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

[Sanvean]

On Mon, 22 May 2000, Chris Lloyd wrote:

> 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?
>
The fall of Tuluk was an actual event, with many plotlines leading up to
the final stage, which was publicized ahead of time as a recommended
playing time, and took two days altogether, as I recall.  The fall itself
is common knowledge, and included in the world documentation and
timelines, but no character will have a comprehensive idea of -everything-
that went on (I'm not even sure the staff achieved that, actually, there
was a lot of mayhem) and piecing it all together would be difficult for
anyone, particularly now that years have passed.  We've had some players
in the past try to act as historians -- having one tracking down exactly
what happened would be an interesting endeavor.
 
> 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?

We don't let people have more than one character at a time, for exactly
this reason.  We do let them switch around if they so desire, but the old
character is deleted.   The world is brutal and harsh enough, though, that
someone getting bored with their character is fairly out of the norm.

We do have a constant problem with players exchanging OOC information,
however, either on BBSes, ICQ, or whatever.  They know we don't like it,
and we've explained countless times that one of the the reasons we don't
is becuase it spoils the fun for everyone.  Generally, I think, most of
our players realize this, and try to keep it to a minimum.  Or perhaps the
knowledge that if we see someone doing something they should have no idea
about, we will be asking questions.   We don't have
repeated or scripted quests, though, which prevents people from taking
advantage of what you're describing - we have one time plotlines designed
by staff members, which get proposed, approved, run and then recorded in
the documentation.  I don't like scripted quests, because I think people
tend to abuse them, but they also wouldn't fit in our mud at all, since
it constantly moves forward, timewise.

Sanvean

http://www.armageddon.org
Armageddon MUD.  Roleplay required.






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