"Advanced" use of virtual worlds? (Re: [MUD-Dev] MMORPGs & MUDs)

[John Buehler]

Dave Rickey writes:

> Most players start from "I am sitting here manipulating a computer
> character in a non-existent world."  It is by degrees that they go
> from "My toon whacks the bot" to "Me and my friends kill the
> orcs."

Interestingly, I'm moving in the other direction.  I started out
thinking in very immersive terms and found that it was too stressful
to do so.  I've backed off and treated the game for what it is - a
game, with cartoon characters that have abilities and possessions.
It makes the game far more enjoyable to treat it for what it is,
instead of thinking of it as something more than it is.  For me, the
latter leads to frustration.

Consider playing a character that you strongly identify with in Dark
Age of Camelot.  In that case, you go into the frontier for some
realm fighting and get snipered by somebody.  Bang, you're dead, and
you're almost shocked that somebody would assault you in that way.

Consider player a character that you don't strongly identify with.
In that case, you trot your character into the frontier for some
realm fighting and it gets snipered by somebody else's character.
Bang, your character drops.  You're disappointed because now you
have to release and run back into the frontier.

I use alienation, as opposed to immersion, to avoid the stress of
identifying with the really terrible, violent things that happen in
these games.

JB

_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev