[MUD-Dev] Maintaining fiction.

[Trump]

Brian Hook wrote:

> Such as the "important fiction" of "Crap, my ISP puked while I was
> fighting Lord Gilgatroll and now I'm dead...forever"?

Some games will cause your character to stop fighting and die if you
should get disconnected.  Others have the AI take over.  If the AI
takes over and surrenders to Lord Gigatroll, how is this any worse
than your standard exp losing fake death from a disconnect?


> This is where we enter the very dangerous land of "My definition of
> an RPG is the correct one".  You can take "RPG" very literally or
> you can look at it historically.

I prefer to call a spade a spade even if it was historically called an
RPG.

>> In order to actually have an RPG you must keep in character at all
>> times.  NEVER break character.

> This is just as big a strait jacket.  What if you want to be Drizzt,
> the Good Dark Elf?

Then that is your character.  If you want to dress like a dark elf and
talk like a highschool kid from Ohio you arent roleplaying.  If you
dress like a dark elf and talk like a dark elf and act lick a dark
elf, then you are.  The only problem is when you try to roleplay
Drizzt the NASCAR and Lakers fan.

> Egads, so I'm guessing you don't consider any RPG that uses dice to
> be a good thing?  Or does the GM get to be the only one that sees
> the outcome?

It's been a few years, but if I remember correctly the intro to the
AD&D DMG stated that it was the DM's job to convert the numbers into a
compelling story.  If the player rolls a 20 to hit the orc, but a 1
for damage, the DM then tells of combat where the orc is resoundingly
smacked around by the player, but manages to only take minor injurys
in the process.  But you are right, "20" and "1" are much more
interesting than "Skillful attack" and "Minor wounds"

> Ugh.  Now you're delving into the land of semantics and nomenclature
> for their own sake.  When someone does a /petition My net connection
> is hosed...is this a problem on your end?  is the GM really supposed
> to say: "I'm sorry, but our Silver Cord is strong and your cord to
> the Ethereal Plane is weak"?  And then your newbie player that is
> frustrated already has to break out his or her magic decoder ring in
> order to get a straight answer from customer support?  >

Yes, no one would ever understand if CS were to tell you that, "Using
SOW and a DOT SNARE to TRAIN a MOB to a PC who is CAMPING the AC SPAWN
for his JBOOTS is a violation of the TOS and PNP"

Most confusing.

> The problem is that you've said the same thing, but you've made it
> more work for someone reading the second paragraph.  This isn't any
> more "in character" than the first one, it just covers it up with
> some bright lights and shiny imagery, but underneath it's still
> techie speak.  >

Exactly.  And covering your techie speak with bright lights and shiny
imagery is a Good Thing in an RPG.


> Obviously you want to avoid egregiously hosing a player's ability to
> _enjoy the game_.  For some people, this means avoiding things that
> inhibit their suspension of disbelief.  For example, naming an orc
> King Bubba Smith.  This can be fixed with very little ramifications.
> Having your GM stuff speak in Lingua Obscura harms a lot of people
> and probably only helps a small group.  >

All MUDs/MMORPGS have Lingua Obscura.  Choosing to guide that language
in a early stage towards a more fiction friendly vocabulary is the
goal.  Should you burn the houses, and kill the familys of anyone who
calls Monsters MOBS?  No.  Should you lead by example and call them
Monsters?  Yes.



-Azeraab


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