Tue 7 Nov 2006
Badges Cooler Than a Flame Sword?
Posted by Nick under MMOG Discussion
On this post about “Trophy Equipment” over at Raph Koster’s blog, Raph was suggesting that badges (ala SWG) be a viable alternative to using wearable inventory items as “trophies” in MMORPG games, though an implementation of the idea that’s actually cool has yet to be found. Folks seem to be leaning both ways on the topic, but here’s My Two Copper (which I posted as a comment on the site):
I have no problem with badges, though they couldn’t really be a “replacement” for trophy items. With that said, here’s my quick idea surrounding badges..
There could be roleplay-esque ways of implementing badges that go a bit beyond a boring blurb on a character sheet that says “…has been to the peaks of no return.. and returned!”. I remember that UO had books that you could write anything you want inside and leave them anywhere to be read, which of course begs the “i b3atZ the b@d ar5e Drag0n” type of entry, BUT… using the book idea a little bit in combination with badges, there could be some sort of blurb about what was done, but perhaps it is served in the form of a auto-entered (read: designer written, but somewhat dynamic as well depending on the events taking place during a triggered encounter) descriptive “journal entry” in a book-item carried by the player in a special inventory slot., time stamped and the whole deal…“December of the 14th year of rebirth, 3rd moon….
Stumbled upon a cobblestone path east of the misty forest, which in turn led to our near demise as we were ambushed by devout members of the Dark Order. We fought valiantly and they were felled, but not without casualties of our own, the scars of which will serve as a reminder of this day for the rest of our lives.”Maybe group members didn’t die in battle, to which there would be other designated text snippets for building the entry, but hopefully you get the basic picture of the idea. Players interested in letting others know what they’ve done in their adventures could show the journal to other players. Maybe journals would “fill-up” and the used “filled” journals would be place-ables as trophies inside of your home. The journals themselves in either case would be titled with the player name, so they could not be forged in that regard and therefore a meaningful account of the player’s activities. Is just my quick one-off thought…..
Of course, as long as there are cool items in a game that not everybody can attain easily, there will be item trophies as well.
November 10th, 2006 at 6:22 am
See I always enjoyed that aspect of a game I play right now where as for a lot of achievements/quests you do gain an item (a la your book example) to be placed inside the home. The only problem with this is now you have to find a motivation for players to go into other players homes. It almost makes it necessary to have something mobile attached to character. I think the badge system in SWG was a great idea and I did like it, but I would always love to see something directly on character as opposed something that would necessitate an action by myself. Armor does this to a point, but there is always the purchase variable. In summary, I guess I really don’t have any suggestions
November 10th, 2006 at 6:51 am
Well, this particular book that I’m referring in my idea would stay on your character, with possibly the option of having “filled” books as placeables in your home. So your character would actually have the book in his/her possession at all times to “show” to other players who want to see your most recent achievements.. You are right about needing a reason to enter somebody’s home though. Some of that falls to the player I would think vs. some mechanic… Of course, in the case of a Guild Hall.. that could be much different (large library area containing records of guild members adventures, for example) ..
Oh, and though my other point may have gotten drowned out in my thoughts as I jotted them down, I did try and point out that there will ALWAYS be a reward in having a cool-looking item/armor on your character. I just think it shouldn’t be the only way of gauging the worldliness of a character, since you really want to give the player a choice to wear clothing/armor for show or utility, not necessarily as a trophy. They most certainly CAN wear armor as a trophy, but as we all know, that will only last so long before inevitably the coolness factor wears off.
Thanks for the comment! =)