[MUD-Dev] Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list

[clawrenc at cup.hp.com]

In <3.0.32.19970424121011.00a10ab0 at mail.tenetwork.com>, on 04/24/97 
   at 08:12 PM, Jeff Kesselman <jeffk at tenetwork.com> said:

>At 10:26 PM 4/23/97 PST8PDT, you wrote:

>>While not directly associated, an idea I have been playing with
>>(derived from Vance's Big Planet AFAIR) is a MUD where the player
>>characters are a physically weak and ineffectual, unarmoured,
>>generally unaggressive, prey species.  

>Your MUD idea soudns afscimating (mroe so then mine), onyl prob i see
>is that it wont be abig comemrcial succes, if you even care.

Nahh, that aspect wouldn't be popular with many.  While utterly
unconcerned with commercial success, its not an idea I've put much
thought into implementing mostly due to the questions of balance and
presentation of complexity.  

However, now that you mention it, I have a feeling it might both be
implementable and commercially viable if approached right.  The trick
is to use it as a variation on "Of Men and Monsters".  There earth has
been invaded by aliens.  So far so normal.  The aliens also happen to
be sufficiently large (cf at least three orders of magnitude
physically larger) to both utterly ignore (actually fail to even
notice) all Homo Sap's vaunted intelligence and technology, and their
attempts to defend the planet.  Quite simply, they never saw them. 
The result is that to the aliens Homo Sap occupies much the same
position as cockroaches do for us.  An annoying pest that we eradicate
when noticed without thought.

Meanwhile Homo Sap continues to live and develop their (now much
reduced) technology in the interior spaces of the alien's habitats,
space ships, etc.

Now take that as a model and stir in all the normal MUD charms of
magic, fearsome beasts, monsters, etc.  You can still have the human
players wandering about slaughtering dragons, rescueing fair maidens.
and being the biggest things since whipped cream.  You also have the
placement of humans as a vermin species with undue visibility by the
humans to the aliens restulting in mass extermination.  Magic folds in
rather nicely (as in the book) where the lead character discovers how
to mentally control the alien's power source to produce endless
quantities of energy forms (limited only by thought).
  
>We attempetd a dark, oppresive wold with the DarkSun game on TEN (the
>basic model was occupied-france) and had to give it up because the
>majority of the players were totally unable to understand how to have
>fun as ressitance fighters.  They wanetd to be the biggest baddest
>things aroudn or they got upset.

Small loss.

>Rule #1: Noone ever lost money understimating the intelligance of the
>avergae American.

Yup.  That least common denominator cultural approach to commercialism
is one of the many reasons I loathe the US.

--
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...