July 2000
- Scalable Network I/O in Linux J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players adam@treyarch.com
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Scatter
- curses and grief players Marc Bowden
- curses and grief players David Bennett
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players Marc Bowden
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players stoddart@slip.net
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Matthew Mihaly
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players jolson@micron.net
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Josh Olson
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players Zak Jarvis
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Malcolm Valentine
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- curses and grief players Travis Nixon
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- curses and grief players Geoffrey A. MacDougall
- curses and grief players Marc Bowden
- curses and grief players Matthew Mihaly
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Dave Rickey
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Nicholas Daley
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Val Trullinger
- curses and grief players David Bennett
- curses and grief players Timothy Dang
- curses and grief players KevinL
- curses and grief players Raph Koster
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players KevinL
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Nicholas Daley
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- curses and grief players KevinL
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players Marian Griffith
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Andy
- curses and grief players Timothy Dang
- Fantasy clichés (was: Acting casual about casual gamers) Brian Green
- Fantasy clichés (was: Acting casual about casualgamers) Raph Koster
- Fantasy cliché s (was: Acting casual about casualgamers) Travis Nixon
- Fantasy cliché s (was: Acting casual about casualgamers) Dave Rickey
- Fantasy clichés (was: Acting cas ual aboutcasualgamers) S. Patrick Gallaty
- Combat systems, the good the bad and the ugly Malcolm Valentine
- Combat systems, the good the bad and the ugly Travis Casey
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Tim Vernum
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Raph Koster
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Travis Casey
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing adam@treyarch.com
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Greg Miller
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Travis Casey
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Nameless Solforge
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Chris Turner
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Christopher Allen
- Fantasy clichés Michael Tresca
- Fantasy clichés Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Fantasy clichés Zak Jarvis
- Online gaming conference Matthew Mihaly
- Online gaming conference J C Lawrence
- Online gaming conference Milne, Alistair
- A new combat system Dragat123@aol.com
- A new combat system Thinus Barnard
- A new combat system Ryan P.
- A new combat system Hess, Ian W {Ian}
- A new combat system Ryan P.
- A new combat system Russo, Joe
- A new combat system Ryan P.
- A new combat system Travis Casey
- A new combat system adam@treyarch.com
- A new combat system Travis Casey
- A new combat system J C Lawrence
- A new combat system Travis Casey
- A new combat system J C Lawrence
- A new combat system John Bertoglio
- A new combat system Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- A new combat system J C Lawrence
- A new combat system adam@treyarch.com
- A new combat system Ben
- Fantasy clich=?ISO-8859-1?B?6Q==?=s Ryan Schotte
- Fantasy clich s J C Lawrence
- Fantasy clich s Raph Koster
- Number Economy Michael Tresca
- Number Economy Philip Loguinov, Draymoor
- Number Economy Matthew Mihaly
- Fantasy clich=?ISO-8859-1?B?6Q==?=s Ryan Schotte
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics S. Patrick Gallaty
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics John Bertoglio
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Chris Jacobson
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics S. Patrick Gallaty
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Matthew Mihaly
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Raph Koster
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Matthew Mihaly
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Greg Miller
- Why Socializers are our Comrades (long) Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Why Socializers are our Comrades (long) Sam Axon
- Why Socializers are our Comrades (long) Raph Koster
- Harry Potter J C Lawrence
- Harry Potter John Bertoglio
- Harry Potter Todd McKimmey
- Harry Potter Todd McKimmey
- Harry Potter Raph Koster
- Harry Potter J C Lawrence
- Harry Potter Michael Tresca
- [Meta] Harry Potter David Bennett
- Fantasy clich=?ISO-8859-1?B?6Q==?=s (was: Acting casual about casualgamers) Ananda Dawnsinger
- MUDs, eBay Farmers in The Economist Daniel James
- Introduction System Nathan Clemons
- Introduction System Nathan Clemons
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System S. Patrick Gallaty
- Introduction System seanl@literati.org
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System adam@treyarch.com
- Introduction System Bruce
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System Eli Stevens
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System Bruce
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System Tim Vernum
- Introduction System Dan Merillat
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System razor
- Introduction System Travis Nixon
- Introduction System Travis Nixon
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System Dan Shiovitz
- Introduction System Ryan P.
