[MUD-Dev] RP thesis...

[Jeff Kesselman]

At 07:23 PM 5/13/97 PST8PDT, you wrote:
>In <Pine.LNX.3.96.970511220459.930W-100000 at mpc.dyn.ml.org>, on
>05/11/97 
>   at 02:16 PM, Matt Chatterley <root at mpc.dyn.ml.org> said:
>
>>On Sun, 11 May 1997, Jeff Kesselman wrote:
>
>>> (2) Social behavior is foistered primarily when 2 things happen between
>>> people;
>>> 	(a) Communciation
>>> 	(b) mutual respect
>
>>I particularly like that you highlight the second, it's often
>>overlooked.
>
>To me this also highlights the core isde of the other main difference
>between RP-centric MUDs and roll-playing MUDs: roll-playing MUDs are
>goal-oriented.  Specifically there is a goal or goals which are
>internally defined to the game system and which are attainable
>entirely within the game system.  
...
>RP MUDs don't seem to define their goals
>within the system, or if the goal does happen to lie within the
>system, is not obtainable entirely within the system.  Inside this
>difference lies the subjective value-add given to good role-playing
>players, implied in which is the example of the player who allows his
>character to die to forward the "story".

Yep, very good.  Death is an interesting issue in a roleplay envrionment.
In RP it is important to understand that you don't have one story, you have
N stories for N players.  In each players' story, theya re the main
character and al lthe other characters are supporting characters. Good
roleplayers cooperate to help each other build their individual stories.
Thus RP is cooperative, not competitive.  Directly competitive behavior is
more suited to the zero (or negative) -sum thinking of roll-players (or
rule-players as I like to call em).  RPers are positive sum in their
thinking, everyone wins.

Now, given that, what palce does deat hhave in an RPers world?  Death, when
and if it comes, shoudl be dramatic and, most of all, have some rgeater
meaning.  remember that PCs are heros... what differentiates heros from
schmucks liek us is that we dies in senseless, stupid ways-- heros die
nobly and for the greater good.  Most RPers wil laccept death IF it is an
appropriate heroic ending to their story...

Quick true story bvy way of example:  I had a character ina Superhero (pen
and paper) game that bercame one of the odlest and highest respected heros
in that world, he even survivied a system change (V&V to Champions) and
time slip into the future and became the fatehr of the next generation hero
and somewhat of a leader... he also alogn the way became crippled...
basicly the prof X of the game.  He finally died by taking one the great
villians of the world, who had also been one of his oldest freinds (basicly
Magneto) out an airlock into vaccum with him.

Thsi was a fitting end for one of the greatest men that world had seen as
well as being "tight" in the film-plot sense.  
Had he died by being hit by a car in a random accident it would have been a
very inappropriate and ugly anti-climax.

How do you bring thsi into a computer judged game? Dman good question I
haven't answered yet.

JK