[MUD-Dev] Mass Creation OLC Functions (idea from Elder Games)

[Matthew Mihaly]

> At 08:11 AM 3/17/99 , sboding at fcicom.com wrote:
> >I dunno about everyone else but, I
> >think that making realms is a long annoying process, especially when you
> >need to create alot of them. There are, of course, exceptions, but
> >trying to hand-build a 500 room area is painful. Even if it was possible
> >to use automation to set up a skelton area first and then go in and add
> >the details that make it better.
> >

You seem to be saying that because it is difficult, it's not worth doing.
That's fine, but then again there is an inverse relationship between the
ease of something and the resultant quality of the product. I would MUCH
rather read a 300 page book that has a coherent plot, believable
characters with all the foibles of a real person, and which stimulates my
mind as opposed to one of the endless pieces of junk churned out by
'authors' like Danielle Steele or John Grisham with recycled plots so bad
it is nearly believable that they WERE written by a computer. 

Yeah, making a 500 room area is often tedious, but on the other hand, the
_sole_ argument I've seen for randomly generated areas that has any
validity aside from being an excuse for laziness is that they allow for
randomness. For instance, let's say you have a well-constructed dungeon.
This dungeon would have a storyline behind it as to why it was built,
individual and interesting personalities in it, etc. If you want to add
the value of surprise, stick randomly generated encounters WITHIN the
framework of the area. There's no reason that you couldn't randomize
certain things within it. But, randomization is boring aside from adding
the occassional bit of surprise. It's unimaginative and lacks any sort of
structure. 

To me, Diablo is the ultimate example of this. While obviously lots of
people disagree with me (and they are entitled to their opinions. I don't
begrudge people their enjoyment of Tom Clancy, John Grisham, or the
countless trash romance, fantasy, and sci-fi writers out there), Diablo
was simply boring. Muds offer a far greater degree of community and
interaction while at the same time providing (if they aren't stock games)
an individuality that Diablo lacked.

--matt



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