[MUD-Dev] Distributed PSW design

[Stephane Bura]

<EdNote: Duplicate HTML copy removed>

Hi,

My name is Stephane Bura. I'm the lead designer of a MMOG based on the
Highlander franchise developed by a French company, Kalisto
Entertainment.  Unfortunately, I can tell even less about this game
than Raph can tell about SWG ;)

I've been lurking for a while on this list till I felt I had something
to contribute. Now, I think this post could be a bit off-topic.  Tell
me what you think.

---

Since I first heard of Neverwinter Nights, I've been thinking about
distributed PSWs where no servers kept the correct global world state.
A series of articles on Gamasutra

  http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20001201/fitch_01.htm
  http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20001229/fitch_01.htm

made me ponder the kind of design such games would need.  To summarize
the technical aspects, each client would be the server for the data
it's "interested in" : the player's avatar and the objects in close
relation with it. A hierarchical protocol would attribute rights of
ownership to servers and define how updates should be handled.  This
last idea is close to what was proposed in

  http://www.kanga.nu/archives/MUD-Dev-L/1999Q1/msg00551.php

Obviously, the major problems with this system are security and
consistency.  If each server is allowed to act upon information which
may be out of date, it may wrongfully modify objects it controls (this
monster killed me when it was already dead) or ask for modification of
other objects (I looted this monster which had already been looted).
If a server has the rights to change an object it controls, it may do
anything with the object and still make it a "legal" object. A
hacker's paradise.

Designing a game for such an infrastructure calls for a major paradigm
shift.

Since a player can supposedly modify his avatar at will, let him do
that. Hence, no more level, skill or inventory restrictions. If some
combination of skills and objects is needed to accomplish a task, the
avatar can change and gain it (think Zelazny's Amber here). The
challenge could be that the total sum of resources controlled by an
avatar is limited and that changing (evolving / adapting) is a
integral part of the game. This limit could easily be checked by the
server owning the environment in which the avatar is (the rooms it
controls or that the player has built).  The main experience would be
to find out how to "do stuff" in strange unknown worlds or to propose
"stuff to be done" to others, the only limit being the bandwith
acceptable by clients. A strong storyline would be needed to explain
why some places disappear and reappear (when their ownership is not
transfered upon deconnection of their server).

It appeals a lot to the explorer/socializer in me but something else
is needed for the achievers and killers.  Combat, if it were possible,
would be tricky. It could require a third party server trusted by all
the participants or have rules that do not involve random checks (that
could be computed by both clients at the same time).  "Being the best"
would require a mean to compare avatar across servers in a way that is
not easily faked. Maybe this could be done on a central server or
involve public key signatures from clients (if you like a place, you
give a token to its maker; if you have been bested in combat, you
award a medal to your opponent). A trust system - such as those found
in opinions web sites like amazon or ebay - might prevent the biggest
exploits.

I'm not even broaching the big issues of static content and rules
updates but, from a designer's point of view, do you think it could be
done ?

---
Stephane Bura / sbura at kalisto.com
I could put something in French here if I wanted to.
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