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System adam@treyarch.com
- Introduction System Colin Coghill
- Introduction System birgit.schulte@philips.com
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System birgit.schulte@philips.com
- Introduction System Michael Hohensee
- Introduction System Chris Turner
- Introduction System Eli Stevens
- Introduction System Mordengaard
- Introduction System Jon A. Lambert
- Introduction System Jon Callas
- curses and grief players - dark ages game solutions S. Patrick Gallaty
- Fantasy clichés (was: Acting casual aboutcasualgamers) adam@treyarch.com
- Getting stuck (was Fantasy clichés) Greg Miller
- Getting stuck (was Fantasy clichés) Travis Casey
- Getting stuck (was Fantasy clichés) Greg Miller
- Getting stuck (was Fantasy clichés) Travis Casey
- ADMIN: SQL troubles appear to be over. J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev request rejected Patrick Dughi
- Spherical World Design Philip Loguinov, Draymoor
- Spherical World Design Michelle Thompson
- Spherical World Design Jon A. Lambert
- Spherical World Design J C Lawrence
- Spherical World Design Jon A. Lambert
- Spherical World Design Christopher Allen
- Spherical World Design Patrick Dughi
- Modelling combat Vladimir Prelovac
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat adam@treyarch.com
- Modelling combat Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Modelling combat J C Lawrence
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat adam@treyarch.com
- Modelling combat adam@treyarch.com
- Modelling combat John Bertoglio
- Modelling combat Vladimir Prelovac
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat Greg Miller
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat Greg Miller
- Modelling combat Chris Gray
- Modelling combat Jon A. Lambert
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat jolson@micron.net
- ScryMUD 2.1.1 released. Ben Greear
- Identity and Ethics briefly touched on in Washington Post Raph Koster
- Interesting expansion on Bartle's Four Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Mud Imp
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Tamzen Cannoy
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Tamzen Cannoy
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs John Buehler
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Matthew Mihaly
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs John Buehler
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Hess, Ian W {Ian}
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs jolson@micron.net
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Marc Bowden
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Patrick Dughi
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Jon A. Lambert
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Marian Griffith
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Marian Griffith
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Tamzen Cannoy
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Jeff Freeman
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Casey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Casey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Colin Coghill
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Matthew Mihaly
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs KevinL
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Nixon
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Casey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Casey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs KevinL
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Chris Turner
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- Code Repository Kyndig
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #164 - 12 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #164 - 12 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #164 - 12 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #164 - 12 msgs Raph Koster
- Mud-Dev FAQ 1 Marian Griffith
- Mud-dev FAQ 1 Marian Griffith
- Mud-Dev FAQ 2 Marian Griffith
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs John Buehler
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Matthew Mihaly
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs John Buehler
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Tamzen Cannoy
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Greg Miller
- [Meta] MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs J C Lawrence
- [Meta] MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- [Meta] MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Matthew Mihaly
- [Meta] MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- fantasy cliches Travis Casey
- fantasy cliches J C Lawrence
- grief players S. Patrick Gallaty
- Combat Systems Ben
- Combat Systems Patrick Dughi
- Combat Systems J C Lawrence
- Combat Systems Ben
- Combat Systems adam@treyarch.com
- Combat Systems Ben
- Combat Systems adam@treyarch.com
- Combat Systems Phillip Lenhardt
- Combat Systems adam@treyarch.com
- Combat Systems KevinL
- Combat Systems Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Combat Systems Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- threading server models (was: Combat Systems) Bruce
- eXistenZ WAS -- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Zak Jarvis
- eXistenZ WAS -- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- eXistenZ WAS -- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- Battlenet Hack Geoffrey A. MacDougall
- eXistenZ Zak Jarvis
