[MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is suppo

[Miroslav Silovic]

Michael Hohensee <michael at sparta.mainstream.net> writes:

> Brandon J. Rickman wrote:
> > 
> > On Sat, 27 Sep 1997, "Travis Casey" <efindel at polaris.net> replied:
> > >Brandon J. Rickman <ashes at pc4.zennet.com> wrote:
> > >>On Thu, 25 Sep 1997, "Travis Casey" <efindel at polaris.net> wrote:
> > >>>The orc draws his sword!
> > >>... of special dispensation for making a typo.
> > 
> > >Are there any muds which don't have a "time based interface" (by which I
> > >presume you mean a real-time interface, as opposed to a turn-based
> > >interface).  Turn-based seems like it would be impractical for a mud -- if
> > >one player has to go to the bathroom, should all the other players be put on
> > >hold until he/she gets back?
> > 
> > A lot of things seem impractical for muds (like ZenMOO), but some interface
> > questions can't be solved with the typical assumptions of real-time
> > mud interaction.  Yes, in a turn-based mud you would have to wait for
> > AFK players, and perhaps this is such a fundamental change that these new
> > turn-based games fall outside of [the petty world of] mud-dom.  Should
> > we talk about these new play-by-mail-ish mud games?
> > 

(sorry about replying to the reply - I lost the original mail)...

Yes, we should. This is how things ought to be done, IMHO - this is
MUCH more fun that typing 'kill monster' and them sitting back until
the monster is read. It also requires far larger player involvement.
And finally, this is how paper RPGs are done.

In any case, large number of MUSHes use turn-based combat, with one of
the MUSH staff acting as a game master. While this type of combat
takes a long time, it's far more fun then gobs of text scrolling
across the screen.

> You can always establish a timeout.  This works pretty well in
> civilization.  (well, freeciv, anyway.  I presume they have the same
> thing in the original civ.)

Either that or a gamemaster.

For that matter, I wonder if anyone thought of running a DreamPark
system (Dream Park is series of novels written by Niven and Barnes;
they actually started the whole Live Action roleplaying movement).
The idea would be that GameMasters would sit in 'control rooms' and be
able to run monsters at need, control combat, and do large number of
other things.

I'm fairly sure it could be possible to let all the players create
one player and one GM character, and then switch (I personally REFUSE
to discuss cheating aspects of this. If someone cheats, kill, sitelock,
use ident, require 2-3 days to write up the char application. At least
CHEATING isn't a problem on muds I play :) ).

--
I refuse to use .sig