[MUD-Dev] Sony's EverQuest Admits Using Diku

Wed Nov 17 10:27:14 CET 1999

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Hello,

Tis a sad day for mudders!  Read on for some important information about =
Sony's EverQuest.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending time in New York City, =
visiting the New School University for a gaming conference, called =
Re:Play.  Among the guest speakers at the conference, there was Bernard =
Yee, the Director of Product Development for Sony's EverQuest service.  =
Before the actual conference, there was a select group discussion the =
night before where I and other students were able to participate in =
intimate discussion with the speakers.

During Bernard Yee's presentation, he framed the entire demonstration by =
saying that Sony's EverQuest was based on DikuMUD -- which I found at =
first flattering (being a member of the mudding community) and then =
later, perplexing.  Does the Diku Group know this?  Have they been =
compensated?

If you've ever played EverQuest, it does resemble in many ways Diku -- =
it has 'grouping' as well as 'shout' commands, and the actual way the =
characters interact is very similar to what goes on in your standard =
Diku, with a veneer of bad 3D graphics layered on top of the, =
ultimately, mud-like interface.

Personally, I wouldn't mind it if Diku had been the base as long as the =
Diku Group had made some money to fuel their own projects (aka Diku ][). =
 However, I find it hard to believe that this has happened, and the =
general demeanor of Mr. Yee was very disconcerting.  He was deflecting =
of comments or questions that were posed in a way that undermined his =
gaming environment -- he ignored the hard questions and didn't really =
seem interested in the mudding community at large.  ("Oh, you know, I =
don't really know that much about mudding, why don't you send me some =
email?  Here's my card.")  So this brings two important questions to =
light:  first, have the Diku people been compensated fairly?  Secondly, =
if not, will Diku sue?

-Locke
of The Isles
www.mugs.net/~theisles
Coder of Nimud
www.mugs.net/~theisles/nimud

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<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Hello,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Tis a sad day for mudders!  Read on for some =
important=20
information about Sony's EverQuest.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending =
time in New=20
York City, visiting the New School University for a gaming conference, =
called=20
Re:Play.  Among the guest speakers at the conference, there was =
Bernard=20
Yee, the Director of Product Development for Sony's EverQuest =
service. =20
Before the actual conference, there was a select group discussion the =
night=20
before where I and other students were able to participate in intimate=20
discussion with the speakers.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>During Bernard Yee's presentation, he framed the =
entire=20
demonstration by saying that Sony's EverQuest was based on DikuMUD -- =
which I=20
found at first flattering (being a member of the mudding community) and =
then=20
later, perplexing.  Does the Diku Group know this?  Have they =
been=20
compensated?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>If you've ever played EverQuest, it does resemble in =
many ways=20
Diku -- it has 'grouping' as well as 'shout' commands, and the actual =
way the=20
characters interact is very similar to what goes on in your standard =
Diku, with=20
a veneer of bad 3D graphics layered on top of the, ultimately, mud-like=20
interface.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Personally, I wouldn't mind it if Diku had been the =
base as=20
long as the Diku Group had made some money to fuel their own projects =
(aka Diku=20
][).  However, I find it hard to believe that this has happened, =
and the=20
general demeanor of Mr. Yee was very disconcerting.  He was =
deflecting of=20
comments or questions that were posed in a way that undermined his =
gaming=20
environment -- he ignored the hard questions and didn't really seem =
interested=20
in the mudding community at large.  ("Oh, you know, I don't =
really=20
know that much about mudding, why don't you send me some email?  =
Here's my=20
card.")  So this brings two important questions to =
light:  first,=20
have the Diku people been compensated fairly?  Secondly, if not, =
will Diku=20
sue?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>-Locke</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>of The Isles</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://www.mugs.net/~theisles">www.mugs.net/~theisles</A></FONT><=
/DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>Coder of Nimud</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://www.mugs.net/~theisles/nimud">www.mugs.net/~theisles/nimud=
</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>

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