[MUD-Dev] Replacement For MUD Acronym

[J C Lawrence]

On Thu, 10 Jan 2002 12:31:55 -0700 
Luke Parrish <luke at rocketship.com> wrote:

> How about instead of MUD/MUSH/MUCK/MOO we just use MIF,
> Multi-player Interactive Fiction to describe the whole genere? 

There have been many attempts made in that direction.  "MUD" has
remained the effective winner, tho is now typically defined as a
term in its own right rather than as an acronym.

> The thing is, MUD parser is way inferior to most IF games, and the
> theme tends to be way less elegant.

Note that many MUDs have no aspirations or interest in fictional
qualities.  They're not attempting anything like "Multi-Player
Interactive Fiction", and wouldn't want or value it if you gave it
to them.  The fictional aspects of MUDs (which we usually call
"story telling") are just one aspect among many in the field.  Its
of interest to some games and not others, and equally is necessary
for some games and not others.

> MUDs are stuck back in the Colossal Cave days. 

Some (many) are.  Not all.

> I came to the MUD community originally looking for a multi-player
> text adventure game I could help write. I love quality IF. What
> I've found is a monotonous but addicting orc-killing routine that
> you have to follow to gain points and gold to level so you can go
> to the more interesting areas without getting killed. (I never can
> recall killing anyone in, say, the Unnkulian series. In real IF
> killing is usually the exception, not the norm.) MOOs, MUSHes,
> MUCKs, and MUXes that allow player building tend to lose the
> realism and suspension of disbelief even more, and have more
> primitive parsers. I have yet to play a MU* I haven't come away
> with the feeling that I just wasted a lot of time. And yet, the
> addiction, the temptation to play more, in the hopes that
> something interesting will happen or I can help someone else have
> fun, and the knowledge that if I spend enough time at it, I'll
> "earn" my way towards the higher levels, is still there.

You've just discovered the editor's problem.

Most, almost all the manuscripts sent to publishers and editors are
dreck of the most vile and inane quality imaginable (and worse
(especially some of my stuff)).  A tiny percentage are actually
readable.  A tiny percentage of that is readable with any pleasure,
and an even tinier percentage of that is good enough to publish.

Its no different with MUDs.

Its especially no different with MUDs where game creation/definition
has been templatised and reduced to rote mechanical processes -- not
because those qualities are Bad Things, but because those same
qualities make producing dreck even easier than it usually is.

There are good MUDs out there of the type you are looking for.  Not
many, but some.  Keep looking.  Realise that most of the other
players in the field are not looking for that, and wouldn't want it
if they found it.  (Different audiences, different wants)

> If only I could come away from MUDding with a new perspective on
> life. Inspired and energized. If only I came away more often with
> the idea that I inspired others to live a better life (thus
> obligating myself to do likewise). There are so many problems in
> our world that are caused by simple ignorance and apathy. Why
> can't MUDs be designed to reverse these problems rather than
> increase them?

Rephrase:

  Of the books in the library, what percentage fit the same
  criteria?

  Of the books that are sold in stores, what percentage fit the
  criteria?

  What of television shows?  (Note that TV was originally intended
  and expected to have exactly the same effects and to carry exactly
  the same type of content as your describe)

Thing is, there are books and TV shows of that type.  They are just
uncommon and a bit difficult to find.  Its much easier to find, err,
reworked porn and silly sitcoms.  Same for MUDs.

Keep looking.

You might in particular want to dig into the stronger RP and story
telling areas of MUDs, not so much because RP is necessary to what
you want, but because quality RP tends to associate with the
qualities you are looking for.  

I don't follow the IF ends of the field in great detail, but a few
others on the list do.  Travis Casey and Ananda in particular might
be able to offer some good pointers.

--
J C Lawrence                
---------(*)                Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas. 
claw at kanga.nu               He lived as a devil, eh?		  
http://www.kanga.nu/~claw/  Evil is a name of a foeman, as I live.
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