[MUD-Dev] The impact of the web on muds

[coder at ibm.net]

On 17/01/98 at 11:27 AM, Marian Griffith <gryphon at iaehv.nl> said: >On Mon
05 Jan, Ola Fosheim Gr=B0stad wrote:

>> Marian Griffith <gryphon at iaehv.nl> wrote:
>> >Mike wrote:

>> >I did not read this in the original post. However, because there are =
less
>> >clues in a bit of text, a text-only game *requires* more imagination =
from
>> >the player. This actually is both an advantage and a disadvantage.  I=
t is

>> Moria/rogue/nethack.. ? :) But you are probably right, if the writer
>> is excellent then he can draw on vague associations.  But... will a
>> mudplayer read each and every description like a poem? (wouldn't that
>> be great, btw, limrick descriptions?)=20

Read Myer's "Silverlock".  If _anyone_ can get thru that wonder and get
even a quarter of the allusions, parodies, and references I'll gladly bow
in their direction.

cf Keegan's references to similar formats ans uses on Island.

>> What if he is simply moving
>> through the landscape, and ignore the text.  A volcano? Ooops..
>> Couldn't happen with graphics.  Graphics is extremely effective (fast
>> interpretation, lots of info in a small space if done right).

>Yes, which is why graphical games are more suited for 'fast action'

Graphics encourages fast interpretation of the scenes portrayed.  This
does not define "fast actio", or even "fast response" from the game or th=
e
player.  I defines the rate of data transfer (and recognition) between th=
e
game and the player.  Text, conversely, encourages either scanning for th=
e
minimal necessary information (very low bandwidth, great familiarity
required for data pre-parsing, "running light without overbite"), or
comparitively slow perusal and consideration (cf puzzle based games).

I graphical presentations are not necessarily suited for twitch games.=20
Myst, 11th Hour and a goodly gallery of others would suggest its
suitability for more contemplative games.  Various flat-out PK games like
Tron and the hordes of bloody DIKU's are evidence that text can work for
text-mode DOOM,  I don't see that there is a "natural" definition here.

>> >they want.  On the other side,  it also allows the players to fill in=
 the
>> >missing details.

>> That's fine in a singleplayer environment (like a novel).  This has
>> some downsides in multiuser environment where you want players to
>> communicate about the world though, if what you say is true.. Because,
>> if players fill in the missing details, how can they interact
>> efficiently?  They are living in a world of their own... :^)

>You are exagerating of course.  I was referring at the difference betwee=
n
>saying "There is a large and terrifying dragon here." and showing one. A=
s
>a writer I don't have to worry about what is large and terrifying to you=
,
>not even about what you think a dragon looks like.  Those details will b=
e
>more easily supplied by the imagination of the players.  As a graphic ar=
-
>tist I would have to work very hard  to come up with an image of a drago=
n
>that is both large and terrifying and looks like a real dragon to all th=
e
>players. Because I am not allowing for any fantasy by the players. That'=
s
>the difference I was aiming at when I said that text allows the reader t=
o
>fill in the missing parts.  Of course  the picture of a dragon is as muc=
h
>an icon as is the word dragon itself. (Players don't need to describe th=
e
>dragon to know they are talking about it,  just saying 'the green dragon=
'
>is enough to identify it to everybody.)  But this is not true for many o=
f
>the more esoterical creatures you may encounter in a mud.

I would note that I have met dragons in fiction and MUDs that ranged from
sub-rabbit-sized near-harmless salamanders who at their worst might boil
an egg or singe a toe, to creatures the size of large city blocks with th=
e
capability of removing all life from the surface of an an entire planet. =
=20

Dragon !=3D dragon !=3D dragon across the field, or across the playing pu=
blic.=20
Even in the real of larger dragons, compare the expectation of a dragon i=
n
Chinese culture vs Anglo-Saxon Arthurian rewrites...wise honourable
mercurial human benefactor (well, in some cases) vs carrion and virgin
eating gold collector?

--=20
J C Lawrence                               Internet: claw at null.net
----------(*)                              Internet: coder at ibm.net
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...