04-15-2004, 05:37 PM
I work in software development (actually in e-commerce operations, but the systems I manage are ones I helped develop), so I find it interesting to see a feature like this implemented.
The thing I find myself asking is... what is the reason for adding the feature? Bolty suggests that it's intended to slow down powerleveling, and that may be the case. And Walkiry suggests that it's designed to get people to play "the right way." Either of these may be the case, or close to the actual reason, or it may be something else.
I believe that Blizzard is trying to create not just a game but an environment, and is trying to set up the game such that it creates an environment that they believe people will want to be in. There are other examples of this -- in the text MUD DragonRealms, one of the key skills that all classes need to build up to advance is the Teaching skill. The only way to improve it is by teaching another player a skill you know better than him/her. This promotes teaming and cooperation.
This change (resting required) will encourage shorter spans of play (<6 hours) separated by fairly lengthy periods of resting at a safe location... for a single character. If you as a player want to hammer on playtime, you can -- you'll just need 3 characters to play 24/7.
The net result of this will be that we'll get to higher levels a little slower as a group in terms of number of days. I believe that this net result is what Blizzard is trying to achieve. I don't know why -- it could be either of the reasons presented above.
The thing I find myself asking is... what is the reason for adding the feature? Bolty suggests that it's intended to slow down powerleveling, and that may be the case. And Walkiry suggests that it's designed to get people to play "the right way." Either of these may be the case, or close to the actual reason, or it may be something else.
I believe that Blizzard is trying to create not just a game but an environment, and is trying to set up the game such that it creates an environment that they believe people will want to be in. There are other examples of this -- in the text MUD DragonRealms, one of the key skills that all classes need to build up to advance is the Teaching skill. The only way to improve it is by teaching another player a skill you know better than him/her. This promotes teaming and cooperation.
This change (resting required) will encourage shorter spans of play (<6 hours) separated by fairly lengthy periods of resting at a safe location... for a single character. If you as a player want to hammer on playtime, you can -- you'll just need 3 characters to play 24/7.
The net result of this will be that we'll get to higher levels a little slower as a group in terms of number of days. I believe that this net result is what Blizzard is trying to achieve. I don't know why -- it could be either of the reasons presented above.
Of course, your mileage may vary.