[MUD-Dev] Mihaly's Combat

[Greg Munt]

>On Fri, 4 Jun 1999, Matthew Mihaly wrote:
>
>> Because reducing the damage/healing numbers sucks. It means that someone
>> can just hit (as an example), their DRINK HEALTH button over and over as
>> quickly as possible in order to heal themselves to full essentially
>> instantly.
>
> [Darren Henderson]
>
>I would think something is wrong with a "DRINK HEALTH" function like that,
>I would think it should have some limit to effectiveness....drink to much
>at a time and its poison, loses its effect, something... beyond that
>they should be getting the crap kicked out of them while they are stoping,
>finding the vial, kicking back a cold one etc....


I get the impression that Mihaly's mud has more to do with 'fun', then
representing any kind of reality (real or imaginary). This is not a bad
thing. I believe that Island had the same philosopy? Of course, you are only
appealing to a specific sub-set of players, but that's incredibly difficult
(some would say impossible) not to do.

I guess any aspect of any world has to be viewed in the context of that
world, rather than in the context of some other world. Matt has discussed
previously that when he plays, he sees only text, rather than a world - and
this is the context within which we should discuss his combat system. His
mud does not seem to attempt any suspension of disbelief. Rather, it is a
game where players interact, rather than characters. He does not need, for
example, to worry about the 'reality' of death, because in the context of
his world, death doesn't really exist! Yes, I'm starting to understand his
stance in a previous thread, now.

In Mihaly's world, you could liken combat to sport (as Mihaly has), with
gods (the players) controlling characters as avatars. If an avatar dies, it
doesn't matter, the god simply takes over control of a different character.
The use of healing potions, etc is part of the sport. Indeed, when and which
one to use is part of the strategy of that sport. It may not be a sport that
interests you, but that does not mean that it is 'wrong', to quote Darren
Henderson.

It *is* all too easy to think of Earth as the centre of the solar system. We
need to step back and look at the reality, which may be quite different. I
hope this metaphor isn't too obscure :-)

Greg.




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