[MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)

[J C Lawrence]

On Fri, 17 Dec 1999 09:58:41 +0000 
Scatter  <scatter at thevortex.com> wrote:

>JC wrote:
>> The idea that the game world (or game designer for that matter)
>> is going to come up to me prior to every "dangerous" section and
>> warn me off (however subtlely), or ensure that I can never trap
>> myself without a means of escape is somehow deeply offensive.

> I'd agree that ensuring you couldn't trap yourself without a means
> of escape is offensive - the game then feels like someone is
> watching over you all the time to make sure you don't do something
> stupid. I don't agree that subtle, well placed warnings are
> offensive though, providing they are subtle and well placed and
> not blatant in-your-face warnings.

There's another point underneath here:

  Is a trap room that a player cannot leave without external help a
  Bad Thing to any degree, if given that they can leave with the
  assistance of another player outside the trap room?

  How about if the trap room is easy to wander into, not well
  labled, and easy to do by mistake -- say walking two steps too far
  south off the well travelled north/south road thru the middle of
  town?

  Now how about reconsidering this as an example of game-play
  requiring player interaction and cooperation, and something that
  actively fosters (nay demands) player socialising for effective
  game play?

And of course, for all the above, Why?

> If there is a cave that people go in but never come out of,
> perhaps there are npcs in nearby towns, inns or pubs who tell each
> other tales of people who went missing that way.

Walk softly, carry a big stick, and research every area before you
enter it.  Hurm.  Only one of those points seems to be popular with
HnS players.

> The guideline I work by is that the wary, observant player should
> be able to be not caught out by such things. It should be possible
> for the player to work out that doing whatever it is could be
> dangerous. That certainly doesn't mean that every player is going
> to notice the warning signs, let alone heed them. But if a player
> crys 'not fair, no warning' I want to be able to point to the
> warning.

And in the above case?  The trap isn't fatal, merely incapacitating
until rescue.

--
J C Lawrence                              Internet: claw at kanga.nu
----------(*)                            Internet: coder at kanga.nu
...Honorary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...


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