[MUD-Dev] User centered?

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad <olag@ifi.uio.no>]

Are mud designers adding features, for the sake of adding features, or is
the aim to optimize for the user's experience?

For instance, in a recent thread there was a discussion about implementing
in-game languages by translating the messages into something which couldn't
be interpreted by players without the language skill.  When focusing on the
MUD as a coherent fantasy world this sounds nifty. But wait!  The receiver
won't know what the sender said, so what he receives does not matter at all.
Presenting some random strings would have the same effect for less
implementation cost, and indeed why present anything at all?

My next question is... Do players use these features? Or do they in fact use
private tells (paging) if it is available?  How many MUDs have for instance
implemented a mostly unused yell or whisper command? For languages which are
race based... Do players care about race when they choose their friends?
Meaning, do they have any need to selectively communicate with a race?

It is my opinion that the interface should be kept small and effective. I
think designers easily make the mistake of thinking "feature richness will
buy me a rich world". However, understanding the individual user's
experience and perception is the key to making a rich world. Experience
isn't about what is present, but what the user expects and what he perceive.

In another recent thread the question about world size was raised. I am not
a fan of MUDs that look like a big bloated desert or labyrinth, but keeping
the size small or fixed may buy you some negative consequences. For
instance, the number of features (handles) present in a location should
probably be small (6-12) because of limitations in human short term memory.
Finding the needle in the haystack is usually not the most interesting
puzzle. One could use the pull-down menu concept as a metaphore.   If travel
is near-instant/cheap, then people shouting "come here and watch
<interesting stuff>" is likely to cause scene overloading/flooding. Another
problem is that tweaks to something familiar is a lot less interesting than
the awe and surprise which adding new well-designed areas provide.  Add to
this that changes are less welcome than additions.

So, what if designers "roleplay" their design before they implement it? 
Probably difficult.  Does anyone have any ideas about how to test out the
soundness of ideas before implementation? Mockups might do it, but you still
face the trouble of seeing your design as the unsuspecting user would see
it.
--
Ola Fosheim Groestad,Norway      http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~olag/



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