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

[Travis Casey]

Wednesday, November 29, 2000, 5:32:59 AM, Eric wrote:

> I disagree that a MUD target audience on some level not specifically
> include d00ds and have design within the system to 'deal' with them. 

> A game mechanic, to some degree, will retain only the play personas that
> cater to them. But then, I find it all based on the system.

> In a closed and static system, you are correct. The d00ds will play and
> find that they cannot bend the system to their needs. They will likely
> leave and only the players who 'fit' the static system will remain. In a
> MUD, which by its nature is dynamic, this is not true. The natural or
> average MUD by its own definition will entertain dynamism and thereby
> always encourage some level of d00dism. Again, part of my belief that
> d00dism is inherently viral.

> Since you cannot escape d00dism then you should account for them
> (insert: `every vote should be counted' argument here). This does not
> necessarily mean one needs to rework an entire mud constitution, but one
> should recognize that d00dism is a part of mud-life and have some
> protective measures in place. 

Note, though, that you can filter for d00ds at the outset -- e.g., do
like some MUSHes and require players to come up with an idea for a
character and then apply to have that character created, rather than
allowing people to just log in and create a character.  This sort of
system will probably eliminate almost all d00ds right from the start,
since they're not going to have an interest in defining an actual
character (as opposed to a set of stats).

The downsides are that it also cuts out a lot of other people, and it
isn't workable if you want to have a rapidly expanding playerbase.
Some muds do it, though, so for some people, the benefits must be
worth it.

--
       |\      _,,,---,,_    Travis S. Casey  <efindel at earthlink.net>
 ZZzz  /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_   No one agrees with me.  Not even me.
      |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'
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