[MUD-Dev] Self-Sufficient Worlds

[Lee Sheldon]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu
> [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> Sellers, Michael
> Sent: Friday, May 19, 2000 3:00 PM
> To: 'mud-dev at kanga.nu'
> Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] Self-Sufficient Worlds

> Taking an existing set of conditions, say for a MUD world,
> and building a
> plausible and deep story out of them --without resorting to
> overt cliche--
> is a difficult thing to do, but one which can be deeply
> satisfying if done
> well.  This can also set up really nifty twists in later
> plots, as people
> and events assumed to be one thing turn out to be another.

This is an excellent point.  And it's fun too!  I did it in soap opera
writing where I'd set up conditions and characters I knew I could exploit
later on (I knew because in the tradition of storytelling certain characters
can rub each other in interesting ways - the audience senses this and
creates its own tension - knowing that two characters who are introduced as
friends will eventually be at each other's throat).  We then let those
particular relationships lay fallow, with no particular story yet in mind.
Another genre I've had some experience in is "muliple-jeopardy."  "The
Poseidon Adventure" re-ignited this sub-genre in the 70s.  Tarantino
exploited it in "Pulp Fiction" twenty years later, and again others followed
suit ("Two Days in the Valley" etc.)

Basically you set characters in motion like atoms, and eventually they all
collide in all sorts of interesting dramatic and comedic explosions.

The same is true in a MUD world.  Here we have no problem creating enough
possibilities.  As others have pointed out out, it's the tons of
possibilities that can seem so daunting.

It's like potential energy, isn't it?  Waiting for us to flip the switch,
and turn it into kinetic.  And once the world takes on a life of its own,
once we're in touch with where the players are taking it (and if we
approve!) the opportunities should be boundless.  It was this kind of
"seeding" in soap opera and multiple-jeopardy structures that first led me
down the path that brought me eventually to chaos theory.  These character
"collisions" appear to be random, but of course they're not.

Can we literally take the seeds: A character here, a character there, some
situations, conflicts, resentments, etc. and simply stick them in our world,
and let nature, the world, and the players, run their natural course?  I
think so.

One last thought.  You can also find -bad- examples of this in "Twin Peaks"
and "The X-Files" where the seeds have sprouted all out of control of the
planters, and -they- are not sure how everything connects.  Of course the
creators of these shows approached the problem linearly, and it only got
worse.  We have far more opportunity to adjust in our worlds, which makes me
think what is a danger in linear fiction, may be an absolute plus for us.

Lee




_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev