[MUD-Dev] Re: UBE/high: Re: UBE/high: Re: FW: UBE/high: Re: W IRED: Kilers

[Dr. Cat]

Damion Schubert wrote:
> But can she:
>     * cast heal on either Bob or Joe?
>     * give a potion to either Bob or Joe?
>     * use a wand on either Bob or Joe?
>     * cast a spell which hurts all evil things in the room, which
>         includes Joe?
>     * cast a spell which merely gives good players in the room
> an attack bonus, which would benefit Bob?
>     * Kill Joe's pet daemon, which was beating up nicely on Bob?
>     *Stand between Joe and Bob so Joe can't swing a sword (and
>         probably gets annoying 'You can't attack Dark Marion!' messages)
>         but Bob can shoot with arrows or fireballs?

[more good examples snipped for brevity]

These sorts of problems are some (but not all) of the reasons why I 
personally favor an area-based "PK switch" rather than a player-based
one.  That way everyone in any given situation is operating under the 
exact same laws of physics, so it's more practical to keep things "fair".

Though it is possible, if you have a game that presents a single large 
seamless map like Ultima Online, to have "edge effects" that you have to 
worry about.  What if Bob is standing on the easternmost square of the 
"no PK zone", and Evil Marion is standing one space east of him, in the 
edge of the "PL allowed zone"?  If you have a world model where there are 
discreet regions that you can't interact across the boundaries of, as in 
Furcadia, then you don't have to resolve the question of edge effects.
Still, even if you have to worry about edge effects, it's a lot simpler 
than having the potential to have weird interaction problems *everywhere*.

Also, if you have the rules change in different physical regions, then 
you should be able to get the players performing a fair amount of 
self-segregation, so that people will find themselves encountering those 
with compatible tastes more often, and those with incompatible tastes 
less often.

This is really the primary role of computer networking in social evolution.
Helping people to find others that they have a lot in common with, and 
develop social and emotional ties.  I never would have found another 
human being who was crazy over white nosed coatis if it hadn't been for 
the Internet.  As it is, I've met 3 or 4.  :X)

Traditional MUDs have been catering heavily towards one "affinity group", 
and the way to "find others with tastes similar to yours" is to pick 
which mud to play on.  The net as a whole was the place that catered to 
more than one set of tastes.  When you have a mud that's trying to cater 
to two or more sets of differing tastes, there's no longer such a 
plausible case for keeping the rules uniform everywhere.  And the more 
diverse the tastes you seek to cater to, the stronger the case there is 
for varying the "laws of physics", user interface, etc. from one part of 
the mud to another.  Just like the net itself has very different "laws of 
physics" as you move between Usenet, web boards, mailing lists, IRC, ICQ, 
your web browser, and elsewhere.  Each of these things has a definite 
place, and a strong constituency.

Even here, I'm a "digest mode Mud-Dev resident", while I suspect most 
prefer the regular mode.  (JC, any more news on getting digest mode 
working again?  Pleeeeeease?)

*-------------------------------------------**-----------------------------* 
   Dr. Cat / Dragon's Eye Productions       ||       Free alpha test:
*-------------------------------------------**  http://www.bga.com/furcadia
  Furcadia - a new graphic mud for PCs!     ||  Let your imagination soar!
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