[MUD-Dev] Information sharing (was: Re: Where are we now?)

[Richard Aihoshi aka Jonric]

At 03:49 PM 06/05/01 -0700, Raph Koster wrote:

>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Richard Aihoshi aka Jonric
>> Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2001 3:06 PM
>> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
>> Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Information sharing (was: Re: Where
>> are we now?)

>> While I missed the presentation in question and have no experience
>> as a game developer, even an amateur, my eclectic background does
>> include stints in a few educational capacities.  I would suggest
>> that education is about sharing information that's already known.
>> The important part is not that the information is new in an
>> absolute sense, but that it is new to at least some of the audience
>> so that the population of people who now share that knowledge is
>> increased.

> It was definitely new to a large group there. And sometimes you
> can't tell who you'll teach something; Will Wright took copious
> notes during the presentation and told me afterwards that there was
> much new to him. I certainly learned things at his presentation.

In the online worlds sessions that I've attended at GDC this year and
last, there have been numerous developers, including some pretty
accomplished ones, who work on standalone games.  It's quite
reasonable to expect that they don't have the same depth of knowledge
and experience in the online area as those who've focused on it for
years, and that they did learn things that were new - to them.

<snip>

> On this list, we have an unusual membership in that there's a bit of
> a vocabulary established. But frankly, not much. Hell, consider that
> I know of at least four terms for people who don't engage in PvP
> (non-PvP, carebear, peacenik, socializer) that actually mean
> different things, and yet get used indistinguishably by many. Or
> consider PvPer vs PKer vs Killer vs Grief Player. It's important to
> get those terms straight because otherwise we're not even talking
> the same language, and if we're not talking the same language
> attempts at information sharing and education are bound to fail.

It's interesting to note that what seems to be the same discussion is
going on in the larger game development community where certain
developers such as Doug Church and Marc LeBlanc have been talking
about the need for a common vocabulary to facilitate communication and
to help move the art of game design forward more rapidly.

Cheers.

Richard Aihoshi - "Jonric"
RPG Vault, IGN Vault Network

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