[MUD-Dev] Morphable worlds, Reset based systems revisited

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad <olag@ifi.uio.no>]

Matt Mihaly <the_logos at achaea.com> writes:
> On 1 Nov 2002, Ola Fosheim Grøstad wrote:

>> Then you don't need a world.
 
> No, you don't need a world. You don't NEED games period. However,
> people do enjoy themed contexes within which to interact, from
> MUDs to nightclubs.

Yes, but I am discussing worlds. Systems where you do need a world,
not worlds primarily used for chatting.

> Why is destabilizing the power base a good thing? I guess I don't
> understand that part of your argument.

In order to have something happening, but still allow for
achievements. (i.e. pulling down should be harder than building) You
could also have some kind of armageddon like play in the last phase
before a relaunch...

> but that is an extremely rare exception. We've had power struggles
> where the top position in a city-state changes hands weekly,
> though that is equally rare.

Well, it isn't unlikely that one ends up with 1 or 2 big alliances,
and only a few people to play that game. *shrug* I don't know your
game well enough to comment on it.

> I just mean that a level playing field is impossible, because
> everyone has different capabilities inherently.

Yes, but a relaunch reduces the distances between the capabilities
to effect. There are other ways to be approached (with their own
problems). For instance using diguised handicaps: provide classes of
different difficulties and capabilities or having a zigzag like
advancement curve (like sacrificing power in order to obtain a new
ability).

> MUD out of thousands. Granted, most of them have almost NO
> players, but I know from talking to other MUD admins that they
> experience the same thing. At least in the text MUD world, there
> is a strong impetus to have a "home MUD".

Yes, but many of those users are hardcore "addicts". Or? In that
case it works better. You can leave your "home MUD" for months and
even years, and come back to find familiar "faces". Text MUD players
have always been a bit "hardcore", or?

> You might go check out the latest greatest, but it has to be one
> hell of a place to become your new home.

*shrug* If you find a guild you like...

> Hmm, actually, it seems to me that= the uber-guilds that have
> arisen around Counterstrike, graphical MUDs, and so on kind of
> fulfill the same purpose as the idea of a "home mud" insofar as
> they provide a semi-stable community to hang in, etc.

Well, I think the general stability of guilds is overrated on this
mailinglist. I've noticed that players often leave MUDs without even
telling their friends that they left. Even guild leaders do
sometimes, forcing the guild to disband and reform. It just
happend. Maybe an exam came up, they got a new girlfriend, something
bad happend in-game or something else.

> Anyway, I wasn't claiming everyone does this, just that some
> people do do it (and they do).

Yes, I wouldn't argue that.

--
Ola - http://folk.uio.no/olag/

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