[MUD-Dev] Building a \\\'Deeper\\\' MMOG

[Amanda Walker]

On 6/30/02 3:58 PM, Paul Schwanz <paul.schwanz at east.sun.com> wrote:

> On the other hand, if there is no Thread to fight, can a player
> 'be' a person living on the planet of Pern.  I'll take it a step
> farther (and this is where I personally have difficulty with
> roleplaying centered games).  'Acting' like a person living on the
> planet of Pern is very different (at least for me) than 'being' a
> person living on the planet of Pern.  I play to 'be' a person on a
> different world, and for me, every time I have to 'act' it is an
> unwelcome reminder to me that I am not 'being.'  So for me, acting
> like I'm fighting Thread isn't nearly as fun as experiencing some
> sort of Thread combat.

This thread is reminding me of conversations I've had in different
contexts about activities ranging from historical reenactment to the
SCA to theatre.  I'll bring up the SCA, since it seems to be the
closest analogy.

One thing I've noticed in the SCA is a shift in how people
participate over time.  When they are new to it, they tend to focus
on "acting"--a bit of self consciousness, a focus on the persona
that they have constructed (or, more often, are in an ongoing
process of developing).  After ten years or so, it's not acting,
it's just being, because they now have enough personal and shared
context to make acting unnecessary.  So, for example, when a
grizzled old fighter is telling stories around the campfire
comparing the day's combat with years past, it's real.  Sure, it's
not real with steel weapons and actual death, but the *experiences*
are real.

You can also see this in gaming.  Once a game has lasted long enough
to provide its own historical and cultural context, "being" in the
game takes on a different hue than in the beginning when everything
is shiny and new.  Themed games often try to bridge this gap by
referring to literary or movie contexts (from Pern, Star Wars,
Gormenghast, whatever), but even non-themed games develop it over
time.


Amanda Walker

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