[MUD-Dev] Re: You think users won't number crunch and statis

[Damion Schubert]

-----Original Message-----
From: Holly Sommer <hsommer at micro.ti.com>

>Seems that this would make even MORE sense to bother with the minutea of 
>implementing, if you have lifespans, and age-related stats. Ie: strength 
>rises in the early stages of life, stabilizes in the middle, and falls 
>off, as a player gets older. Dexterity remains stable initially, and then 
>tails off, etc. Wisdom could be on the increase, always (on average) if 
>you chose to use it as a reflection of accumulated knowledge, in a 
>quantifiable statistic.

Taking this a step further, you can describe things in relative terms:
"You are strong, but nowhere near as strong as you once were."
"Once, you thought yourself brilliant.  Now you are wise enough 
to know you were an impudent fool."

For my two cents, I've found that hiding stats neither helps nor 
hinders the RolePlaying aspect of a game.  Fallout is an 
excellent RPG (tho not a MUD) which shows you every stat, 
including chance to hit for each blow against each monster.
Rather than hurting the RP experience, knowing down to the
numbers what everything does allows you to more firmly 
develop your character along the lines you envisioned.

--damion