[MUD-Dev] Stranger in a Strange Land (was Usability and interface

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

cg at ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA (Chris Gray) wrote:
>[Ola F:]
>
>:I'm not going to add mail in my system, but I'm not designing a
>:complete system, and it's difficult to make a useful mail system
>:integrated in the world context.
>
>I'm curious as to what you want in a mail system that makes it difficult
>to implement. Is your world such that no reasonable materials for writing
>exist?

As Ralph pointed out, email is an application that is often bolted on
top of the system. For a good reason I believe. If the user has to
check his mailbox manually (in the game context) he might get rather
depressed if he doesn't get mail and annoyed if he finds out he
checked it too late. With detaching the mailsystem from the world you
can more easily construct a useful and safe system (unless of course,
you create a high tech "walking computer" environment, or a
surrealistic environment).

My design is a graphical nonwindowing virtual world, and as this is a
prototype I don't think in-world email is worth the trouble.  I think
it is worth the trouble in a complete system though.

Ola.