January 2001
- Proper MU* style list Kyndig
- Proper MU* style list Malcolm Tester
- Proper MU* style list Daniel A. Koepke
- Proper MU* style list Richard A. Bartle
- Proper MU* style list Christopher Allen
- Proper MU* style list Koster, Raph
- Proper MU* style list Kerem HADIMLI
- MU* styles Kerem HADIMLI
- Moving away from the skill system Inq Admin
- Moving away from the skill system Hulbert, Leland
- Moving away from the skill system jrb@kc.rr.com
- About.com article on Skotos Christopher Allen
- About.com article on Skotos Matthew Mihaly
- About.com article on Skotos Christopher Allen
- About.com article on Skotos SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- About.com article on Skotos Christopher Allen
- About.com article on Skotos Matthew Mihaly
- About.com article on Skotos Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- About.com article on Skotos Klara
- About.com article on Skotos Jon Morrow
- About.com article on Skotos Matthew Mihaly
- Skill-Trees & Christopher Allen
- Skill-Trees & Phil Hall
- Skill-Trees & Wes Connell
- Skill-Trees & Travis Casey
- Skill-Trees & Christopher Allen
- Skill-Trees & Dmitri Zagidulin
- Skill-Trees & Travis Casey
- Skill-Trees & Travis Casey
- Player statistics Wes Connell
- Player statistics Marc Bowden
- Player statistics Wes Connell
- Player statistics Marc Bowden
- Player statistics Matthew Mihaly
- Player statistics rayzam
- Player statistics Klara
- Player statistics Wes Connell
- Player statistics Koster, Raph
- Player statistics Jake Song
- Player statistics Koster, Raph
- Player statistics Matthew Mihaly
- Player statistics Dave Rickey
- Player statistics msew
- Player statistics Jessica Mulligan
- Player statistics Vincent Archer
- Player statistics Koster, Raph
- Player statistics David Kennerly
- Player statistics Dave Rickey
- Player statistics David Kennerly
- Player statistics Jake Song
- Player Statistics Jessica Mulligan
- Player statistics Jake Song
- CGDC Dinner J C Lawrence
- Skotos Anthony R. Haslage
- Skotos Richard.Woolcock@rsuk.rohde-schwarz.com
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" Koster, Raph
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" Marc Bowden
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" Koster, Raph
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" Willowreed@aol.com
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" Tess Snider
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" Koster, Raph
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" Michael Tresca
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" Chris Lloyd
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" Tess Snider
- "Men are from Quake, Women are from Ultima" SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- NomicWiki J C Lawrence
- more idiocy from graphical MUD developers Matthew Mihaly
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Jeremy Lowery
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework David Loeser
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Bruce
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Jeremy Lowery
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Bruce
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Miroslav Silovic
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Ben Chambers
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Justin Rogers
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Ben Chambers
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework John Buehler
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Bruce
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Jeremy Lowery
- An Idea... Mud Development Framework Chris Jones
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Bruce
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Koster, Raph
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Bruce
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Koster, Raph
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) J C Lawrence
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Valerio Santinelli
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Tess Snider
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Bruce
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Koster, Raph
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Ben Chambers
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Chris Jones
- New Muds Corey Crawford
- Dinner scheduling and possible roundtable J C Lawrence
- New Mud Fox McCloud
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #277 - 13 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #277 - 13 msgs Matthew Mihaly
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #277 - 13 msgs Jake Song
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #277 - 13 msgs Jeff Freeman
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Par Winzell
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) J C Lawrence
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Bruce
- Server stability (was: Player statistics) Felix A. Croes
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #277 - 13 msgs J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #277 - 13 msgs Jake Song
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #277 - 13 msgs Bruce
