[MUD-Dev] Text Muds vs Graphical Muds

[Damion Schubert]

From: Dave Rickey

> Yeah, and if they can kill each other both would be different in
> yet other ways.  I over-simplified, I'm trying to find a general
> set of rules that works, and that might be applicable to
> situations we've never seen (such as TSO's essentially one-world
> setup).  Interaction levels definitely have something to do with
> it, and absolute numbers do play a part, but so many influences
> act in the same ways at an observable level it's difficult to
> isolate just one and figure out how it is working.

I recently found an old review of Meridian 59 that compared the
experience to be not unlike being dropped in the middle of New York
City naked.  The reviewer was expecting something more like a small
town, and instead got grand central station.  If you are not used to
the alien tone of online life, this first moment can be extremely
disconcerting to new players.

As for a general rule, the general rule I've seen is everyone is
limited amount of mental space for the number of connections they
can make.  For some people, that is literally a dozen people, but
for a handful of people, that number can be hundreds (these are the
people that will likely end up being the hub of your society).
Thus, as the societies get bigger, the greater importance guilds
have so that you can put handles and get a mental grasp on entire
percentages of the population at one time.

'The Tipping Point' is an excellent book that talks somewhat about
the phenomenon of people networks.  I highly recommend it.

--d


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