[MUD-Dev] Introduction

[Jeff Kesselman]

At 07:50 PM 5/12/97 PST8PDT, you wrote:
>I tend to the view that if I want RP I'll go see a play.  That to the
>side, I must realise that this is not a common view, or a widely
>appreciated value system.  As such I should acknowledge that RPing
>holds a near and dear place to many MUDders and influences if not
>forms much of the game structure.
>
>This is why you'll probably see me encouraging RP threads on the one
>hand, and actively diverting them back into nice understandable
>amusingly clever technical areas on the other.

Im amazed at your clarity and evenhandedness in seeing and understanding
your self. First off Mazel Tov.

Now, as you brought it up, this in of itslef is an important and subtle
issue.  In regarding what I said before abt definign the game... RPers do
NOT p-lay the 'same game' as game oriented players and they drive each
other nuts.

RPers will purposely do thinsg that hurt their chances toi 'win', because
the game they are playign is not about winning, its about story
development.  The play btw is a bad comaprsion befause the audiance is
passive.  What RP is more like is actualy DOING imrpov acting.  As one who
both RPs and has some smal amount of serious acting training, ild suggest
that the two are closely releated and that the joy the RPer gets is much
the same as the joy an actor gets-- and is hard to explain to someone who
doesn't do it.

SO in getting back to our design issue... UI woudl STRONGLY suggest you
consider game-oriented players and roleplayers as playign different games,
and either...
  (1) Define your game as oen or the other and discourage the oen that doesnt
      fit your definition
OR
  (2) Design your world to keep these people basicly seperated (this is much
      harder but ahs high reqards if yo ucan do it well.)