[MUD-Dev] Hello!

[F. Randall Farmer]

Hi! I'm Randy Farmer. Based on a quick ego-scan of the archives, I see that
most of you know who I am already. So I won't waste a lot of bandwidth
beating my chest or tooting my horn. :-)

I _ALSO_ see that I know a decent percentage of _you_ and an even larger
percentage of you by reputation and work. Very impressive. That's probably
the number One reason I'm taking Cynbe up on the invitation to join this list.

Warnings follow:

1) I believe that to be on a list, I should be a contributor as well as an
observer. If I end up feeling that I can't join the conversations, I'll
probably leave. If I do, it isn't a reflection on the list, but rather
myself. I truly believe that communities are based on mutual obligation
created by "gift"-exchange. I'm expecting no less here. :-)

2) I should also let you know that I don't flame, but I have held some
rather _unpopular_ views on the relationship of technology (software AND
hardware) to the formation of Online community. I draw some rather scathing
lessons from some of the failures of products created by, and still run by,
people on this very list. Heck, as you know I skewer my OWN products! I'm
not bashful. I think this stuff is too important to be glossed over with
hype and rhetoric. I have little tolerance for hubris and statements like
"it'll obviously be better." During the VRML hype days, I was one of the
louder detractors, more interested in human interaction than polygon count.

3) The final warning is that I'm a founder of the largest graphical virtual
community company on the internet. There's only so much I can say on a
public list. Some of what we're doing I will be unable to talk about at all
until it is either demoed publicly, or ships. I can't give away the family
jewels for free. ;-( This may place too great a strain on my participation
(see Warning #1.) I hope no one here is expecting anything more from me
than the participation of someone who's been in the field for 22 years. No
pronouncements from on high. I often make mistakes. I sometimes change
positions. Sometimes I am flat out wrong. Hopefully, the distinguished
persons on this list will feel free to point this out when it happens.

Given the warnings above I'd like to participate on this list at least
provisionally, if you'll have me. :-)

Randy

F. Randall Farmer                "Home pages are passe', everybody's
Communities.com                  building a palace" - Time Magazine
Cofounder and VP Services        http://www.communities.com
   
randy at communities.com            




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