[MUD-Dev] Stranger in a Strange Land (was Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK

[Adam Wiggins]

> Previously, clawrenc at cup.hp.com wrote....
> > name you have assigned to that object is substituted instead of the
> > generic description of that object.  This can result in dialogues as
> > follows:
> 
> What if a player wanders about and names everything he sees?  Do you have
> some kind of decay on object/names that players haven't seen for a while,
> because otherwise you'd end up with a lot of object/name entries?

Not only that, but it wouldn't make much sense otherwise.  I can wander
around my RL neighborhood, naming every trashcan and tree and signpost that
I see, but at the end of the day I'll probably only remember a few of the
more significant things that I named.  I suppose it depends on the
appropriateness of the name, but I doubt there's any way for a mud to judge
that.

> Hmm.  The problem with newbie area, is that all the ones I've seen are
> linear.  A guide (see my comment above) is probably a good idea.  The thing
> is, is that you don't want the newbies thinking that the guide is a guide,
> more like a very friendly person who is offering to show them around. 
> Rather than the guide saying "Ok - lets go this way" the guide could also
> follow the newbie around, pointing out places of interest.

This brings to mind a mud I played many a moon ago.  Certainly long before
I started on one of my own, anyways.  Not too sure, but I think the name
was Worlds of Carnage.  I logged on because they advertised an extensive
skill-tree based system, but what intriguied me the most was the Newbie
Sword.  The Newbie Sword was your standard issue weapon with a really
nicely-written script attached to it.  It was the guide, as mentioned above -
its text was triggered by various actions and locations.  When you entered
the game it told you a few things and told you to ask it any questions you
had.  It seemed to have a fair number of responses - I asked it things like
where to go and to tell me about the mud, to which it gave short but
informative answers.  As I walked around, it commented on locations, ie:
'This is the general goods store, a good place to stock up on provisions.'
When I went outside of town and came to a crossroads, it said, 'Here you can
go north to explore the spooky forest, or south to go to the Castle.  East
lies a land better left to those more experienced.'  When I tried to go
east it (of course) didn't stop me, but just said, 'Be careful!  This way lies
great danger!  Come back later when you are stronger...'  When I was fighting
it cheered me on, and when my hitpoints got low it told me 'Perhaps you
should 'flee' now - it's best to live to fight another day'.  Etc etc.
This was a very nice touch, and certainly kept me playing the mud a lot longer
than I would have otherwise, as well as avoiding those annoying newbie
mistakes, like wandering into tough areas, or not sheathing my sword in
towns that don't allow drawn weapons.