[MUD-Dev] Re: [DESIGN] Antagonizing players

[quzah]

-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Greear <greear at cyberhighway.net>
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 1998 12:08 AM
Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: [DESIGN] Antagonizing players


>Lars Duening wrote:
>> 
>> Probably one my typical silly ideas, but here it goes.
>> 
>> The recent discussion about the ethics of playerkilling made me think
>> about a possibility of setting up players against each other without
>> them noticing it.
>> 
>> My idea is setting up a mud in a way that it is accessible under two
>> different addresses (different names, different IPs). Depending on the
>> address a player logs in, he is assigned the one or the other race. The
>> point now is that in the mud all members of 'the other race', meaning
>> all players logging in under the alternative address, are depicted as
>> NPCs.
>
>My NPC's can gossip and all that.  The only noticeable difference is
>the relative immobility of the NPC, and it's obvious lack of
>a real intelligence (Unless an immort is possessing it!)
>
>> 
>> Apart from the obvious technical details (muting shouts, says, emotes;
>> probably even a check that nobody logs in on both addresses at the same
>> time) - what would the consequences be? Would it work - and if yes, how
>> long until the truth is discovered?
>> --
>> Lars Duening; lars at cableinet.co.uk
>
>Neat idea!  I think you would have some ppl think you were the greatest
>coder ever for a minute or two!  But, you'd probably have a pretty
>sparse
>world, player/NPC wise.  
>
>Might be an interesting social experiment, but I'm not sure you could
>ever iron enough wrinkles out to make it a stable playing environment.
>
>Might give ppl a new perspective of the harsh life that is the lot of
>NPC though!
>
>Ben


I had this same idea a while ago, however I was going to do it a bit
differently. I was planning [Ah, the plans... too bad I don't have
the ability.] on doing something like this: Announce that mud A has
opened on site A. Later announce that mud B has opened on site B.
(This would work fine if you wanted to pay for your mud site on one
of those mud services xyz.mud.mudplace.com, zyx.mud.mudplace.com)

Mud A would actually be the same mud as mud B. However, if you logged
on to mud A, you would be presented with 'A' world, with 'A' races
and choices, oblivious to 'B's existance. -- My actual thoughts were
something along the lines of this: The dwellers of the underworld,
the land under the surface of the planet would log on to mud A, and
the overworld dwellers would log on to mud B. The dwellers of A would
have history and mythos telling of the evils of the burning (hells?)
light. -- IE: if they go to the surface, it hurts their eyes. And
the players on 'B' would have the same to be said for the 'demons
that dwell in the darkness'. (Why would it work? Hell, every game
has a light -vs- darkness struggle [yeah, not EVERY, but you get the
idea])

I think it would work great. It would actually give people an idea
of good vs evil depending on their preception of it. (Just like ye
ol' christian crusaders going to purge the 'holyland' of the army
that had invaded it.) It would all just depend on your perception.

Now then, the players on 'A' would not see the players on 'B' when
they typed 'who' or whatever. Randomizing descriptions would be a
snap I'd think. 

('B' human knight in forest )
Ahead of you a few dozen meters the ground begins to churn!
%ready weapon
You ready your sword.
%combat stance defensive
You take a defensive stance, and wait for the ground to subside.

('A' underworld dwarf, mining. )
Your pick strikes soft earth. You scream in pain as the fabled
hellfire bursts in through the earth!
%scream Quzah! God of rest! Save me from this torment!
You scream, "Quzah! God of rest! Save me from this torment!"
Your voice echos through the mines. You hear footsteps behind you.
Your comrads approach, muttering about your discovery. Someone
runs for the high cleric.

('B' human knight ... )
The ground has stopped moving. You see a tiny hole in the
ground, leading into darkness. A strange oder wafts from the
hole, and you hear odd sounds and scuffling in the darkness.
%write note
(note editor)
%attach note to pidgeon
You attach a note to your carrier pidgeon.
%release pidgeon
You release the pidgeon, and are rewarded with seeing it fly
off towards the castle. You are certin your note will arrive.

('A' underworld )
... cleric has arrived.
... small army has arrived
... small army had decided to venture into the burning air.

('B' overworld )
... knights from the castle have arrived.

('A' world finally meets 'B' world in a clash of blood )

At any rate, I had planned on something like that, to the
members of the dark world, Quzah would be their god of rest
and slumber. The overworld would view Quzah as the god of
death and darkness. It is all a matter of perception.

It should work great if you give all of your npc's mob
programs, and implement languages. The darkworld persons
would see the overworld members as mobiles speaking random
unknown languages, and would see them as strange demons,
the same way they would be percieved by the overworld.

I would make the entire 'A' world hate or at least be
opposed to the 'B' world, so if an earth-golem from below
wandered into the forest, the wimpy stuff (deer, rabbit)
would run, while the big stuff would fight it.

Never would the two ('A' and 'B') show up on the same
'who' or 'where' listings. The mud would treat them as
two different worlds.

Alas, I have not the current ability, and so it is on
my  'to-do-"If I ever am able..."' list.

Again, forgive any formatting problems, and my spelling/
grammar. Since I don't have MS Office, Outlook Express
doesn't have a spell checker, and gods know I can't spell.

-Q-
(God of slumber or death. How do you see it? :)