[MUD-Dev] Re: META: What are you looking for in this list?

[Benjamin D. Wiechel]

-----Original Message-----
From: J C Lawrence <claw at under.engr.sgi.com>
To: mud-dev at kanga.nu <mud-dev at kanga.nu>
Date: Tuesday, September 22, 1998 5:45 PM
Subject: [MUD-Dev] META: What are you looking for in this list?


<SNIP>

>  What is *YOUR* purpose and interest in this list?  What would you
>really like to get out of the list?  What would you like to do with
>the list?  Some I know are here purely for the technical aspects of
>server development (an area that has received little coverage on the
>list of late): how to write performant networking code, how to tune
>and design their data model, what the concerns and techniques are in
>writing a MUD programming language ala LP/MOO/MUF/ColdC/etc.  Others
>I know are interested in hack'n'slash game design, RP, real virtual
>world creation, etc. etc, etc, etc.


There are a few key things I seek from membership on this list.  First, I
see it as an opportunity to hear the views of others I view as my peers,
even if that is a far stretch of the definition.  It is an opportunity to
hear
what others' thoughts and fantasies are about creating a virtual
environment such as a MUD.

I see it also as an opportunity to refine my own ideas.  When I have the
time and opportunity to post to the list, it is a chance for others to
comment
and dispute my theories and statements, and my practical applications.
No single individual among us has the only right solution to the puzzle --
we each have an interesting and unique solution that is equally viable.
As such, we can all learn from each others' perspectives, and better
refine our own ideas and applications.

Then comes the truly interesting opportunity to discuss and study
the societal effects of the implementations and modifications we all
create on a regular basis.  I find the sociology of the internet to be a
fascinating study, and MUDs are one of the best methods for studying
how individual users interact over the internet, both in a "real" and RP
manner.  The societal groupings that occur sometimes amaze me.

I tend to be a bit of a lurker.  It probably has something to do with the
volume of mail this list generates.  It is often hard for me to keep up,
even when I simply delete all the driver-related emails. ;)  Keep posting
though, I do go back and read the messages, and every once in a
while you will see me post to a thread that is a month or two old. ;)

Strycher....
--
Benjamin D. Wiechel
http://www.toast.net/~strycher/
strycher at toast.net