[MUD-Dev] Re: Trusting the Client (Re: Laws of Online World D esign)

[J C Lawrence]

On Tue, 20 Oct 1998 21:09:24 -0500 
Koster, Raph<rkoster at origin.ea.com> wrote:

> True. :) Nobody is going to play exactly the way that the
> designers intended. However, there IS a line to cross regarding
> how badly the intent is distorted. I don't know that anyone can
> point to where it is, but I bet anyone who's run a game has felt
> it when it was crossed. :)

Remember that rule/law I proposed about no two people playing the
same game?  Goes for designers too.  Put more than one deigner on a
project and they'll each come out thinking that they are and have
created something not-quite-the-same as what the other thinks.
Ditto of course for the players.

Consider UOL and the people trapping and hoarding monsters behind
crate fences:

  Some players consider that an abuse of the system and an outright
bug (as was discussed here).  I expect that some of your people did
too.  You even went so far as to (slightly) change the game
mechanics (the monsters push the crates as they pace) to modify the
usefullness of the unexpected advantages on an unintended
side-effect.

Translation: Even game designers will disagree about when the line
has been crossed in their own games.

Certainly I can recall having game designers tell me about the
unexpected advantages players were taking of side-effects in their
games, initally thinking that the players were "crossing the line"
and then being persuaded that it really was Okay and even laudable
(and visa versa).

--
J C Lawrence                               Internet: claw at kanga.nu
(Contractor)                              Internet: coder at kanga.nu
---------(*)                     Internet: claw at under.engr.sgi.com
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...