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #277 - 13 msgs Mark Watson
- ANNC: .NET Frameworks based Mud Codebase Justin Rogers
- ANNC: .NET Frameworks based Mud Codebase Bruce
- ANNC: .NET Frameworks based Mud Codebase szii@sziisoft.com
- ANNC: .NET Frameworks based Mud Codebase Justin Rogers
- ANNC: .NET Frameworks based Mud Codebase szii@sziisoft.com
- Announcing: Pan J C Lawrence
- Announcing: Pan J C Lawrence
- Announcing: Pan Kyndig
- Experience System Differences Alornen
- Experience System Differences Malcolm Tester
- Experience System Differences Hulbert, Leland
- Experience System Differences rayzam
- Experience System Differences Ben Chambers
- Experience System Differences rayzam
- Experience System Differences Ben Chambers
- Experience System Differences Travis Casey
- Experience System Differences Mark Watson
- Experience System Differences rayzam
- Experience System Differences Kindred321@aol.com
- Experience System Differences Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Experience System Differences Brian M. Schkerke
- Experience System Differences Ben Chambers
- Experience System Differences Malcolm Tester
- Experience System Differences Warren Powell
- speaking of symposia... Robert Zubek
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #281 - 18 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #281 - 18 msgs Jeff Freeman
- I Want to Bake Bread Neeby
- I Want to Bake Bread Richard
- I Want to Bake Bread John Buehler
- I Want to Bake Bread Richard
- I Want to Bake Bread Ryan
- I Want to Bake Bread Patrick Dughi
- I Want to Bake Bread Siobhan Perricone
- I Want to Bake Bread Hal Bonnin
- I Want to Bake Bread Travis Casey
- I Want to Bake Bread John Buehler
- Exploration Exp (was: Experience System Differences) Corey Crawford
- Exploration Exp (was: Experience System Differences) Lord Ashon
- Exploration Exp (was: Experience System Differences) John Buehler
- Exploration Exp (was: Experience System Differences) Philip Loguinov, Draymoor
- Exploration Exp (was: Experience System Differences) nbossett@pierb.com
- Exploration Exp (was: Experience System Differences) Warren Powell
- MUD research, good ideas and designers who care? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Baking Bread Lord Ashon
- Baking Bread John Buehler
- Distributed PSW design Stephane Bura
- Distributed PSW design Frank Crowell
- Distributed PSW design Bruce
- Distributed PSW design Stephane Bura
- Distributed PSW design John Buehler
- Distributed PSW design J C Lawrence
- Distributed PSW design Justin Rogers
- Distributed PSW design John Buehler
- Distributed PSW design Eli Stevens
- Distributed PSW design John Buehler
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #282 - 18 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #282 - 18 msgs Koster, Raph
- IOWA project / Request for addition to FAQ Bruce
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) Corey Crawford
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) John Buehler
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) Hulbert, Leland
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) John Buehler
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) msew
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) John Buehler
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) Travis Casey
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) rayzam
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) Michael Tresca
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) John Buehler
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) msew
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) Michael Tresca
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) Alistair Milne
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) J C Lawrence
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) John Buehler
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) J C Lawrence
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) John Buehler
- No Exp? (was: Exploration Exp) J C Lawrence
- C# Greg Miller
- Player Created Object System Philip Loguinov, Draymoor
- Player Created Object System Richard
- Player Created Object System Philip Loguinov, Draymoor
- Player Created Object System Christopher Allen
- Player Created Object System Richard
- Distributed PSW design (Frank Crowell) Peter Yu
- Distributed PSW design (Frank Crowell) Frank Crowell
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #282 - 18 msgs Jeff Freeman
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #282 - 18 msgs J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #282 - 18 msgs Jake Song
- Room Generation Nathanael Dermyer
- Room Generation J C Lawrence
- Room Generation George Greer
- Room Generation Bruce
- Room Generation Bruce
- Room Generation Richard
- Room Generation Mordengaard
- Room Generation Kwon Ekstrom
- Room Generation Jon Lambert
- Room Generation Patrick Dughi
- Room Generation Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Room Generation Travis Casey
- Room Generation Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Room Generation Eli Stevens
- Room Generation Richard
- Room Generation Richard
- Room Generation Colin Coghill
- Room Generation efindel@earthlink.net
- Room Generation Ryan P.
