[MUD-Dev] Discussion groups at the MDC

[Brian 'Psychochild' Green]

Hello, all.

We're looking to do something a bit different at the MUD-Dev
Conference (MDC) this year.  On the second day, we want to have some
discussion groups dealing with MUD topics.  The goal is to try
something new and interesting to bring a new dimension to the
discussions that happen on places like this mailing list.

We're using the World Cafe discussions as a organization template.
You can find information here at:

  http://www.theworldcafe.com/cafetogo.pdf.

Executive summary:

  We break up into different small groups to discuss an issue, then
  after a set amount of time we have people move to different
  tables.  The goal is to have multiple viewpoints discuss an issue
  and come up with a summary of the discussion.  JC usually tries to
  do something similar during the MUD-Dev dinners before the MDC,
  but we're usually so full of food and beer and waiting for dessert
  that we're reluctant to move. ;)

The reason I'm writing is to get some feedback from the potential
audience on this list.  We're interested in opinions about he format
and about the topic(s) that should be discussed.

About the format:

  The usual setup is to get people in the room to talk about a
  single topic.  Obviously this topic would be MUD-related.  An
  alternative is to have a series of (likely related) topics at the
  various tables.  So, one table might discuss the one topic on the
  topic (E.G., non-FedEx quests) while another table discusses
  others (E.G., Dressing up existing quest templates), or perhaps
  each table will tackle a topic from a certain point of view
  (player, company, hobbyist, etc.)

So, the questions are:

  Which format sounds the most interesting?

And,

  What topics are there to discuss?

Some common topics and topics pulled from recent discussions:

  PvP - Is it viable on a (commercial, hobbyist, etc) game?  Can it
  be fair?  Are there novel solutions to existing problems?

  Commercial and Hobbyist - What can the two camps learn from each
  other? What's the common ground?  How can one group help the
  other?

  Randomness - What's a suitable level of randomness in a game?  How
  does it influence a game design?  What kind of randomness is best
  in games?

  Quests - Is there anything beyond the FedEx?  What can you do to
  make quests more interesting, to dress up the typical quest
  templates to be more interesting to the jaded gamer?

More topics are encouraged!  Discuss and contribute.

--
"And I now wait / to shake the hand of fate...."  -"Defender", Manowar
          Brian Green, brian at psychochild.org  aka  Psychochild
         |\      _,,,---,,_      *=* Morpheus, my kitten, says "Hi!" *=*
   ZZzz  /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_               Meridian 59
        |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'        http://www.meridian59.com/
       '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)          PvP and full player interaction
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