[MUD-Dev] Re: Thoughts

[James Wilson]

On Wed, 13 Jan 1999, Caliban Tiresias Darklock wrote:

>The code is the contract:
>Any usable ability or object is a promise. If your game has a "haggling"
>skill, there is obviously someplace you can haggle. If there is a hammer you
>can carry, there must be a nail you can drive. If you do not deliver a place
>to haggle and a nail to drive, you have broken your contract with the
>player. Even if you only do this once, word will spread.

"If a gun is hung on the wall in the first act, it must be fired by the third
act." - Chekov

>The power of two:
>Twice is always. If a player observes an effect twice, he will expect to see
>it every time. If he doesn't, he will think something is wrong. If you
>assure him that nothing is wrong, he will think *you* are wrong.

then there's always the fun of trying to figure out why the frog didn't start
singing when you expected it to. surprises can point to unsuspected depths.

James