- Variant Methods for Related Skills Christopher Allen
- Variant Methods for Related Skills Travis Casey
- Anyone know of plans for an I-Mode MUD/LARP? J C Lawrence
- Anyone know of plans for an I-Mode MUD/LARP? Koster, Raph
- Anyone know of plans for an I-Mode MUD/LARP? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Anyone know of plans for an I-Mode MUD/LARP? rayzam
- Anyone know of plans for an I-Mode MUD/LARP? Travis Casey
- Anyone know of plans for an I-Mode MUD/LARP? Jon Lambert
- Anyone know of plans for an I-Mode MUD/LARP? Jeff Freeman
- Room and Terrain Integration in Textual Environments vognsen@post10.tele.dk
- Project Entropia the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Project Entropia John Vanderbeck
- Project Entropia Christopher Allen
- Project Entropia J C Lawrence
- Project Entropia J C Lawrence
- Project Entropia John Vanderbeck
- Project Entropia the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Project Entropia Batir
- Project Entropia the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Project Entropia Frank Crowell
- Project Entropia Jessica Mulligan
- Project Entropia Frank Crowell
- Project Entropia Jessica Mulligan
- Project Entropia the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Project Entropia the_logos@www.achaea.com
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #285 - 32 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #285 - 32 msgs Jeff Freeman
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #285 - 32 msgs Jake Song
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #285 - 32 msgs Jeff Freeman
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #285 - 32 msgs Jake Song
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #285 - 32 msgs Koster, Raph
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #285 - 32 msgs Jeff Freeman
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #285 - 32 msgs Jeff Freeman
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #285 - 32 msgs Jake Song
- Skill System Kwon Ekstrom
- Skill System Travis Casey
- Skill System justice@softhome.net
- Skill System Ben Chambers
- Skill System Batir
- Skill System Ben Chambers
- Skill System Batir
- Skill System justice@softhome.net
- Long Day's Journey Into Tights J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs the_logos@www.achaea.com
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs Nathan F.Yospe
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs justice@softhome.net
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs Vincent Archer
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs msew
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs Travis Casey
- When Do We Get the "Right" to Privacy? J C Lawrence
- When Do We Get the "Right" to Privacy? Nathan F.Yospe
- When Do We Get the "Right" to Privacy? Koster, Raph
- Cybercafes a fluke? (was: MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs) Scion Altera
- Cybercafes a fluke? (was: MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #289 - 8 msgs) Holly Sommer
- An interesting concept Richard.Woolcock@rsuk.rohde-schwarz.com
- [iggamedes] WAKE UP! :) Tomb Raider style games? J C Lawrence
- [iggamedes] WAKE UP! :) Tomb Raider style games? Jon Lambert
- Cultural Differences in Gaming and Gamers SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- Cultural Differences in Gaming and Gamers Koster, Raph
- Cultural Differences in Gaming and Gamers the_logos@www.achaea.com
- System burps and outages J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds Peter Yu
- Semi Graphical Muds Christopher Allen
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds David Loeser
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds David Loeser
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds Corey Crawford
- Semi Graphical Muds Kerem HADIMLI
- Semi Graphical Muds Jon Lambert
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds Kerem HADIMLI
- Semi Graphical Muds Frank Crowell
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds Koster, Raph
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Semi Graphical Muds Bruce
- Semi Graphical Muds Jay Carlson
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds Jon Lambert
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds Bruce
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds Bruce
- Semi Graphical Muds Christopher Allen
- Semi Graphical Muds Bruce
- Semi Graphical Muds Felix A. Croes
- Semi Graphical Muds Christopher Allen
- Semi Graphical Muds Felix A. Croes
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds Bruce
- Semi Graphical Muds David Loeser
- Semi Graphical Muds Marc Bowden
- Semi Graphical Muds Felix A. Croes
- Semi Graphical Muds Bruce
- Semi Graphical Muds Felix A. Croes
- Semi Graphical Muds Adam Casbarian
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds Koster, Raph
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds Koster, Raph
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds John Buehler
- Semi Graphical Muds Koster, Raph
- Semi Graphical Muds Dave Rickey
- Semi Graphical Muds Hulbert, Leland
- Semi Graphical Muds Dave Rickey
- Semi Graphical Muds geoffrey@yorku.ca
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds rayzam
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds Sanvean
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds Tamzen Cannoy
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds Frank Crowell
- Semi Graphical Muds rayzam
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds rayzam
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds rayzam
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds rayzam
- Semi Graphical Muds Kevin Littlejohn
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds Ben Chambers
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Semi Graphical Muds J C Lawrence
- Semi Graphical Muds Adam Casbarian
