[MUD-Dev] Interesting EQ rant (very long quote)

[the_logos at www.achaea.com]

On Thu, 8 Mar 2001, shren wrote:

> On Wed, 7 Mar 2001 the_logos at www.achaea.com wrote:
 
>> They wrote hint books online because that's what people do in
>> life. It has nothing to do with computer games. Considering how
>> into the general open-source movement many people on this list are,
>> it's amazing to me how many people on this list want to fight in
>> vain against the spread of information and think 1) it's a good
>> idea and 2) it's possible.
 
> There's some information people spread around, and some information
> that people don't.  Most people don't openly spread information that
> would shock or hurt people, and there are other things that "you
> just don't talk about."  I also gather this openess is a cultural
> thing, and many a person has stared at an American in amazement as
> he tells his whole life story to a total stranger.

I don't care if everybody but one person doesn't share the
information, 'cause the absolute beauty of the internet is that it
only takes _one_ person. One person can create a web page that can be
read by the whole world.

 
> I don't reveal the cards in my hand when I'm playing Bridge.  It's
> because the game is a competitive game, and it's in progress.  Or,
> if you prefer, I don't tell someone the end of the story that they
> are reading.  People used to see MUDs like this.  Some people still
> do - I had a guy respond to a question I asked on a web board with,
> "Come talk to me in person.", and when I met him, he told me a huge
> secret, a very powerful strategy.

Again, whether you do or not isn't relevant. And while I'm a relative
newcomer to MUDs (having played my first one in 1991), I've never been
on a MUD of any size where information wasn't shared or at least
wasn't attainable if you asked around enough.

 
> Information is sometimes shared, and sometimes isn't, depending on
> the circumstances.

Yep, and that 'sometimes' translates, on the internet, to a good bet
on inevitability if it is of concern to even a small group of people.

Listen, it's a very simple principle. That information has value, and
it is in the nature of people to trade things of value, even if that
is information for attention.

-
-matt

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