[MUD-Dev] Roleplaying in Muds

[Josh Anderson]

Miroslav Silovic wrote:
> OOC communication is used to
> simplify things that would otherwise require a long time just to go
> from room to room and talk to people - and do things that are actually
> fun.

I've never said to remove public channels totally.  I personally have no
problem with them whatsoever.  Here, however, is the kicker:

"A valid roleplaying reason for them must exist."

You can quote me on that one.  Heck, this is a mailing list, you can quote
me on anything, I suppose...but I digress.

What I mean by this, is that I think it's rather silly to have some
apparently godgiven talent to be able to speak across the globe, spheres of
existence, planes, or incredible distances to whoever you want, or everyone
at once, any time at all.  I can't think of a single reason why any normal
human (dwarf/elf/blah) should be able to mysteriously have this ability with
little to no penalty for it's use.

I say penalty loosely here...some mud's channels have a mv cost associated
with them, for example.  What I'm getting at is that public channels ARE
necessary in a mud, BUT if I'm going to have them, I want some valid
roleplaying reason that they're there.  For instance, something I'm working
on is having an object that allows them to speak their thoughts over
distance.  Those within range will be able to hear that person and respond.
A person with higher mental abilities will be able to hear/project further,
the same for a person with a better ___ (whatever the object is) and would
be able to project again more quickly.  Anyone with one of those objects in
their posession (or possibly worn on them, whichever I decide) will be able
to hear the projections.  Thus, a reason for people to have channels...they
have something that allows them to do so.  If they lose theirs, they won't
have that power until they get a new one.

These would be fairly common items, but would perhaps be a little expensive
to buy.  That accomplishes two things...loose cash in the mud goes down, and
newbies generally would have a harder time spamming channels with nonsense.
Anyways, you get my point.  All I'm asking for is that there be something to
validate having something as powerful as across-world communication.  It
doesn't have to be an object.  It doesn't have to be a talent only usable Z
number of times a day.  Just something.

Josh Anderson
joshua18 at home.com




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