[MUD-Dev] More Laws, was Re: DIS: Client-Server vs Peer-to-Peer

[Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Niklas Elmqvist [mailto:d97elm at dtek.chalmers.se]
> Sent: Thursday, December 17, 1998 2:46 PM
> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: DIS: Client-Server vs Peer-to-Peer 
> 
> That said, I humbly move for adding the following to Raph 
> Koster's Laws (I
> just saw you Raph, so don't try to hide! :): "In an on-line 
> game, players
> don't have to save the world on their own all the time -- it 
> is equally
> rewarding to save the world TOGETHER with lots of other people." 

Tell you what--duly added, BUT I changed it to read:

"In an online game, players find it rewarding to save the world. They
find it MORE rewarding to save the world TOGETHER, with lots of other
people."

I'd like to credit the revised version to you anyway, though. :) Please
reply whether this is OK.

And as a corollary, I am adding in this remark I made in a newsgroup
posting recently, along with a brand-new caveat so that it's not taken
too broadly.

"It's generally a bad idea to add in features designed to keep players
from playing together."

"Caveat: unless they are features that reinforce identity of the player
or his group as separate from others (such as secret languages)."

BTW, I recently added a set of laws by Jason Wilson, Hanarra of
Nightfall. Go check 'em out, maybe we can start another argument. As
always, the website is at:

http://mud.sig.net/raph/gaming/laws.html

Since I am going increasingly off-topic, keep an eye out for an article
on handling PvP in commercial muds, written by Derek Sanderson, to
appear in Game Developer magazine soon. Quotes & interview with yours
truly & also with Brad McQuaid of EverQuest. 

-Raph