[MUD-Dev] The reality of constant combat??

[clawrenc at cup.hp.com]

In <3.0.32.19970602130953.006f1ca4 at mail.tenetwork.com>, on 06/02/97 
   at 09:02 PM, Jeff Kesselman <jeffk at tenetwork.com> said:

>Its often assumed that combat is a logical problem solver ina MUD
>environment. 

Agreed.  It is a simplistic solution that attempts to avoid the
problem at hand and in doing so also avoids all the really neat
complexities that can be bound to that problem.

  > l
  You are on a bridge.
  There is a very big guard here.
  > w
  The guard won't let you past.
  > kill guard.
  As you raise you swrd the guard lazily reaches out with one 
    hand and rips your head off.  Did I mention he was a very 
    BIG guard?
  You are dead.

Oops.

  > l
  You are on a bridge.
  There is a very big guard here.
  > w
  The guard won't let you past.
  > l at guard
  He's big.  Well, not just big, "huge" would be a better term.
  > examine guard
  He towers a full 20' feet tall, and has muscles like large lumpy
    boulders.  His fingers look like huge fat gnarled tree trunks
    wrapped around a sword that stand fully two times your height.
    ...etc.
  > examine guard's knuckles.
  They are look twisted and bent.  Many of them are also red and 
    look sore.
  > give guard rheumatic salve
  The guard thanks you with a huge smile.
  > w
  You go west.

Ahh.

A trivial and poor example, but it serves.

>I'ld lvoe to hear any genuine historians on thsi lsit
>address this, but from my understanding there has NEVER been a human
>societhy that remained a society for teribly long where the answer to
>every problem or offense  9or even the majority of them) was mortal
>combat.

There have been exceptions, the huns being one of them.  Some of those
societies were also long lived.  The prevelance of violence however
made more for other social structures which carefully tip-toed about
the mortal combat realms withtou either entering or leaving the touchy
area.