[MUD-Dev] Quote from a Simutronics developer

[Ananda Dawnsinger]

----------
>From: "Raph Koster" <rkoster at austin.rr.com>
>
>> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
>> Ananda Dawnsinger
>>
>> I agree with Jhyrryl's quote whole-heartedly.
>
>Interesting. I disagree with it quite a lot. I don't think these things
>(muds) are just games, I think they are forms of entertainment first, and
>that therefore they should be approached designwise as being forms of
>entertainment first and games second. This doesn't mean that the game aspect
>may not take primacy in the design, but it does mean that you are proceeding
>from a different premise: a form of entertainment that happens to be almost
>all game, or a game in which other forms of entertainment may be optional.
>That's why we can also make MUSHes, which are not games, with a 99% overlap
>in functionality with a GoP mud.
>
>When he says, "We're building a game" I go, no, you're building a mud. And
>muds are more than just games.

I think my thinking was imprecise.  (That'll happen when you're recruited to
help design a predominantly GoP mud and you decide to ignore the
game-oriented play because you don't want it to get in the way of the
roleplaying.)

Perhaps more accurately: When you set out to design something, you have to
remember what you want to design.

If you want to design a game, you have to design a good game structure.

If you want to design a roleplaying environment, you have to design good
tools for roleplaying.

If you want to design a social environment, you have to design good tools
for social interaction and community building.

And if you want to design a roleplaying game, you have to remember to add
both the GoP elements and the roleplaying support.

But it's very bad when, say, you set out to design a game and spend all your
time working on social features, because you end up with a project that's
neither fish nor fowl, IMO.

   -- Sharon (and I think that catches me up, finally!)



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