- Semi Graphical Muds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Ebay bans character selling the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Ebay bans character selling susie
- Ebay bans character selling Frank Crowell
- Ebay bans character selling Frank Crowell
- Ebay bans character selling the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Ebay bans character selling Richard.Woolcock@rsuk.rohde-schwarz.com
- Ebay bans character selling Kevin Littlejohn
- Ebay bans character selling Travis Casey
- Ebay bans character selling Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Ebay bans character selling Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Ebay bans character selling rayzam
- Ebay bans character selling John Buehler
- Ebay bans character selling Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Ebay bans character selling Dave Rickey
- Ebay bans character selling Eric Lee {RAT}
- Ebay bans character selling Frank Crowell
- Ebay bans character selling Timothy Dang
- Ebay bans character selling Paul Robinson
- Ebay bans character selling Peter Yu
- Ebay bans character selling Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Ebay bans character selling David Kennerly
- Ebay bans character selling Willowreed@aol.com
- Ebay bans character selling Travis Casey
- Ebay bans character selling rayzam
- Ebay bans character selling Jeremy Music
- Ebay bans character selling rayzam
- Ebay bans character selling Yves K
- Ebay bans character selling the_logos@www.achaea.com
- front end clients.....was Semi Graphical Muds Willowreed@aol.com
- front end clients.....was Semi Graphical Muds Frank Crowell
- front end clients.....was Semi Graphical MUDs Christopher Allen
- Meta-gaming: (real <--> game) transfers David Kennerly
- EverQuest Study Dave Rickey
- [pol-core-test] New file uploaded to pol-core-test (OT) Jeff Freeman
- [pol-core-test] New file uploaded to pol-core-test (OT) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- [pol-core-test] New file uploaded to pol-core-test(OT) Dave Rickey
- [pol-core-test] New file uploaded to pol-core-test(OT) Valerio Santinelli
- [pol-core-test] New file uploaded to pol-core-test(OT) Frank Crowell
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems Jon Lambert
- PvP Systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP Systems Federico Di Gregorio
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems gmiller@classic-games.com
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP systems Greg Miller
- PvP systems John Buehler
- PvP systems gmiller@classic-games.com
- PvP systems John Buehler
- PvP systems gmiller@classic-games.com
- PvP systems John Buehler
- PvP systems gmiller@classic-games.com
- PvP systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP systems J C Lawrence
- PvP systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP systems J C Lawrence
- PvP systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP systems Dave Turner
- PvP systems gmiller@classic-games.com
- PvP systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP systems S. Patrick Gallaty
- PvP systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP Systems Federico Di Gregorio
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems Jake Song
- PvP Systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP Systems Corey Crawford
- PvP Systems Jon Lambert
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems Jon Lambert
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems Sanvean
- PvP Systems J C Lawrence
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems J C Lawrence
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems J C Lawrence
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems J C Lawrence
- PvP Systems the_logos@www.achaea.com
- PvP Systems J C Lawrence
- PvP Systems Michael Tresca
- PvP Systems John Buehler
- PvP Systems Jon Lambert
- PvP Systems John Buehler
Jon Lambert writes:
> What do you do when players' characters act joyous in an angry town.
> Oppress them? Seriously though, if players are coming to play a
> *game* you will get GoPers. GoPers simply do not care about
> atmosphere other than... "Hey that's cool, can I get any cheese from
> that? No? Let's move on then!".
The difference in our approaches is (I think) that you'd have your
roleplayers try to convince the GoPer that that's not the way we'd
like the world to work. In my version, I try to educate all players
to a more modest form of roleplaying, which is to encourage them to
'play along' with the ambient atmosphere. Or to at least respect it.
Note that roleplayers will be welcome in my world, but they'll be
limited in what roles they can play - just as PvPers will be limited
in how *they* can play as well.
>> If I want my gamemasters to run a story and provide entertainment
>> to my players, I'd have to convince and/or recruit roleplayers to
>> play the parts that I need. That's no way to run a business where
>> I'm providing a paid entertainment experience to my customers.
> Are you sure about that? I'm convinced that people will pay money
> for just about anything.
My goal is not to make money. My goal is to find a great source of
entertainment for people, and to amuse myself in the process. The
money would be nice to have, but I'm financially set.
Regardless, my observation was that I'm trying to provide a very
specific kind of entertainment, and I can't do that if I have to
convince the player actor's guild each time I want to change things.
>> Player to player interaction takes place independent of the NPCs.
>> For example, the assault on the orc village. Players roleplay and
>> plot and plan and then assault the village, hopefully for
>> roleplaying reasons (although we know it'll be "for the hell of
>> it").
> Yes but why "hopefully"? Is this just a game where role-playing is
> not supported, yet not discouraged.
Fitting into the game world atmosphere will most definitely be
encouraged, which I think of as a modest form of roleplaying.
Cheese-collectors (per your prior example) will be discouraged.
