[MUD-Dev] The Online Gaming Life for Me!

[Michael Tresca]

An amusing tale wherein game designer Jim Butler leaves EverQuest
for, of all things, a MUD.

  http://www.bastionpress.com/column.htm

Mike "Talien" Tresca
RetroMUD Administrator
http://www.retromud.org/talien

<EdNote: Copy below>

--<cut>--The Online Gaming Life for Me!
by Jim Butler

Any adventurer who's had to lug the treasures of an ancient wyrm up
the sides of an extinct volcano knows its best to focus on the
basics. Jewel-encrusted weapons over those of simpler design, for
instance, and gems and jewelry over raw coins. Coins are heavy, and
they're not worth their weight when compared to a star sapphire or
fist-sized ruby.

Of course, the sight of a mountain of gold and platinum coins is
what most adventurers live for; the great rewards after a heroic
battle against evil. Sorting through and finding the true gems
amidst the pile of treasure is an act many are more than willing to
endure to find the best of the best.

Like the treasure trove of the great dragon, we're faced with a
number of decisions in our online gaming lives as well. There are
truly phenomenal spectacles of sights and sounds that await us in
games such as EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, Ultima Online, and
Asherons Call. These games have certainly changed the face of online
gaming forever.

But in the not-so-distant past, other games paved the way for the
likes of the giants of today. Multi-user dungeons (MUDs, MUCKs, and
the like) were the pioneers of online gaming, and though you don't
hear much from them these days, they're still spinning tales of
adventure and heroism.

Now, some of you might be cringing at this point at the thought of
text-based adventuring being able to compare to the majestic
spectacle of EverQuest and DAOC. But the roots of our adventuring
past have strengths in the present day.

One of the biggest commercial MUDs in existence is Gemstone III. I
started playing GS in the mid 90s, rolling up my character and
adventuring during the days that you got to pay by the hour on
GEnie. But despite the costs to play, activity around Gemstone was
intense. Thousands of players were online at any given time, slowly
earning their way through their Lord and Lady titles and hurling
themselves at any and all challenges the folks at Simutronics could
dream up.

I tried a few other character classes before settling in on Ranger
in Gemstone. I toiled away, dying all too often, before finding a
mentor who wanted to take me under his wing and show me the
ropes. Jarleth (soon to be Lord Jarleth) took me around the various
sights and sounds and pointed me in the right directions for fame
and glory.

I quit Gemstone back in 98 and concentrated on the new challenges at
work (TSR had just been purchased by WotC, and there were plenty of
new ways to do things I needed to learn). When Ultima Online came
out, I tried that briefly but found that death by sheep wasnt a
particularly heroic way to die, and the idea that I had to be a
tailor before I could be a wizard was equally disheartening. I got
hooked on EverQuest almost immediately, pushing my character through
the world and finally getting a 53rd-level magician to my name (I
would have made 60 by now, but I've too many other distractions in
my life, like real gaming!).

Why I'm Leaving EQ
-----------------

After you've suffered through the growing pains of learning a new
system, there begins to be more and more things that you really
despise weighing heavily on you. Things like:

A Painful trade system: My carpal tunnel has suffered all its going
to for trying to master tailoring, and don't even get me started on
the availability of trade goods to advance your skill.
    
    - Customer Service: I havent had to hound EQ customer service in
    the game often, but each time I have Ive ended up being told no
    (if I got an answer at all). Im a paying customer, and I dont
    like being told no (too much Third Edition D&D philosophy in me
    now, I guess).
    
    - Impossible Adventures: Now that I'm in my 50s, I really need a
    group of people to accomplish any tasks that I'd like to
    accomplish. That's assuming I can even get into the Planes, I'm a
    member of the right guild, or roll an incredibly high number to
    win randomed left-overs. If you don't have a steady supply of
    high-level friends to adventure with (and thats 30 or more for a
    good planar raid or epic quest), you might as well go give away
    low-level magic to the newbies.
    
