[MUD-Dev] DGN: Why give the players all the numbers?

[Lee Sheldon]

>From Rayzam:

> But there are really 2 types of numbers/descriptions: metagame
> ones and in-game ones. It's as erroneous to reduce the 2 to
> descriptions only, as it is to reduce it to numbers only.

> Metagame Numbers
> ---------------------

> For example, when you read a book, you're immersed in it. Yet it
> has chapter and page numbers. So at any point, you can see how
> much you've advanced (page #). You can see what general level
> you're at (chapter). These don't take away from immersion just by
> their existence.

> In a mud, exp and player stats are metagame numbers. They measure
> advancement and progression.

Neither add anything to the entertainment value of the book. In the
above case the purpose of page numbers and chapter numbers is
reference, not a measure of advancement. If you're checking page
numbers, the book is not keeping you immersed. I remember years ago
reading Salem's Lot. I read all through the night. In addition to
page numbers there was a clock on the wall that I could have used to
measure my advancement. I had no idea what time it was. The sun rose
and measured my advancement, but it was only a momentary
distraction. If you are totally immersed that's what happens. You
"lose all sense of time."

Movies of course have no such indicators unless you count the reel
change blips or your watch, but again if they are a factor the film
is not doing it's job.

Please don't think I'm denying the need to give those who want them
measures of their "success." But even in real life promotions and
large houses and European sports clothes and European sports cars
are used to measure success, not explicit numbers. Any tracking
system we devise (levels, skills, production, knowledge etc.) is
built with numbers, yet can be measured within the fiction of our
virtual world, and doesn't need to display the numbers.

> In-game Numbers
> ------------------

> These are the ones that should be stated descriptively for
> immersion.  "You strike a vital organ." "The ogre towered above
> you." "The Holy Dwarven Axe of Sundering slew Grummsch with a
> mighty blow." Now whether or not the number is known, it is
> presented in an immersive way. The players can know the number,by
> working it out or the game giving them a scale to compare to, but
> that becomes their choice, and occurs afterwards. During the
> interaction between the player and the game, the game is giving
> descriptions. That is what makes it immersive.

Agreed. But obviously I am being much more radical about this. My
perspective is different. These aren't just games that need to be
scored. These are worlds that in order to encourage our willing
suspension of disbelief to the fullest must mimic our real world in
certain ways. Until the day we see numbers of lost hit points
floating off the tops of victims heads after a traffic accident,
I'll assert those numbers break the fiction of our worlds.

BTW, I'm about to begin working on my sixth virtual world, and so
far I've never been able to put this into practice. As a
professional writer/designer I know when to push innovation and when
to go with the flow. But if I were a player I'd think it's far too
difficult to get to that next level of immersion! We need to either
lower the experience requirements or... Nerf developers!

Lee
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