Everything about my game will encourage players to enjoy the here and
now. The entertainment of 'doing' will be paramount. The
entertainment of 'achieving' will be dramatically chopped back so that
it is roughly commensurate with whatever form of 'here and now'
entertainment I can achieve using the PC experience.
I'd love to have a bunch of roleplayers running around in my world.
The only problem is that, like PvP, roleplaying takes energy, and not
all players have the energy to roleplay all the time. Some players
are simply not capable of roleplaying. I want the NPCs in there
serving as a crutch to encourage players to remember to do the
roleplaying that they're capable of each day.
>> The NPC wrangler who runs that area of the world will cause the
>> orcs to react in some way so that there is an element of real
>> intelligence in the encounter, not just mindless force on force.
>> I'm primarily concerned with consistent quality of service, and
>> roleplayers don't provide it.
> Employee NPC wranglers are not going to any more consistent about
> quality than dedicated player/volunteers. I think the employee
> vs. volunteer topic was probably discussed to death in all it's many
> angles. That's my 2 cents.
We can go that route again if you like. You use the term 'dedicated'
when you refer to the comparison of employees and volunteers. There's
no question that a dedicated volunteer is equal to, if not superior
to, an employee. Because that's what an employee is supposed to be -
dedicated. The point is that a volunteer knows that they are
volunteering, and after a while they wonder why they're not getting
paid, as with AOL. That, or they wonder why they're not getting
accolades. Or any one of a number of perfectly reasonable reasons for
being unhappy with being so dedicated without compensation other than
the satisfaction of knowing that they are doing a good job. And those
reasons include a change of priorities - such as needing to make some
money. Payment is the compensation for being dedicated, and it
provides a viable lifestyle for the wrangler.
>> Second, I very definitely want players to react to the world. Many
>> folks are far more interested in having the players control the
>> world.
> This is true. I don't think reaction is enough for immersion.
> Players want to affect the world. Players want "attention". This is
> true of most players regardless of their style.
If players want attention, they should address their relationship with
their parents and the rest of their family. I'm sorry, but I'm not
creating a game in order to cater to a variety of unhealthy behaviors
that people want to sate. I'm only interested in providing a light
form of hobby-like entertainment that players will play for perhaps an
hour or two a day or for a few hours on a weekend.
You're absolutely right that players of many of these games want
attention. But the personality of the players that I'm after is a
fairly staid and stolid group. They play on Microsoft's game zone
playing chess, checkers and other social games where they can: get in,
play a little bit and then get out. The game is not a massive
undertaking for them - and they sure don't have to worry about
somebody coming along and turning over the tables. For all I know,
all I need to do is put together a couple taverns with chess and
checker boards on the tables, give players characters and have them go
at it.
I'd like to do far more than just that trivial treatment, of course,
but I'm not after a hardcore player of any variety.
>> That only works for a limited population of players who are of a
>> like mind. I'm after a paradigm that works for massive playerbases
>> (tens of thousands). It's a far more vanilla experience than most
>> roleplaying enthusiasts will be interested in.
> Certainly there are tens of thousands of role-players out there.
> Prolly quite a bit more that aren't mudding. Where are your 10000
> coming from, and what happens happens if only 100 players show up?
I was going to import them from Mexico.
My 10,000 are visiting Colonial Williamsburg. They are hobby
enthusiasts who never get a chance to blacksmith. They are the folks
who read about Lewis & Clark and want to go on an expedition
themselves. They are the people who play chess, checkers and go over
on The Gaming Zone. They are the people who visit Disneyworld.
When 100 players show up, I clap my hands gleefully because that's my
first goal. There's no way that I'm going to be able to go from zero
to 10,000 players overnight. And I don't mean that from a technology
standpoint. I mean that from proving out the experience of gameplay.
With 100 players, how many NPCs do I need to ensure that they
understand what the environment is all about? How many support calls
am I getting from those 100 players? How difficult is wrangling NPCs
really going to be such that it's effective entertainment? Do I want
to hinge the entertainment of 10,000 paying customers on that learning
experience? Of course not.
And I have no intention of trying to pull off some kind of three month
beta test period. That's inane. I may never leave beta and just let
friends and friends of friends go adventuring in the game world until
we figure out how to make the derned thing really work.
>> I really think that some game publisher needs to hire roleplayers
>> to actually run NPCs at minimum wage or some such thing. That's
>> really what roleplayers want to do. They want to *act*.
