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

[Adam Wiggins]

[Koster, Raph:]
> On Friday, December 05, 1997 7:10 AM, Ola Fosheim=20
> > >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.

Yup.  I belong(ed) to a clan on Arctic known as the Tarsis Shriners.  It's
been in existance for about five years now, and has its own mailing list,
web site (access is restricted to clan members), and there is usually a Shriner
group which exists 24 hours a day on Arctic, with folks joining up as they log
on (you can group anyone that is following any member of the group, so they
only have to follow the first Shriner they see) and others leaving the group
as they log off.  Usually this 'group' is actually nowhere near each other -
it just provides a nice little private channel so that the clan members can
talk to each other quickly and easily.  This both increases the closeness of the
clan members (since they are always in contact when online) and makes it appear
to others that the clan is a single, coordinated entity - ie, you mess with one
lone member and others show up seemingly instantly.