- eXistenZ Dave Rickey
- Sustainable Ecosystem Geoffrey A. MacDougall
- Sustainable Ecosystem J C Lawrence
- Sustainable Ecosystem S. Patrick Gallaty
- Sustainable Ecosystem Timothy Dang
- Sustainable Ecosystem Greg Miller
- Sustainable Ecosystem Michael Tresca
- Sustainable Ecosystem Mordengaard
- Sustainable Ecosystem jolson@micron.net
- Sustainable Ecosystem adam@treyarch.com
- Sustainable Ecosystem Raph Koster
- Sustainable Ecosystem Dave Rickey
- Sustainable Ecosystem Raph Koster
- Sustainable Ecosystem Mordengaard
- Sustainable Ecosystem Matthew D. Fuller
- Sustainable Ecosystem quzah@kanga.nu
- Sustainable Ecosystem Josh Olson
- Sustainable Ecosystem Timothy Dang
- Sustainable Ecosystem Andy
- Sustainable Ecosystem Patrick Dughi
- Sustainable Ecosystem Timothy Dang
- Sustainable Ecosystem ERI
- Sustainable Ecosystem Jon A. Lambert
- Sustainable Ecosystem Patrick Dughi
- Sustainable Ecosystem jolson@micron.net
- Sustainable Ecosystem Nathan Clemons
- Sustainable Ecosystem holding99@mindspring.com
- Sustainable Ecosystem Raph Koster
- My favorite game systems, what are yours? S. Patrick Gallaty
- My favorite game systems, what are yours? Marc Bowden
- Thread models and Linux J C Lawrence
- eXistenZ Zak Jarvis
- Player skill Tess Lowe
- Player vs. Character Skills Ananda Dawnsinger
- Command Qeues - Was "Combat Systems" Ben
- Command Qeues - Was "Combat Systems" Eli Stevens
- Roleplaying in Muds Ben
- Roleplaying in Muds Colin Coghill
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds Malcolm Valentine
- Roleplaying in Muds Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Roleplaying in Muds Matthew Mihaly
- Roleplaying in Muds Ben
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds J C Lawrence
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds J C Lawrence
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds Dave Rickey
- Roleplaying in Muds Raph Koster
- Roleplaying in Muds Peter
- Roleplaying in Muds Phillip Lenhardt
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds J C Lawrence
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds Patrick Dughi
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds J C Lawrence
- Roleplaying in Muds Ben
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds Erik Jarvi
- Roleplaying in Muds Josh Anderson
- Roleplaying in Muds rayzam
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds Erik Jarvi
- Roleplaying in Muds Josh Anderson
- Roleplaying in Muds Malcolm Valentine
- Roleplaying in Muds Miroslav Silovic
- Roleplaying in Muds Josh Anderson
- Roleplaying in Muds Patrick Dughi
- Roleplaying in Muds Miroslav Silovic
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds Jeremy Noetzelman
- Classless systems Ryan P.
- Classless systems J C Lawrence
- Classless systems Ben
- Classless systems Ben
- Classless systems Christopher Allen
- Classless systems J C Lawrence
- Classless systems David Bennett
- Classless systems J C Lawrence
- Classless systems adam@treyarch.com
- Classless systems Val Trullinger
- Classless systems Ling Lo
- Classless systems David Bennett
- Classless systems Steve Houchard
- Classless systems David Bennett
- Classless systems Steve Houchard
- Classless systems Mordengaard
- Classless systems Gabriel
- Classless systems Travis Casey
- Classless systems Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Classless systems Val Trullinger
- eXistenZ Richard Tew
- Scaling a world. Saereth2000@aol.com
- Scaling a world. Bruce
- Scaling a world. Patrick Dughi
- Scaling a world. Nat Blundell
- Scaling a world. Patrick Dughi
- Scaling a world. David Bennett
- AutoClass Ling Lo
- AutoClass Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Required EXP algorithms Ben
- Required EXP algorithms Travis Casey
- Questing Systems Ben
- Questing Systems Chris Gray
- Questing Systems Nathan Clemons
- Questing Systems Mordengaard
- Questing Systems Travis Casey
- Questing Systems John Hopson
- Questing Systems Raph Koster
- Questing Systems Kristen L. Koster
- Questing Systems Todd McKimmey
- Questing Systems Malcolm Valentine
- Questing Systems Malcolm Tester
- Thoughts on Classless systems Travis Casey
- Thoughts on Classless systems Greg Miller
- Thoughts on Classless systems Josh Anderson
- Thoughts on Classless systems Ben
- Thoughts on Classless systems Ryan P.
- Thoughts on Classless systems Raph Koster
- Thoughts on Classless systems David Bennett
- Thoughts on Classless systems Koster, Raph
- Thoughts on Classless systems Malcolm Valentine
- Basic principles of reinforcement for muds John Hopson
- Basic principles of reinforcement for muds Matthew Mihaly
- Basic principles of reinforcement for muds Tess Lowe
- Basic principles of reinforcement for muds Dave Rickey
- Realism and NPCs Ben
- Realism and NPCs Travis Casey
- Realism and NPCs Christopher Allen
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Ben
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Travis Casey
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Raph Koster
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Patrick Dughi
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Raph Koster
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Patrick Dughi
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Gabriel
From: "Patrick Dughi"
> There has been alot of talk recently on this list about how we
> ought to not stratify the players, make them all nearly equal in
ability,
> or lower the effective range of abilities. Sure, this is great for
> encouraging the casual gamer, for many reasons which have been
discussed.
