Issues from the digests and Wout's list

[clawrenc at cup.hp.com]

In <199704181455.OAA96944 at out2.ibm.net>, on 04/17/97 
   at 11:07 AM, Nathan Yospe <yospe at hawaii.edu> said:
>On Thu, 17 Apr 1997, Shawn Halpenny wrote:

>Yes, this has been bothering me a little. In an earlier post, I
>described a character who had an instinctive level of agression, and
>_not_ attacking on a slight offense required deliberate action on the
>player/controller's part. The scene went something like this:
>(from the POV of Arghu*ath the Ghladrakh - a large, mamalian warrior
>race) (Note: my pet mud is science fiction, and this is reflected
>here.)

Were I to pick a literature backing for my world it would probably
something long the lines of John M Myers' SilverLock (which is not all
that far from Island when I come to think of it (incredible book BTW
-- a must read)) meets The Man In Black, meets Vinge's "Fire Upon The
Deep".  

>The barkeep walks toward you and plunks a flaming lager down in front
>of you. He stands there expectantly.
...

Example of the game's view of your character's instincts, and its
automatic insertion of your actions on that basis ellided.

...

>This is a good demonstration of what combat is about in Singularity
>2. The long term consequences of killing that troublemaker would have
>been greater than the satisfaction of letting the instinctive
>reaction take control would be worth. It also demonstrates how much
>of the combat is instinctive and computer controlled. Combatants
>nudge and guide their instincts, but the instincts carry a great deal
>of weight.

This is probably why I'm not into role playing per se (personal
identification with character played).  I'd abhor such a game which
made my decisions for me, even if I had set some such configuration
before hand.  I don't like automation at such a personal level.

Makes for horse races...

--
J C Lawrence                           Internet: claw at null.net
(Contractor)                           Internet: coder at ibm.net
---------------(*)               Internet: clawrenc at cup.hp.com
...Honorary Member Clan McFUD -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...