[MUD-Dev] Introduction

[clawrenc at cup.hp.com]

In <3.0.32.19970512204205.00b7884c at mail.tenetwork.com>, on 05/12/97 
   at 08:40 PM, Jeff Kesselman <jeffk at tenetwork.com> said:

>At 07:50 PM 5/12/97 PST8PDT, you wrote:

>>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.

<blush>

I've been doing this a long time.

A good reference (if not one I agree with) on the area of classes of
players and what those player classses require and desire from a game
is Richard Bartle's recent blurb in the JOMR
(http://mellers1.psych.berkeley.edu/~jomr).  If there's sufficient
internest I'll post a copy here (actually posted it to the list about
6-7 months ago too).  Bartle also discusses (in little depth) what is
needed to create and maintain a game which is attractive to all his
enumerated player classes (giving MUD2 as the archetypal example).

Without getting into specious details, my main disagreement with his
model is that he fails to distinguish between Socialisers and RP'ers
and between Explorers and what for want of a better word I'll call
"Programmers" (ie those whose interest is in the game as a system
which can be manipulated and extended by them (eg MOO programmers)). 
Instread of Bartle's 2D graph of Action/Interaction against
World/Players, I see a 3D spectrum with the third axis being
System/Environment

>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.

Bingo.  I'm in it for the toys, not the RP or hormonal rush.

--
J C Lawrence                           Internet: claw at null.net
(Contractor)                           Internet: coder at ibm.net
---------------(*)               Internet: clawrenc at cup.hp.com
...Honorary Member Clan McFUD -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...