[MUD-Dev] Cultural impact on Muds (was: Star Wars Galaxies)

[Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com]

From: Marian Griffith [mailto:gryphon at iaehv.nl] 
> In <URL:/archives/meow?group+local.muddev> on Wed 18 Dec, 
> Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com wrote:
 
>>   (I don't even think half the UK population is mentally
>>   qualified to drive let alone wield a weapon that requires very
>>   little skill and but a moment of ill decision)
 
> You are remarkably mild about the general population, not only of
> the UK, but of every country.  Of course part of the problem here
> is the enormous amount of information you have to ignore to be
> basically ab- le to drive a car which means that you actually do
> so on autopilot, and that it is a miracle that so few accidents
> happen (considering it is virtually impossible for a human brain
> to work fast enough to deal with all the events and images that
> flash at it at the speed cars are working)

I'm not sure autopilot is a good word to describe people driving
well, although it probably suits those driving badly. Driving well
definitely requires a lot of concentration in addition to well
trained reactions. This is similar to martial arts or anything else
where you don't have time to cogitate a response at the conscious
level. Perhaps part of the problem is that cars are so easy to drive
now, they actually demand very little attention. I know that when
I've driven big comfy mercedes long distances, its much harder to
stay attentive than when in a noisy and stiff suspensioned sports
car. The problem with MMOs is that they are striving to make the
Mercedes and I want the sports car.

> Of course none of this has anything to do with muds, but it did
> make me think about how much of current game design is biased by
> the american world view.  I know from reading this list that
> Lineage actually has quite a different playing style than the
> typical usa mud. I guess it is kind of difficult for an american
> to imagine life outside their own country, being so little exposed
> to it you kind of come to think that the whole world is exactly
> like the usa (and should be where it obviously is not (which
> incidentally is the mistake that Bush and his advisors are
> making).

Its funny, the aspect of American culture I continually find most
startling is the predominance of religion. When Bush discusses
killing people, he always tends to bring god into it. I just can't
imagine many European leaders doing the same.

> Compare e.g. a typical Holywood movie (just a small scale product
> to make the comparison more fair) to a typical French one, or even
> better an Indian movie. They really reflect an entirely different
> cultu- re. I wonder how this difference would apply to muds.  I do
> know that some game genres (like e.g. adventures) that do nothing
> in the usa are still quite popular in Europe.

When you step back and look at the MMO marketplace there are a few
that don't originate from the US and yet seem to have a very similar
underlying design. AO could hardly be accused of breaking new
ground, well, except for its launch. There is a differing design
philosophy between Western and Eastern developers, but I'm not so
sure we'll see much about Codemasters new MMO that will
differentiate it from a US produced one. Of course, out of Europe,
the UK is probably closest to the US in culture anyway.

I hope for the French, that their games aren't a reflection of their
culture. They have a reputation for being quirky, strange and
generally very poor. Very few tears were shed when Cryo went under.
 
> Of course Sartre does not translate well to muds :)

Remarkably little does!

Dan 
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