[MUD-Dev] Graphic MUDS.

[Chris Gray]

[Adam W:]

:The main point of the thread was asking whether Quake or Diablo qualify
:as muds.  I said no, because they are missing a very important aspect
:of a mud: permanency.	(The artificially low number of participants per
:server is also a factor, IMO.)  What makes a mud a virtual world instead of
:'just' a game is that there is an ever-changing world which the player
:can enter, interact with, and leave.  When they return at a later time,
:effects of their previous visit are still in place: things they have
:interacted with stayed that way until changed by another character; their
:own character's skills, attributes, scars, and whatever else are all saved.
:Characters age independant of play-time, but instead in terms of game-time.
:The difference boils down to, I think, that a 'game' is a player-oriented
:world, whereas a mud is just a world.	When any given player or set of players
:leaves, the world continues on its merry way.	When all players leave a
:'normal' game, the game ceases.  This is simulated in D&D by having
:the DM say, "Well, while you were gone..."  In a mud it's for real.

All I can say here, is that I *like* this defining difference. The fact
that the world is a real, ongoing world, whether or not any particular
player (or any players) are there. That's the key for me, I think.

[Geez, don't you hate people who echo a whole bunch of stuff back and then
just tack on a "me too!" :-)]

--
Chris Gray   cg at ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA