[MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On Sun, 22 Jun 1997 11:14:48 PST8PDT, cg at ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA
(Chris Gray) wrote:

>[Caliban:]
>
>:GUI interfaces are not generally a good idea for a text-based MUD.
>:There's too much text entry required, and the mouse/keyboard switching
>:is ultimately a pain and a slowdown. If a particular command in the MUD
>:building interface is easily automated by a button, it is also either
>:easy to type or should be simplified in the MUD design.
>
>I disagree. Some people are not very good at all with keyboards - watching
>them try is very painful. Providing them with a GUI of some sort, even
>for things that are "easy to type", will enable them to enjoy building,
>thus making them much more likely to actually do it once you leave the room.

I don't dispute that a GUI has its advantages, but as I mentioned in
another post, there are times when all three types of input -- mouse
driven GUI, keyboard driven GUI, and command line -- have their
advantages and disadvantages. I just think that there needs to be care
taken to avoid forcing people to use an inappropriate method of design
just because a particular form of input was neglected in one area or
another.

>:	setexits s=A long tunnel/5321|This long tunnel leads off
>:		into the darkness.| n=A dimly lit room/4231|The dimly
>:		lit room appears to be uninhabited.|
>
>Blech! Foo! Barf! This sort of command should not be possible. Not only
>is it difficult to type, it is difficult to read and verify. I am a touch
>typist, but I can't imagine typing that is easier than clicking some
>buttons with a mouse.

Exactly -- the command above sucks harder than anything I have ever had
the misfortune to see anywhere. That's the point. A lot of people, given
the realisation that they can cram something else into a command's
syntax, think they should. Once they create some hideous monstrosity
that nobody really understands, they turn around and go 'Well, I sure
don't need those little do-nothing commands I *used* to use!' and
disable them... forcing everyone to use the horrendous misfeature they
concocted while on God only knows what drug at three in the morning.

-+[caliban at darklock.com]+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
 I am here to grind your eyes harder into the miasmic bile of life; to 
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 the crimson scent of blood as it rises to meet the caress of a blade. 
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