[MUD-Dev] Guilds & Politics [was Affecting the World]

[Koster]

On Friday, December 05, 1997 7:10 AM, Ola Fosheim=20
Gr=F8stad[SMTP:olag at ifi.uio.no] wrote:
> I've got one question here.  Both UO and M59 was marketed as
> roleplaying games right.  What's wrong about being a jerk then?=20
 Will
> this tendency translate well to non-roleplaying games?

That was more than one question! As for the first question: being a=20
jerk, of course, doesn't necessarily equal roleplaying. In either=20
case, we have far more jerks than a roleplaying game usually supports=20
in terms of villains. :)

As far as how it translates to non-rpgs... well, so far every single=20
social phenomenon we've seen in UO we've also seen in Subspace=20
(Virgin's Asteroids-like client-server game with fluid teams): we've=20
seen the KK rallies both places, the spammers both places, the=20
"roleplayers" both places... When writing my reply to Mike earlier,=20
every time I made a statement I kept checking it in my mind against=20
the Dibbell article, and going "did this hold true on LambdaMOO? Yes."=20
I suspect the nature of the environment may change the nature of the=20
manifestation of this social trend, and the degree of it, but it won't=20
change it THAT much...

> >local level (and re: long range communication -- you *do* know that=20
many UO
> >players use ICQ or Ichat while playing to talk to others at long=20
distance,
> >don't you?).
>
> I recall M59 users using external programs for chatting as well.

There are numerous reasons to do this. Even muds that afford wide=20
ranges of communication capabilities end up with this phenomenon.=20
Legend has tell, gtell, global channels, dynamically themed=20
conferences, OOC spaces, newsletter, discussion lists, web chat board,=20
bulletin boards, and STILL gets groups forming their own off-mud and=20
off-site channels of group communication.

I said:
> >>So I have an answer to that question of a while ago, "How DO you
> >>govern a mud with thousands of players?" Well, you try not to, but=20
in
> [...]

And Mike Sellers answered:
> >many of the code crutches as we can.  I don't think the solutions=20
we've
> >seen thus far scale to where the Net and online entertainment=20
spaces are
> >going to be in, say, three to five years.  IMO, we absolutely must=20
stop

So Ola asked:
> I've got another question.  Does thousands (or rather millions) of
> players add anything vital to the experience at all?  Maybe=20
thousands
> of separate systems with several hundred players each is equally
> rewarding, even more rewarding, because the probability of bumping
> into a friend is higher.

A straight answer: I don't actually know. Perhaps those who have=20
extensively played Meridian 59 (which follows the model you suggest)=20
and UO both could offer a perspective on it.

-Raph