> However, it discourages the concept of a Hero. When everyone is
nearly
> the same, you end up with a world which has the same difficulty for
> everyone. In a system where everyone wants to strive to be a hero,
it's
> hard for static, alike characters to differentate themselves. If in
the
> end you kill a dragon, there's not much to stop your friend from
killing
> a dragon, and so on. You're not a hero, you're a regular. Then it
gets
> boring.
I don't think it prevents "Heros" so much as it prevents power-gamers
from feeling satisfied. For those players that get their gratification
from the numbers, this sort of system wouldn't suite them. Hero's on
the other hand can be regular people doing something that is beyond
what everyone else might do - putting themselves in the path of that
dragon so that the others might escape, knowing that it will mean a
permanent death. How many players are willing or could make the
decision in the time alloted, to sacrafice their character to save the
others?
> Maybe this is one reason quake and other games (AD&D) where the
> ranking is immediately obvious are popular. People can see who's
the
> best, and in some cases, by how much. People like being
competitive, they
> like striving for goals as long as they're attainable, and they're
more
> entertained with an earned victory than a given - well, some people.
I'm one of those power-gamers that likes to be god. I want the power,
I want the respect, I want to be in the top ten percent (combat wise)
in the game. The recent posts are suggesting that people like me are
really in the minority, that there is a greater number of people out
there that don't feel the same way. It's hard for me to grasp, but I'm
willing to consider it in my game design.
> Of all though, online gamers _really_ enjoy respect and attention.
> I don't have to give examples for this; you've seen it in any
multiplayer
> game you've ever seen. Everyone wants to be known, and usually they
want
> your friendship, admiration, or your fear. Of course, it's hard to
be
> respected for being a near-clone in a crowd of clones.
There are different kinds of respect that can be shown:
- The respect of ones peers for your willingness to contribute to the
community (helping newbies, writing histories, fleshing out the
stories, role-playing)
- The respect for ones ability to crush others (skills and levels
being the main indicator)
I've been playing a MUD now for close to five years. I spent a great
amount of that time helping newbies, fleshing out the story line,
role-playing and otherwise doing things other than trying to advance
(which was quite slow and required dedication).
As a result, I went from being top ten in the combat classes to fairly
average. It is now impossible for my character to even compete with
those others - there is no way she could catch up. But she still gets
their respect, not for her combat abilities but because she was the
one that spent the time training others and themselves on how to
survive in the game and make it to the top. Her sacrafice lent it's
own respect.
Could this have existed if everyone started the game with decent
abilities and stayed that way? I don't think so, at least not in the
same way. The respect would still be there, but the reasons for it
might not be the same.
> Basically, I'm saying that a good step for a mud is to make a
> division between your regular, and your hero. Make it so it takes
more
> than playing time to be a hero - perhaps a characters max abilities
are
> set at generation.
I don't think that someone who could take on a dragon without a
scratch is a hero, they are simply power-players. A regular who
couldn't take on that hero, but did it anyway and sacraficed part of
himself in the process I would consider a hero (or a fool).
The concept itself I prefer over leaving everyone the same. I still
think there needs to be advancement possible in a game in order for it
to be successful. There has to be a sense of accomplishment in
fulfilling a quest or fighting a dragon, or improving a character.
Otherwise players get disheartened (at least those of us that enjoy
this sort of thing) and leave.
I do think there are problems with the sort of models that exist
today, in particular when character advancement becomes the sole goal
and it becomes more of a second job than fun. It's a common symptom I
see in large games where advancement is everything. There has to be
other alternatives, and the top people can never be omnipotent. A
commoner with a dagger should still be able to seriously cramp the
style of the highest level fighter by sticking a that dagger between
his shoulder blades or into his gut. This could be difficult to do for
a fighter who is ready for it, but easy to do for someone that is
completely taken by surprise.
It's one of the reasons I like the idea of ShadowRun's skill testing.
You get a number of dice to roll and each die that exceeds a
difficulty factor is a success. The difficulty factor goes up and down
based on the circumstances, the number of dice is determined by skills
and stats. The number of success' directly effects the effects.
Something like climbing the number of success' determines how far the
character can climb from that skill roll.
This system, with some modification, gives everyone a chance to do
things successfully so long as the difficult factor isn't too high.
Everyone can basically climb, but those trained in it will be able to
climb further and faster. Everyone could jab a dagger at someone, but
someone trained in it will be able to cause more damage (sticking it
in someone's eye to pierce the brain for example).
