[MUD-Dev] Maintaining fiction.

[Marc Fielding]

Brian Hook said:

> 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.  The very first PnP games that
> Gygax, Arneson et. al. ran were basically war games where the
> players enacted some obligatory roles, but by and large it was still
> a war game.  They then focused on the specific characters instead of
> armies, and things became very "personal", but by that point the
> world of RPGs were firmly entrenched in dungeon crawl loot fests.


I can understand how the original author (Trump) views the
situation. His pen and paper gaming sessions were probably attended by
a small group of ideologically similar players. The DM most likely
created a rich, varied and intensely satisfying roleplaying
experience. Like most of us on this list, Trump wants to see his
incredibly cool experiences translated to the technology available
today.

Unfortunately, as wonderful as his experiences may have been...the
"systems" that produced them simply do not scale well. With a small
group of friends, you get a hand-crafted gaming experience. The DM can
alter the story and flow of events to cater to the interests of the
group. Players are located in the same room...making sharing,
plotting, or emoting that much more effective. Rules of play (i.e. RP
definition/style) can be determined and enforced by consensus: those
who don't play along usually don't get invited back. The world exists
to challenge/entertain them and ONLY them.

Compare this to a typical MMORPG. The world is designed to
challenge/enter- tain a wide range of playing styles and interests in
order to maximize the subscriber base. DMs interact with players on an
"as-needed" basis. I haven't seen a business model yet that would
allow for one DM per adventuring party in a game as large as
Everquest. Party members, for the most part, aren't playing the game
together in the same room. Odds are they're complete strangers. There
will be much greater difficulty in achieving consensus on something as
subtle as an RP definition. MMORPGs are all about compromises: they
need to please most of the people most of the time.

Trying to get that "pen and paper" feeling into an MMORPG is like
trying to mutate an apple into an orange...an endeavor that will bear
some really odd fruit. ;)

I'd recommend that Trump play RPGs built around a scale that allows
the kind of intimacy and craftsmanship he craves (i.e. the upcoming
Neverwinter Nights).

Marc





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