Disclaimer: This post might seem to be against exception-level characters. Please don't take it that way and derail the thread. If you really like playing the exception, having more normal people in the game will only help you stand out more. This sort of mechanism can only help you.

[yousuff]

They could make karma like a bellcurve if they felt like it. "We're dropping you by a single karma for the next 3 months so that a player we've had our eye on for a while can try something new and interesting, not that we don't appreciate you!" kinda vibe. Might make players envious though, idk.

If they really want to limit magick users, just put a hard cap on how many there can be at any one time. It doesn't even need to be a hard limit, for example if a high karma player really wants to play a magicker and the cap has been reached, let them go for it. Maybe force that player to play a role that will likely result in their death/the death of an existing magicker? Might balance it out.

[Narf]

They could make karma like a bellcurve if they felt like it. "We're dropping you by a single karma for the next 3 months so that a player we've had our eye on for a while can try something new and interesting, not that we don't appreciate you!" kinda vibe. Might make players envious though, idk.

If they really want to limit magick users, just put a hard cap on how many there can be at any one time. It doesn't even need to be a hard limit, for example if a high karma player really wants to play a magicker and the cap has been reached, let them go for it. Maybe force that player to play a role that will likely result in their death/the death of an existing magicker? Might balance it out.

That's the exact opposite of where I was going with this. Forcing players to do this or restricting players from doing that doesn't count as positive reinforcement.

[yousuff]

Sorry, to clarify, I'm just stating an alternative. I do acknowledge what you're saying as a viable means to ensure a healthy distribution of roles, my opinion contrasts by assuming others shouldn't view the limitations as a punishment but rather just for the overall good of the game. There's a few approaches and it's hard to tell what will work, what will upset people, and what will be inconsequential without a bit of a trial.

[650Booger]

I view this as a way of encouraging more mundane characters, and having karma characters be more of a surprise/exception rather than the norm.  a simple and probably obvious analysis, I'm sure.

I dream of playing a psion someday.  I hope this change makes it more likely and not less that I will get a chance to.

[FantasyWriter]

If you want more mundane characters, make extended subclasses (or at least most of them) be free and eliminate the minor subclasses where there is an extended subclass that has all of it and more in the same set.  I wouldn't mind more mundane extendeds. They make much more well rounded characters, and help negate the hackslash/boardgame/video game class division and guild sniffing. That's something an RPI should always be striving for.