[MUD-Dev] Distributed virtual worlds (Was NEWS: Why Virtual Worlds are Designed By Newbies - No, Really (By R. Bartle))

[Mike Rozak]

Morris Cox wrote:

> What if games were interconnected in a way (via some standard that
> used XML and compression, for example) that allowed players to
> travel among them? Not only would that expose players to more
> possibilities/experiences, it would be easier to encourage them to
> try virtual world X or Y or Z, etc. A multiverse of games would
> also offer more value and playability. (A book of spells hidden in
> a nonmagical world that you must retrieve for a quest). Such a
> system could also offer rent-a-game-server (with a set of sliders
> that allowed changing default values in the game, such as physics
> laws) that allowed people to run their own game server and have it
> be part of the multiverse.

I just had a discussion about this idea with someone else...

It would be great if it would work, but I can't see how to make it
work. The problem is that the book of spells is (a) a 3D model and
textures, and (b) code. Transferring the book of spells from one
world to another requires that the model and the code both be
transferred. Transferring the model is doable. Transferring the code
is frought with problems, the worst being that someone could write a
viral object (like a Tribble from classic Star Trek) that would take
over any virtual worlds that it would let in. The security concerns
can be dealt with by approving objects, but the approval process
becomes such a burden that I can't see if happening. Nor is the
approval process perfect...

For a real life example: About 70 years ago the Australian
government allowed 38 "Cane toad" objects to be imported from Hawaii
and released. The "Cane toad" object is (a) a prolific breeder, and
(b) poisonous to eat. Consequently, the monsters in norther
Australia (carnivorous wildlife) are dying out when they eat the
prolific cane toad objects. (Does the person who introduced the
first cane toads get all the XP for the monsters it killed?)

Conversely, if you transfer nothing but your characters name (and
potentially appearnce) as you travel between worlds, the concept is
much more doable. But then how does it differ from logging out of
one MUD and logging into another?

Mike Rozak
http://www.mxac.com.au
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