[MUD-Dev] Persistent Worlds

[John Buehler]

Matt Mihaly writes:

> But didn't you claim that it's impossible for a graphical or text
> mud to provide the quality of a continuous-text backstory? And then
> didn't you say that you wanted to reject backstories because they
> set up unrealistic expectations for the rest of the game? My
> apologies if I misunderstood you or attributed someone else's ideas
> to you.

I was the one talking, but the only misunderstanding was one of how
backstories should be used.  I believe that backstories as
introductory reading for players are an impractical application of
backstory because they set those high expectations of the scale of
what will happen in the world.

I believe that backstories should exist and be used by the story
planners as a guide, and that they can also introduce bits and pieces
of that backstory to the players as the world story progresses.  Such
introductions would be accomplished in many ways, but I would hope
that the introduction would never be at a level that exceeded the
actual storytelling capabilities of the world itself.

An example of what I'm talking about might be if a proclamation were
posted by the king in all towns that not only made got around to
making a proclamation, but alluded to "The Treaty of 1421", or made
fond mention of "one day returning across the sea".  That introduces
bits and pieces of history without it being a history lesson using
adjectives and imagery that clash with the world's means of telling a
story.  It's tough to have a leadin without the climax promised.

> I think backstories generally outpace the game because backstories
> are an art that's been around for thousands of years while the game
> itself is an art that's been around for no more than 30 or so.

Yup.  I agree with this.

JB

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