    - Broken Economy: Creatures fight you with armor classes that
    can't possibly come from what they're wearing, powerful items
    you loot from creatures only warrant a few platinum pieces from
    a local merchant, and a slew of other annoyances.
    
    - Power-leveling: I hate it. Nothing is more annoying to me than
    seeing a 50th-level character who's worked his way through the
    levels in two weeks. Those people generally don't know how to
    play the character, they're just working their way up through the
    levels because...
    
    - End Game: Until you've managed to get into your 50s, there is
    an awful lot of things that are just beyond your reach. Your
    spells are all useless because higher level spells do the same
    things you do more efficiently and with better results.

Now, dont get me wrong here, I'm not ticked off at Verant/Sony (the
makers of EQ) and I don't say these things to try and elicit a
response -- they've heard them all before on their own message
boards. I say them because they're weaknesses that are Driving me
back to Gemstone

A number of weeks ago, I decided to look into Gemstone again and see
how things were doing. On a lark, I contacted Customer Service at
Simutronics and told them I had this old character from the late 90s
that Id like to reactivate. A few courteous emails later and
Alshazar, giant-man ranger, reawakened in the same spot I had left
him those many years ago.

The current-day world of Gemstone (known as Elanthia to the locals)
has changed some since I first adventured there. Its still primarily
a text-based game, but graphics that represent your characters
health have replaced typing out the command to check your health all
the time. Graphics pop up from time to time, displaying some
fearsome beast youre fighting or perhaps showing you the surrounding
landscape. Available mana, known spells, and other useful
information appear as well. Its a good marriage of text and
graphics.

Why Im Back
-----------

The world of Elanthia has a number of things that I've always found
interesting and entertaining.

    - Vibrant Story: The world is in a state of change, and since
    its grounded in text its a lot easier for you to keep up on
    whats happening in the game.
    
    - The Unknown: Some rules elements are still unclear, and this
    prevents players from building the ultimate bard, ultimate
    cleric, etc. While some of the number-crunchers have managed to
    lift the veil somewhat, questions remain.
    
    - Societies: The Order of Voln allows characters to go out and
    perform tasks (destroy undead) that result in the awarding of
    special powers. This lets characters become unique beyond the
    standard warrior, ranger, empathy, or wizard.
    
    - Class Reliance: There isn't any single class thats required at
    higher levels; all classes are viable. Thus, if you choose to
    play a bard or empathy, youll find that you'll have plenty of
    adventuring opportunities.
    
    - Training Options: Each time you level, you have a number of
    different choices to make regarding the kind of character you
    want to be. Focusing on edged weapons, ambushing, lock picking,
    and other abilities are simply a character decision; it doesnt
    occur automatically when you level.
    
    - Small Community: The Gemstone community is smaller now,
    meaning your characters actions and choices have greater
    meaning. It also means that your roleplaying acumen is better
    noticed (and higher-level characters frequently reward such
    activity).
    
    - Just like D&D: Its all text, baby. Just like the game we love
    to play, the Devil's in the details. Read up...

They're in the midst of doing lots of other things right now as well
(like allowing players to add their own magic items into the game
using wizardly enchantments, implementing long-promised spells, and
generally cleaning up stuff). They're listening to their customers,
striving to make things better. Nice concept, eh?

This flurry of activity is part of what Simutronics is calling Hot
Summer Nights. Basically, its a whole series of improvements that
will take place in weekly updates over the course of the entire
summer (Memorial Day through Labor Day). Change is the only constant
in online gaming, regardless of what game feeds your addiction.

But I like the changes I see coming, and its convinced me to give
Gemstone another look and see if I can make my mark in the
world. So, if you decide to take the plunge, let me know you've
arrived by sending a message to me in the game (Alshazar in the
regular game and Kellafar in Platinum), or drop me an email and Ill
send you an official invite to the game.

Oh, and if youre out there, Jarleth. Thanks for the lending hand
those many years ago. I hope fortune smiles upon us and we can trek
the woods of Elanthia once again
--<cut>--
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