[MUD-Dev] \"An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG\"

[Vincent Archer]

According to John Buehler:
> I don't see the traps.  Names are an indirection mechanism, and they have
> been used extensively by programmers.  The base identification of a
> character need not be its 'true' name.  Characters needn't HAVE true names.
> They just have a numeric identification known only to the software.  What's
> YOUR true name?  You are what you call yourself.  If we want to have 'true'
> names for magical purposes, then we could add that in as well and then
> nobody would ever hand their true name out, except to those who needed to
> cast helpful spells on them.

First trap: Local namespaces mean a N-squared storage for names. Each
name label is associated not only with the entity it refers to, but also
you, giving a matrix, not a list.

It's going to be very memory expensive quickly.

> If I refer to "Jack" and you know that PC as "Hank", then one or both of us
> is being faked out by that player, which is a good thing.  The
> conversational uses of names boil down to the same uses we have in the real
> world.  If necessary, we start to use context: the guy that was using the
> bow in the caves, or the gal who charged the gate of the castle at the end
> of the battle, and so on.  I've postulated a description mechanism in order
> to transfer identification information in-game as well.  I say /describe
> "Jack" and you acquire an understanding of someone and you can name him
> anything you like, such as "JB's Friend Jack".  Recognition in-game is then
> based on the in-game transfer fidelity.  A skill, whatever.

Second trap: Non absolute naming work well when you have a small community
of players. The larger the community, the more cumbersome it becomes. What
you have described needs a command or skill or whatever. It is impossible
to know about someone just thru conversation.

It's a half trap, I concede. In a primarily role-play environment, it
could work well.

> The issue of OOC recognition is easily dealt with as well.  I don't even
> have to name a character in order to refer to it.  If I click on an
> obnoxious individual, I should be able to just do something like /report
> this "Being obnoxious", and whoever I am currently indicating is reported
> because I used the word 'this'.  If I say /report "Jack" "Being obnoxious",
> then the translation of "Jack" is used.  The translation always boils down
> to the raw character identification, which leads to a player
> identification - frequently the ultimate goal of OOC issues.

You still haven't given to me a way of giving OOC identification. I'm not
talking about reporting d00d (even if this thread started as this). I'm
talking about this:

> From: soandso at xxxxx.com
> To: buddy at yyyyy.net
> Subject: Ok, I jumped the gun
>
> I've created a character in that game you told me about. I'm Xyzzy, what's
> your name in it?

Having that form of communication is invaluable, notably when the game is
large. If you do not provide a way that Xyzzy (soandso) can check that
Merlin (buddy) is on line without them having first met, then you require
them to use an OOM (Out of Medium) way of synchronising: they need to
use ICQ, or whatever, and so on.

The best compromise is a filter: you have absolute names by default, and
can overlay some names by your own label. The trap then is that you'll
tend to assume from habit that these local "nicknames" are really the name
of the people, and cause confusion by referring to that asshole "Hank"
when no one knows any "hank" in game.

> But if you DO start a new character and you want to track down your old
> buddies, you just arrange to meet with them in the world and get
> introductions started.

That's RPing.

> You also made mention of recognition at the beginning.  I'm not quite sure
> why.  That's why the little floating name thing remains in the game, even
> with an introduction system.  Your CHARACTER recognizes another character
> and the little name pops up.  If your character doesn't recognize the other,
> then no name appears, even if the PLAYER recognizes the character.  Or
> thinks so.

That's RPing.

But the main trap remains the 1st: Non local names mean a HUGE memory
investment. N-squared, remember.

--
Vincent Archer                                         Email: archer at nevrax.com

Nevrax France.                              Off on the yellow brick road we go!
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