[MUD-Dev] Re:)

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad <olag@ifi.uio.no>]

>At 09:29 AM 8/31/97 PST8PDT, Caliban wrote:
>>And before someone jumps on me as a net prude, or as being 'against'
>>netsex, I *do* indulge in and enjoy netsex. But I don't think it belongs
>>on a MUD, and I'm very offended at the idea of people logging onto a
>>game that I've spent months designing and balancing just so they can sit
>>around in some out of the way place and talk dirty to each other. There
>
>Heh. Granted my focus is RP (although ironivcly we are doign a very
>extensively buitl and abalkcned combat system ebcaus eI believe a good
>comab tsystem that cant be abused foir easy victory and mindless slaughter
>ENCOURAGES roleplay.)  
>
>Still, I geuss I havent seen this phenomoenon to nay greater extent then
>Ive sene my game overrun by bad roleplayers, period.  I sigh, do what ic an
>to build educatio nitn om ynext game, and acccept that Strugeon's Law
>applies to my client population as  muchas anything else.

If one is talking about a commercial system, mainly populated by
mainstream off-the-street people, then I don't think one can segregate
the population into rollplayers, roleplayers, chatters, netsexers or
whatever.  The same people do different things whenever they feel like,
or when they happen to meet someone who they like. That is, that goes for
those that actually use the "say" command.  You always find DOOMers though
(kill everything on sight, especially if it talks).

However, I don't think making a commercial MUD dependant on the roleplaying
skills (acting and imagination) is a very profitable option. Actually I
usually feel lucky when I meet one in any system.  Rollplayers (stats-
focusing) players are something different, right?  But what keeps most
people online for a sustained period of time seems to be communication,
that is: their net friends expect them to show up. Social pressure
if you like.

I keep getting confused by how people use terms differently.  I notice
that some take "MUD" to mean anything remotely like DnD on a computer,
but nothing else. To me (and by most other definitions I've seen) MUD
is defined as any type of collaborative recreational virtual world,
that may of course be because the researchers aren't all that interested
in the game component.  Wouldn't it be nice if one said MURPG when one
focus on game component?  That would make my life a lot easier... :)

Ola.