[MUD-Dev] Wild west (was Guilds & Politics)

[Adam Wiggins]

[Ola Fosheim Gr=F8stad:]
> Adam Wiggins <nightfall at user1.inficad.com> wrote:
> >How are you defining 'valuable', here?  Valuable like giving direction=
s
> >to a certain location in the game?  Talking about a sports event
> >on TV?  Talking about a movie?  Complaining about your spouse?  Mudsex=
?
>=20
> Valuable as in having an impact on your understanding of the world,
> culture and your own life.  Valuable as in being able exchange
> information that increase trust and allows you to form worldwide
> friendships. Talking without thinking "Gosh, gotta watch my mouth, I'm
> being logged".

Hmmm.  I guess I say whatever I'm going to say, and the idea that someone
might hear me doesn't bother me.  In fact, I'm *more* likely to express
myself if I know someone is actually paying attention.  Perhaps
this is why I have never understood most folks' obsession with
privacy.

> >more like the secret decoder ring from Captain Crunch.  Secret handsha=
kes
> >and the like.  These are useful for many reasons above and beyond
> >log-paranoia.
>=20
> What reasons? It is fun though, adds to the atmosphere.

Well, if you're restricting private channels, then players are going to h=
ave
to take some extra effort in order to have private conversations.  Going
to hidden rooms with locked doors, talking softly, etc are all simple
ones that should handle most situations.  Really sensative information
(like between members of a highly secret guild of assassins) could be
passed through obscure codes, the Crunch ring mentioned above.
I find this kind of stuff quite fun.  I also enjoy the ocassional
mishap - some newbie hearing the plotted assassination of another
character could lead to several quite interesting mini-stories.

> >since it's different from anything I've ever played before, and I'm
> >always looking for things that are different.  And I will probably als=
o
>=20
> Exactly, and this is also one of the reasons that makes such public
> available logs more acceptable (if users are told), simply because it
> presents itself as a weird "distasteful" world where most things are
> different.

Hadn't thought if it that way, but you're right.
Also, on many of my favorite muds, player logs (just captured text)
of certain major mud-events are availible on websites.  This is a lot
of fun, both for people who weren't there getting to see what
happened, and for being able to analyze what actually did happen
from a few paces back (things always seem different in the heat of
the moment).  Naturally people volunteered these logs themselves.

> >> (Good thing only 4 million people speak my language :-)
> >
> >Hey, maybe more than that.  Lots of good bands from your country -
> >I've picked up a few words without even trying.
>=20
> Which ones?  I haven't found one yet!! :-) (none with norwegian texts
> anyway, maybe "street parliament", but only because they are radical
> and partially insane)

My current favorites are Emporer, Mayhem, and more recently Ulver (which
I have been told means 'wolf').