I've never seen this system used except in MUXs but I think it lends a
lot to both schools of thought - those that like advancement for the
sake of advancement and those that want people to start off with some
amount of power and be able to do things.
>
> Returning to our original problem, now it doesn't hurt then, to
> make your dragons of heroic proportions. Only the heros could
tackle it.
>
> PjD
In summary, I don't think a character who is trained to tackle the
dragon is nessisarily a hero. He's just a character trained to take on
dragons. He could be a hero depending on what happened while taking on
the dragon - if there was a damsel tied to a stake and the hero dove
inbetween the dragon and the damsel regardless of his own saftey,
saving the damsel (he could still live to tell the tale) then he could
be a hero.
The key factor I think is in how to please both the casual gamers and
the power-players (and role-players, etc). A system which can do both
successfully should give the gaming community something to talk about.
They may be out there already, and if so then those of us that haven't
experienced them should spend some time to see how successful they are
and where the problems lie so that we can avoid the problems in our
own game designs.
Regards,
Gabriel Schuyler - Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Koster, Raph
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Malcolm Valentine
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Mordengaard
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Gabriel
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Malcolm Valentine
- [rpg-create] Martial arts rules (fwd) J C Lawrence
- SQL and Muds Jeremy Noetzelman
- SQL and Muds J C Lawrence
- SQL and Muds Nathan Clemons
- [rpg-create] Maneuvers (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Memory, the Brain, and Dogma rayzam
- emlenmud Josh Rollyson
- emlenmud Greg Miller
- How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It by Matt Pritchard J C Lawrence
- How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It by Matt Pritchard Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It by Matt Pritchard Greg Underwood
- How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It by Matt Pritchard Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Getting info from NPCs Dmitri Zagidulin
- Getting info from NPCs Josh Anderson
- Getting info from NPCs Patrick Dughi
- Getting info from NPCs Warren Powell
- Getting info from NPCs Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Getting info from NPCs Travis Casey
- Getting info from NPCs Lazarus
- Skill defaulting Ryan "BC|Uller" Myers
- Skill defaulting rayzam
- Skill defaulting Mordengaard
- Skill defaulting Ryan "BC|Uller" Myers
- Skill defaulting Marian Griffith
- Skill defaulting rayzam
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Miroslav Silovic
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Erik Jarvi
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Miroslav Silovic
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Matthew Mihaly
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Miroslav Silovic
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Bruce
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Greg Underwood
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Bruce
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA J C Lawrence
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA KevinL
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Patrick Dughi
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA KevinL
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Bruce
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Greg Underwood
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA J C Lawrence
- WorldForge Acorn demo 0.1 alpha released Alistair Riddoch
- Threading Models and Command Queues Ben
- Medievia advertises in Dragon magazine Charles Hughes
- MUD Wimping Michael Tresca
- MUD Wimping Dan Shiovitz
- MUD Wimping Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Wimping Michael Tresca
- MUD Wimping adam@treyarch.com
- MUD Wimping Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Wimping Raph Koster
- MUD Wimping adam@treyarch.com
- MUD Wimping Patrick Dughi
- MUD Wimping Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Wimping J C Lawrence
- MUD Wimping Lazarus
- MUD Wimping adam@treyarch.com
- MUD Wimping KevinL
- MUD Wimping Chris Turner
- MUD Wimping Koster, Raph
- MUD Wimping J C Lawrence
- MUD Wimping Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Wimping Matt Chatterley
- MUD Wimping Raph Koster
- MUD Wimping stoddart@slip.net
- Article: Constructive Politics in a MMORPGs (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Permadeath (was: Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game?) Eli Stevens
- The Player Wimping Guidebook J C Lawrence
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Nathan Clemons
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook ROBERT MCCAULEY
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Val Trullinger
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Jeremy Noetzelman
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook adam@treyarch.com
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Malcolm Tester
- The Player Wimping Guidebook J C Lawrence
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook rayzam
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook J C Lawrence
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matt Chatterley
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Patrick Dughi
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Brian Vrolyk
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Warren Powell
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Marc Bowden
- The Player Wimping Guidebook rayzam
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Greg Underwood
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Greg Underwood
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Jerry Hill
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matt Chatterley
- The Player Wimping Guidebook rayzam
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Michael Tresca
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Nathan Clemons
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matt Chatterley
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Zak Jarvis
- The Player Wimping Guidebook J C Lawrence
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Steven Wallace
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook adam@treyarch.com
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook adam@treyarch.com
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook adam@treyarch.com
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matt Chatterley
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph