[MUD-Dev] Neverwinter Nights (Was: The Future of MMOGs... what's next?)

[Sasha Hart]

[Daniel Harman]

> NWN isn't a tool for creating an MMORPG or MUD, its a tool for
> creating traditional PnP style modules that people can drop into,
> complete and then move on somewhere else. Since you, as the
> designer can set the level range of your module, it makes no odds
> if someone cheated to get their character to that level.

I think you are right about the ostensible purpose of the game.

That doesn't stop it being put to another use - the emulation of
gameplay similar to what you might find in an "MMORPG" or MUD.

Arguably most of the precedent for MUD is set by the graphical
games, at least 90% of which don't climb above 64 simultaneous
players anyway.

The good I see in NWN is pretty much the same thing which most of us
cut our teeth on - smallish hobbyist games run for fun and local
prestige.  The tools are not as flexible as they could be, but they
are as flexible as the features of slightly modded DIKU. Which,
after all, spawned thousands and thousands of games, including
thousands of variations, some of them quite radically different from
the original.

As for tabletop style games, I know they are there, but the nature
of the beast as far as I can tell is to tend toward the
automated. Save the "roleplaying" servers or servers with
hyperactive GMs, you are left with a handful of games that ARE
basically equivalent to small to medium sized MUDs.

The point is well made that NWN is not itself a MUD or MMORPG. I
think there is a good case that it is *in effect* a MUD making tool
for several of the people running games there. And having played a
couple of these, not a terrible one at all.

Incidentally, how do people pronounce "MMORPG"??  Mumorpig?
MMMORPgee? ememoharpeegee? Hah.

Sasha

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