[MUD-Dev] Are eBay sales more than just a fad?

[Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services]

> From: Jeff Freeman <skeptack at antisocial.com>
> 
> At 02:50 PM 9/19/00 -0400, Phinehas wrote:
> 
> > Certainly a pastime *can* be based more on money than skill, and I would
> think 
> > that it is a stretch to call such a pursuit a game.
> 
> That seems like a really strange way to make the distinction.  
> 
> Isn't player-skill all client-side anyway?  What happened to "never trust
> the client"?

"Never trust the client" isn't the same thing as "don't ever accept any kind of 
input from the client."  If the client isn't allowed to contribute to the game, 
then it ain't interactive.

> Sounds like you're saying that if we DON'T trust the client (base the game
> mostly on player skill), then it isn't a game.

Not at all.  I don't understand why accepting player input must be equated with 
trusting that input.  I thought that "trusting the client" had more to do with 
your server/client architecture than it did with high level design concepts.  
Can a game like Quake (usually considered highly dependant upon player skill) 
not attain a server/client model in which the client is not trusted?

Besides, I think we are crossing semantical wires, here.  When I talk about a 
game being dependant upon player skill, I'm not speaking to the usual 
distinction between player skill and character skill or 'twitch' vs. 
role-playing.  Even in the traditional die-hard role-playing game, player skill 
is still primary...it is simply skill in politics, characterization, 
story-telling, strategy, interpersonal communications, etc. instead of 'twitch' 
skills.

Buying gold medals in the Olympics might be a fact of life.  I'm not quite as 
cynical as others on the list, but I'll concede that money can tend to bring 
more medals to a country.  However, I don't think that this is in keeping with 
the 'spirit' of the Olympic Games.  I dislike it.  Similarly, I dislike buying 
success in a MMORPG.  It doesn't seem very 'sporting' to me.  I feel that gold 
medals and success in MMORPG's should be based primarily on the skill of the 
competitors (and again, I include many and various categories of skill in the 
distinction).  To me, even a broad concept of games and sportsmanship requires 
this, but I confess that this is simply my opinion...and apparently the opinion 
of others who have expressed discomfort with the notion of buying success in a 
game.

--Phinehas



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