[MUD-Dev] A Question on PvP and PK

[Kwon Ekstrom]

From: "Zach Collins (Siege)" <zcollins at seidata.com>
> On Fri, 2 Aug 2002 szii at sziisoft.com wrote:

>> A good chunk of my "chess" memories from jr. high are getting
>> WAXED by a 2400+ ranked Grandmaster.  He would give me his queen
>> and both rooks and still work me over.

>> You know what?  I learned a hell of a lot from him on how to use
>> other pieces and the extreme value of positioning.

> You'll notice that in chess, you can see the position of every
> piece from the beginning to the end of every game.  When mudding,
> it's rare to see another player's method for improving their
> character's combat ability, whether by special equipment or by
> camping a mid-level spawn point, or whatever.

As a competition level chess player, you "don't" see what makes a
player as good as they are, you are a victim of the moves that are
present during that game.  Under repeated exposures to a specific
player you may notice trends in that player's style that you can
exploit, or trends that are good practices.  You can gather this
information from a variety of players over time and improve your
skill.

If the mud is worthwhile these clues are there as well... if it's
just sit in a room and hit repeatedly then you're wasting your time
trying to find good pvp on that mud.  I find the analogy from chess
to pvp interesting because in chess everything starts out fair... in
a mud NOTHING is even...  there's intrisic differences between the
players, levels, skill set, equipment... These make for a much more
interesting set of possible outcomes.

In chess, there are known mapped, recorded, oft-analysed "good
lines".  I personally prefer a queens gambit/semi-tarrasch because
it's a very dynamic game.  In a mud I prefer pvp where you gotta use
a variety of skills and you gotta move around (standing still is a
sure fire way to lose to me on just about any mud), and I learned by
losing repeatedly to other people (well perhaps I didn't lose QUITE
so often, but hey I'm a quick learner).  Each mud is different, and
although there are some tactics that work on "most" muds, it's to
different extents.  Each mud probably has it's own list of "good
practices" which due to a much smaller playerbase than chess, they
aren't as well analysed (or they are because there aren't as many
possibilities).

> This is why I appreciate mud combat that involves something more
> than 'attack monster' 'rest' 'attack monster', and why I dislike
> PvP so much.

It sounds to me like you've either been playing muds where pvp isn't
fun...  period.  The best win and there's no way to reach that
point.  Or you simply don't pay attention to the details that are
given to you.  PvP is an explorer sport, you have to play with
things until you find something that works, and you keep playing
with things after you found something that works so you don't
"exhaust" your strategy.

-- Kwon J. ekstrom


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