[MUD-Dev] Metric vs. English System of Measurement in Games

[Zach Collins (Siege)]

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 15:29:23 -0500, Michael Hartman
<michael at thresholdrpg.com> wrote:

> So if your web site said something like:

>   1 gand (word invented on the spot) = 1.5 feet = .5 meter

> You've obscured a bit what a gand is, but if you tell someone that
> the sword they just found is 3 gands in length they know its a
> pretty big sword.

One writer would use "This heavy sword is three gands long", while I
might choose to write "This mighty blade stands chest-high to a
warrior". One seems fanciful and a little obscure, while the other
gives a measurement that most people can stand up and compare to
themselves directly - and speaks in what I would consider more
themely terms.

> In all of these very interesting posts, one of the core questions
> remains:

> In a game world where the unit of measurement matters, what
> happens when the system used is not the same as the one most of
> your players are familiar with (English for US players, metric for
> everyone else). Are they uncomfortable? Does this make them less
> likely to play/stay?

I've played in games where invented measurements have been used, and
doing this really depends on using the measurements consistently to
maintain one's theme. However, I don't think that invented
measurements had much effect on whether I stayed or left the game.

--
Zach Collins (Siege)
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