[MUD-Dev] Hidden Character Attribs

[Owen Matt]

On 22 September 2003 18:38, 'Spot <northspot at hotmail.com>' wrote:

> What do you think about keeping most of the game mechanics hidden
> from the players?  I know as a DM for a long time, the devoted
> players will sit down and calculate every single way to get
> bonuses, and will trim any non-vital skill off their guys.  They
> will "Abuse" (I use the term loosely) any system that attempts to
> add real-ism to the game, example: piece-meal armor, one of them
> will calcuate the best AC per area, accounting for overlap, and
> then put it all together and name it "Godly Plate", now every
> warrior in the party will simply buy this suit and be done with
> it.

> What if you just had a system that didn't "share" any mechanics
> with the players, and it simply used laymen terms when describing
> things, such as a superior longsword would be better the a rusted
> longsword, but how much better wouldn't be known.  Maybe a
> Masterwork shortsword is better that a Quality longsword...but do
> the players really need to know this?

> Do they really need to know that the Giant has 100hp's and there
> weapons do 1-8+5 damage?  Or would they be ok with combat
> displaying such things a "you landed a grazing blow", "you bury
> your blade to the hilt"...with some type of message that descibes
> the over-all state (lightly wounded, heavily wound, barely
> conscious).

This is how MUDs started. MUD and Shades use this system, and was
the system I was first introduced to. Personally I much prefer it,
as I feel it's more 'real' than a stats-heavy system. If you really
were tramping around a medievil environment with nothing but a
leather smock to keep you warm and a broadsword to keep you safe,
would you really, upon encountering a dragon, say 'hold on, I need
to calculate your stats versus my sword, and factor in my agility
and not to mention my current swordsmanship skills, so if you just
hold that dragon fire breath a moment, I'll just work out my best
means of attack...'. Somehow I think, that in real-life, you'd just
steam in and hope for the best, being ready to flee if it all goes
wrong.

So to me, that's more realistic than dry-stats.

My own MUD efforts* have followed the simplistic Shades style of
weaponry, ie. 'Rusty Longsword that does a glancing blow', It adds a
bit of romanticism to it, and also makes it more akin to interactive
fiction than stratagy type 'war-games'.

So in answer to your question, No, I don't believe players NEED to
know the game mechanics, and those that really want to, can go play
a game that gives it to them, leaving the rest of us to enjoy the
environment in more real-word sort of way.

-Jaruzel.

*MUD32 at http://www.Jaruzel.com/MUD32
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