[MUD-Dev] "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG"

[Marian Griffith]

On Wed 15 Nov, Koster, Raph wrote:

> An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG
[essay by Arios Truthseeker snipped]

I am somewhat amazed that there is no reply, nor comment,  at all to
this essay.
The underlying principle of this entire essay is  that it is somehow
bad to have these 'd00ds' on a mud. Yes they are occasionally annoy-
ing and even obnoxious, but maybe we should be honest about it. Have
we not just created the exact game that they are playing?
The author builds his entire argument by showing the 'd00d' as young
male who  'does not get it in social environments'  and sees the mud
as a game where he can gain acceptance, but 'still does not get it',
even though he makes all the right moves.
To me this is not only condescending, but also quite wrong. I do not
propose a mud as an environment to teach social skills, but to treat
anybody inside a mud  the same way  as these archetypical youths are
treated in their real lives  is morally reprehensible (always wanted
to use that word ;)  These people may not 'get' the social aspect of
the game, but the do 'get the game' quite nicely. Rather than seeing
them as a 'force of nature' that should be tormented out of the game
we, as game designers, should perhaps give them some hooks to create
rudimentary social skills.  They get enough tormenting in real life,
that the mud is an essential escape for them.


Marian
--
Yes - at last - You. I Choose you. Out of all the world,
out of all the seeking, I have found you, young sister of
my heart! You are mine and I am yours - and never again
will there be loneliness ...

Rolan Choosing Talia,
Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey

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