> Bingo. There you go. They even do it for free. ;-)
Nope. Everything must be for pay. There must be interviews,
training, contracts and the like. I do not believe in sustained
volunteerism for paid services. I say this partly because running
NPCs will not be fun. It will be a job with ups and downs, and the
actors will be required to tolerate those ups and downs gracefully, so
as not to detract from the gamplay of the paying park guests. I
intend to take the experience of my guests very seriously.
>> I don't want my players to roleplay beyond functional roleplaying.
>> I want them to enjoy the world. What I want to avoid is players
>> who do things that are very counter to the atmosphere of the game
>> world.
> There are a lot of goals that are at odds here. You want immersion
> in the world and then you want casual gamers. You want to encourage
> roleplaying via atmosphere, though I cannot figure out quite why you
> don't want to provide any in-game support for it. Role-players are
> by their very nature not only actors, but are content creators. In
> order to establish a game conducive to role-play, it must be
> participatory, not passive and reactive. So you just want
> functional roleplay from players merely in order not to disturb the
> atmosphere and theme of the game?
I do not want significant immersion and I do not want significant PvP. Both
lead to players losing their sense of reality. And a sense of reality is
needed because the game world is full of real people interacting. That
makes it personal, regardless of how good a roleplaying you are. It's
dangerous to mix fantasy and reality, which is what these games do.
Consider the effect of Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean. Last
time I was there, the group in the boat with me started "argh"ing and
"yo-ho-ho"ing as we went. The atmosphere encouraged them to behave a
certain way. I'm just trying to get players to play along with the
way the game world works. They take their cues from the world.
Roleplayers will be able to do this far more capably than others, and
they will be able to embellish that atmosphere by their actions.
Tell me what tools roleplayers want to have and I'll tell you how much
of that set would work in my world. I can give roleplayers leeway,
but not to the point of controlling the experience of other players.
If roleplayers want to do that, have them apply for a job with my
mythical game company. I pay good mythical money. :)
> Now I've seen such games. What you get is players whispering to
> each other in hushed tones and offline about how to game the game.
> It's sort of like a guy who designs a model train layout, shows it
> off to people, and says "Don't touch anything".
I hope we can assume I'm not talking about such an experience.
>> The NPCs serve as a reminder that your character is in a medieval
>> town. Or in a futuristic town. Whatever. Non-roleplayers need
>> the props as reminders. A cast of extras to run the NPCs would be
>> great, but I'd never rely on a cadre of volunteers. I'd have to
>> produce high level scripts and have the actors figure out how to
>> present that script. I'd have terrible security problems of
>> keeping any information about the script secret, etc. Blech.
> Ok this is like putting on a show. Once players realize their
> participation is limited to being an audience member this will get
> old real fast. This extends to both GoPers and RPers.
We should speak in terms of actual examples. I want my players to go
adventuring and wipe out the orc village that has been plaguing the
town, and when they return to the town, the NPC citizens of the town
throw a brief, 'impromptu' celebration. I want my players going to
the front lines of the war and pushing to move the front lines this
way and that. I want my players forming NPC-potentate-sanctioned
guilds and such in order to train each other, help newbies, undertake
potentate-requested actions and so on. The same sorts of activities
that you want I probably want, but their effect on other players
*must* be tempered with moderation. 'Unbounded' is *not* the hallmark
of my game.
>> Yup. Where ya gonna find the roleplayers that are willing to
>> provide consistent quality of service to the rest of the
>> playerbase?
> Well there does exist troupes of experienced role-players that
> actually run games and scenes for cash.
And that's fine by me. I'm perfectly willing to hire actors. I'll
give them the approximate script and desired outcomes and they can
work it out from there. It's a contractual agreement that is
targetted at providing a specific game experience to my guests. I
said to my guests that things would be a certain way and they are
paying to get that certain way.
> Well I know Children of the Moon is around 2500 or so they claim. I
> believe Cajun Nights may be larger. Does it really matter? None of
> them are commercial ventures so there really isn't any marketing
> going on. Therefore there isn't any real way a measuring their
> viability or potential success as a business. It's my theory that a
> few thousand well-placed dollars will buy you 500 players even if
> you are selling crap.
My goal is not to make money. My goal is to provide entertainment.
So if there is a large MUD out there that attracts lots and lots of
players and they're happy to start roleplaying, that would be a good
sign. But if the only MUDs out there with roleplayers are the ones
that attract people who are already roleplayers, then I still don't
have the indicators that I want to see in order to believe the
statement 'everyone can be a roleplayer'.
JB
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