[MUD-Dev] The audience is the medium. For now.

[Marian Griffith]

On Sat 04 May, John Szeder wrote:

> Essentially you would get people being able to along on these big
> plane raids and experience vicariously the thrill of killing some
> of the really big nasty monsters.

Not sure if somebody who is merely watching would find something
like this particularly entertaining, but it would be possible to
implement it I suppose.

> There are downsides to the idea of course. Some people don't like
> being watched, and others are busy doing... well... what lots of
> people like to do when they think no one is watching.

Mushes generally solve this by having an OOC Camera, which floats
around, or follows a particular player. In the OOC lounge players
who are not currently active can watch the screen, and see what the
camera sees. No OOC camera means no spectators, and those who are
not playing can not actually control what they see.  They are truly
passive, like watching TV.  A bigger problem would be that it would
mean players can explore an area before going there in person,
effectively spoiling some of the tension of visiting a new and
potentially dangerous loca- tion.  Of course, I suppose that those
who are so inclined can visit a couple of websites as well and
obtain the same information.

> I am certain that I am going to catch some flak here from the
> "this is bad for the community" crowd too, but I am not sure on
> what basis.

I do not think it would be bad for the community as such, I just do
not think there would be much interest in the feature.  Other than
allowing potential players to spy out the game a bit before joining.


Marian
--
Yes - at last - You. I Choose you. Out of all the world,
out of all the seeking, I have found you, young sister of
my heart! You are mine and I am yours - and never again
will there be loneliness ...

Rolan Choosing Talia,
Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey

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