[MUD-Dev] The Root of the Tree (was NEWS: Why Virtual Worlds ...)

[David Kennerly]

Ola wrote:
> David Kennerly:

>> So, too, a term is useful for our domain of discussion.  It
>> needn't be just one, as you point out.  Many.  Just as there are
>> varieties terms for red wine, the more descriptive terms for
>> MUDs, the merrier.  Each has its subtle hue and texture.

> So you basically agree with my claim that out-of-context use of
> the term "virtual world" should just denote worlds that are
> virtual and to caputure say gaming MUDs you would have to use both
> "multi-user virtual world" and "online role-playing game"?

Sure that works.  Any form of precise description is laudable.  I'd
like to reiterate that in doing so, the part of the term "virtual
world" carries the least information.  As you put it:

> "virtual world" should just denote worlds that are virtual

Little information is revealed by the form of: "A B" should just
denote Bs that are A.  Not to pick on the sentence--I think it's
problematic with the term "virtual world."  VW is like the stone
thrown into a kettle of water in order to make soup.  The remaining
words (like "multi-user," "persistent," and "game") that convey the
information.  VW just tags along for the ride.

Of course, it could be taken to absurd extremes, such as "massively
multi-user persistent-state online first-person role-playing stock
simulation."  (Oh ... and tag "virtual world" on the end of that if
you like.)  At some point description should supplant phraseology.
A sentence or a paragraph, while containing more words, can make the
message more readable, and thereby, more quickly understood than a
phrase.

>> or to know what's right for everyone.  Actually, come to think of
>> it, the term "computer-mediated community" is more like a
>> pocket-size description, rather than a term.  It's certainly
>> longer and less sexy than "virtual world."  Yet, the term
>> "computer-mediated community" does capture a couple of the
>> salient features of our domain of discussion.

> It is usually called "online community". You are probably thinking
> of "computer-mediated communication". MUD-Dev is an online
> community and so are groups using IM, so maybe that is a bit too
> broad?

I'm intentionally not referring to computer-mediated communi-cation.
But if these words are hard to phonetically distinguish, then that's
another strike against the term: computer-mediated communi-ty.  I
agree that CM communication is too broad for our discussion, since
it includes topics we don't pay attention to, but I do believe that
CM community matches the topics that we do pay attention to.

>> so to that extent, I use it.  And of course when I want to sound
>> important, why would I say "computer-mediated community" (or
>> MUD--for that matter) when I could say "virtual world"?

> Because "MUD" is shorter, more fun and show that you aren't a
> newbie?

Yes, here (on this list), MUD is an effective shibboleth.  But to
the public, virtual world sounds virtually divine.

> People who wanted to to sound important used to say "virtual
> reality" or "collaborative virtual environments".

Sure.  Virtual world isn't the only pretentious term.  I've heard
pretentious use of all three interchangeably.  Sadly, neither the
speaker nor the audience benefitted from its use.

To explain my usage comprehensively, though, I have to concede that
the CM community has includes a public good of some sort.  That is,
something that many can use and is scarce.  So I mean not just a
community, but a community with an economy.  Hairs can be split, but
basically chat rooms does not /necessarily/ have an economy, whereas
any MMOG (Lineage for instance) does.  And I mean for a CM community
to include an economy.

In short the essentials of a computer-mediated community being:

    economy
        persistent agents
        persistent and scarce goods
    social interaction
        predominantly through computer software
        users with persistent social status (sociometry)
        persistent social organizations (guilds, clans, etc.)

Hm.  That list seems too short.  Surely I'm overlooking some other
essential points tonight.

David
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