[MUD-Dev] More storytelling - And also game secrets

[Chris Lloyd]

Reading over "A footnote to Procedural Storytelling", I remembered this post
from a few months back that was never followed up, and it makes a very valid
point...

Sanvean [sanvean at ginka.armageddon.org] wrote:
>
>But beyond that, we have the history which has been generated in game by
>player actions or plotlines, such as the dwarven siege of Allanak, or the
>destruction of Tuluk.  Again, the player versions differ significantly --
>they don't know the exact reason Tuluk fell, unless they happen to be the
>members of one of two particular clans.
>

I like this idea - It breaks the players up a little and makes each clan
feel special.

If Tuluk was, as I suspect, an actual event in the mud (as apposed to part
of the written background history), then some players will remember it. They
are free to tell other players - And they can tell anyone if they wish. Is
this at some point going to become common knowledge?

Lets say you have five clans, each with different skills/versions of
history. When newbies find a world that they think they would like to play
in, it is not uncommon for them to create one character and play for a
while, then perhaps play a while longer as another character in a different
class. I know some people who create a character in each clan. If the
'secret' side of things is to be maintained, how is this done? And how are
alternative characters handled?

Also along these lines, how do you prevent things like quests and other
secrets from spreading? On the mud I play most regularly there is an
extensive quest involving collecting various items and talking to NPCs. It
is often considered the best and most evil one in the game. Imagine my shock
when I found a newbie cleric doing it. He had not much more than 25 hours
logged and I felt somewhat cheated and disgusted at this.

Thoughts? Opinions?

C.


--Chris Lloyd
--Mailto:crl199 at soton.ac.uk




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