[MUD-Dev] Re: Let's talk about numbers.

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On 08:03 AM 9/25/98 -0600, I personally witnessed T. Alexander Popiel
jumping up to say:
>
>Users are finicky things; they claim to want flexibility, but what
>they really want is flexibility to do what _they_ want, without
>having to even think about what other people might want.  

That's probably the most succinct and accurate way I've ever heard it put. :)

My take on how to do this: provide reasonable defaults for everything, and
allow configuration in tiers -- i.e. by a list of possible things you could
configure, arranged in order of both topic and complexity. 

I've been thinking about how to do this with a Windows app (yes, I am still
building a Win9x MUD server), and what I came up with as a reasonable
solution was to put a list of bright labeled icons on the left of the
configuration window, populating the right-hand portion with property
sheets in which the most common and basic functions are on the top sheet.
As you move to the right, you have more complex functions and options,
until you finally reach the "Deep Magic" section. 

This lets the majority of users go through and set their options quickly
and easily, by just going down the list on the left where they normally
look for button menus. Advanced users will quickly pick up on the property
sheets and be able to go through them with ease, checking and modifying
things no one in his right mind wants to mess with unless he REALLY knows
what he's doing. 

I still don't have a reasonable safety net in there. I should install one,
but I'm not sure what to use. It needs to be something that protects the
inexperienced without inconveniencing the experienced.

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