[MUD-Dev] A flamewar startingpoint.

[Chris Gray]

[Brandon C:]
:> [Me:]
:> I think I would not be bothered by such things as long as they didn't
:> bother me! There needn't be a point - it can all be "atmosphere". However,
:> if I have to spend a minute or two every time my character needs to eat,
:> then I *will* become bothered.
:
:In a mud environment though isn't it true that in order to create
:"atomosphere" you need these details?	 Or should players be expected to
:"emote" everything the designer decides is too tedious to implement?

Having a tedious requirement to 'eat food' is not hard to implement - it
would probably take an afternoon to add. I'm all for having atmosphere in
a game, but there are lots of players (often including me), that don't care
to spend a lot of time doing things that don't move my character forward.

I wonder if it is feasible to have a "detail switch" in a game. Players
who want to go through the motions would turn it on, and so would have to
choose and buy food & supplies, and use them periodically as appropriate.
Other players could turn it off, and just have a small steady drain from
a "food counter", and would automatically stock up when they go into a
store. The former player would have to 'eat food' (or something possibly
a lot more detailed involving setting up camp, taking out utensils, filling
a pan with water, building a fire, choosing what to cook, paying attention
to the cooking, eating the result, washing the pan, putting things away,
etc.), while the latter would only have to occasionally check their
"food count" to make sure it doesn't get too low.

--
Chris Gray   cg at ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA