[MUD-Dev] Roleplaying in Muds

[Travis Casey]

Monday, July 24, 2000, 1:37:51 PM, Phillip Lenhardt <philen at monkey.org> wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 23, 2000 at 02:59:07PM -0400, Travis Casey wrote:

>> I would say that it is not, but it's difficult to tell from such a
>> short description.  Roleplaying is not a simple binary thing; it's a
>> continuum.  Asking "is so-and-so roleplaying?" is like asking "is
>> so-and-so being nasty?" -- there are degrees and shadings to it, and
>> the ultimate answer depends not on what the person is *doing*, but
>> on *why* they are doing it.
>> 
>> (To use another analogy, asking "is this roleplaying" is like asking
>> "is this a chair".  Something can *look* like a chair, but not be
>> designed to be used as a chair.  On the other hand, something can be
>> designed to be used as a chair without looking like what most people
>> would call a chair.)

> These two paragraphs seem contradictory to me. The first says that the
> external appearance matters and the second says that the intent is what
> truly matters. I am content that they both matter, but I get the feeling
> you were championing one over the other.

How does the first say that external appearance is what matters?
Re-read the last sentence -- what the person is doing is external
appearance; why they are doing it is intent.

I'm not "championing" anything, though; I'm simply saying what I
consider to be roleplaying.  I've also said in other posts that the
*appearance* of roleplaying matters more than actual roleplaying, when
it comes to keeping people who want a roleplaying mud happy.

To draw yet another analogy (can you tell I like analogies?), take a
fantasy setting.  Many people say they want a fantasy setting, but
what they really want is the trappings they associate with a fantasy
setting -- swords, dragons, epic heroes, magic, etc.  Going by a strict
definition of what "fantasy" means, Star Wars and Star Trek are both
fantasy -- but they're not what people want when they say they want
fantasy.

I'm advocating a strict definition of roleplaying, but with the caveat
that what most people who ask for a "roleplaying mud" are interested in
is the things they *associate* with roleplaying, not the actual thing
itself.

--
       |\      _,,,---,,_    Travis S. Casey  <efindel at earthlink.net>
 ZZzz  /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_   No one agrees with me.  Not even me.
      |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'
     '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)   





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