[MUD-Dev] Roleplaying in Muds

[Raph Koster]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu
> [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> Dave Rickey
> Sent: Monday, July 24, 2000 9:22 AM
> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Roleplaying in Muds
>
>
>     Yet it wasn't a roleplaying game.  It was armored robot
> combat, based on
> the original Mechwarrior engine, with a strategic meta-game
> grafted over the
> top.  Nobody got any kind of points for roleplaying, except
> that ranks above
> "colonel" had to be awarded by the power structure.  The
> power structure, in
> turn, gave them to the people who had demonstrated the
> ability to take their
> rank seriously, inspire loyalty, and win.  A completely
> goal-oriented reward
> system that just happened to result in a roleplayed
> environment.  One that
> was amazingly tolerant to rapid influxes of new gamers,
> converting them
> rapidly.

Kelton Flinn designed MultiPlayer BattleTech specifically to be more of a
community-driven game than his previous design--Air Warrior. Air Warrior, as
a game where player skill counted more than anything, tended to form a very
insular culture, with newbies finding it hard to gain respect and a
foothold. So Kelton decided to make a game where newbies were intensely
valuable. The social ramifactions paid off bigtime.

-Raph




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