[MUD-Dev] Combat (very long)

[Matthew Mihaly]

At 01:36 AM 6/3/99 -0700, you wrote:
>On 07:36 PM 6/2/99 -0700, I personally witnessed Matthew Mihaly jumping up
>to say:
>>
>>any quality fight is much much too long for anyone to want to read, I
>realized. 
>>We fought for a little while but were unable to kill each other, and
ended up 
>>with a log about 75 pages long.
>

<very brief combat log snipped> 

>Maybe I'm copping out, but I tend to find this sort of thing more
>acceptable than long strings of "swing and hit, swing and miss, cast a
>spell, take a piss" -- hey, that's sort of cute, I should put it in a song
>-- since I find that most games have either a good exploration interface or
>a good combat interface, but never both. Mine has *no* combat interface. As
>a result, I don't have to worry about it. I can invest all my effort in the
>actual game, instead of in making sure that the combat is exciting enough. 

Well, you'll see another post before this, but this is what I mean by
having all these preconceived notions about what combat is. I don't care
what Diku, LP or any of the other endless vanilla muds pass off as combat.
It may be combat in-role, but it's boring as hell. You say that you can
invest your effort in the actual game. Your statement about how you'd
rather skip combat to concentrate on 'the game' reveals your prejudice and,
frankly, your ignorance about what is possible with combat. Combat is very
very much part of the game. People love our fighting system so much that
they are constantly begging us to hold free-for-alls in the Arena (where
they don't lose xp for dying, and don't use up limited-use equipment).
Again, I emphasize that I'm not insulting you. You've just never been
exposed to it.


>
>Hell, it's the 32nd century, combat isn't ABOUT people swinging at each
>other anymore. It's about computers, doing all the tactical work for you
>while you concentrate on the strategic issues. Computers are good at
tactical. 

Yes, I agree. I am, of course, referring to personal combat, not war. 

--matt




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