[MUD-Dev] Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface)

[Matt Chatterley]

On Tue, 9 Dec 1997, Vadim Tkachenko wrote:

> coder at ibm.net wrote:
> > 
> > On 09/11/97 at 06:22 PM, "Jon A. Lambert" <jlsysinc at ix.netcom.com> said:
> > >On  9 Nov 97 at 11:00, Marian Griffith wrote:
> > 
> > >> Why grant players powers above those the guards enjoy. If players can
> > >> have little fortresses  that others find it impossible to enter  then
> > >> why not a town as well?
> > 
> > >Good point.  The only answer I can think of, is that players have
> > >feelings.  Mud monsters, well, they're made out of rubber. ;)
> > 
> > One could champion the idea of reducing players to the level of
> > monsters/NPC's as part of the game definition...
> 
> Why reducing? Lets' consider:

Indeed. More 'raising NPCs nearer the level of players' may be
appropriate.
 
> Q: What is a difference between a monster and NPC?
> A: None, except that NPC is apparently is able to talk and [pretend to]
> express other sign of intelligence (which presumes a different level of
> hostility, too).

The difference here being one that is 'thematic' or 'definitional' rather
than actual - some people group NPCs as monsters, others like me prefer to
reserve 'monster' for its actual implications (relatively unintelligent
creatures, or horrors which you care not to describe in detail, and so
forth). It presumes a different sort of hostility rather than level - one
that is less primal, and far more 'pre-meditated'.
 
> Do you consider a dragon a monster or NPC? In according to fantasy
> books, dragons are highly intelligent and can talk many languages...

Aha. Good call; but to me this depends upon context. If you encounter a
Dragon, and manage to communicate with it or it appears in a vaguely
civil or 'human' light, it is an NPC. If it attacks you, ransacks a
village, eats members of your party, torches your sheep, or so forth, it
is a monster. To the public, it is terrifying, and falls instantly under
the monster heading.
 
> Q: What is a difference between a PC and NPC?
> A: None, except that NPC is being controlled by the computer, and PC by
> the player (which is not true in some MUDs when the player is offline).

Yes; the difference can be summed up as "PCs (sometimes) have
socket/network connections attached to them".
 
> Conclusion: NPC == PC == monster, to some extent.

<g>

Regards,
	-Matt Chatterley
	ICQ: 5580107
"I shall never believe that God plays dice with the world." -Einstein