[MUD-Dev] Definition of a character (was: RE: Maintaining fiction.)

[Matt Mihaly]

On Mon, 18 Jun 2001, Ian Collyer wrote:

> Ok, what is a character?

> Is a character simply a set of database entries on the MUD
> server's hard drives?

> Here I agree with Matt, mere entries in a database table do not
> constitute a character. If this were the case then players would
> simply choose a personality type and backstory during character
> creation then watch passively as their avatar lived out it's life
> in the MUD.

> As the avatar's actions are directed by the player and not some
> in-game AI, at least part of the character must exist in the mind
> of the player.

> Well what about the other end of the scale then, is a character a
> purely mental construction, existing only in the mind of the
> player?

> Here again I have to say no, the player may have a mental image of
> their character as the most notorious, stealthy, skilled thief
> ever to exist, but if the MUD's database says DEX=3 then he's more
> likely to fall flat on his face getting out of bed than be able to
> steal the uber-amulet from under the nose of the baddest dragon in
> the land.

I have characters that do not currently exist in any database.

--matt


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