February 2001
- Rogue-Like Mud? Ron Moore
- Issues of Copyright (was Ebay bans character selling) geoffrey@yorku.ca
- brazil the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Dogma 2001 Frank Crowell
- Dogma 2001 David Turner
- FW: Article on Global Verbs & Bulk Bug Christopher Allen
- Slightly extreme reaction to IP and auction Frank Crowell
- Slightly extreme reaction to IP and auction Greg Underwood
- Slightly extreme reaction to IP and auction the_logos@www.achaea.com
- bandwidth the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Is immersipresense going to make a come back? Frank Crowell
- New Scientist Article... Eric Rhea
- New Scientist Article... Alistair Milne
- New Scientist Article... rayzam
- New Scientist Article... Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- New Scientist Article... rayzam
- volunteers the_logos@www.achaea.com
- volunteers Timothy Dang
- volunteers Jon Morrow
- volunteers the_logos@www.achaea.com
- volunteers Timothy Dang
- The Aedon rule system (was: FW: Article on Global Verbs & Bulk Bug) Federico Di Gregorio
- Content is Not King (from First Monday) Bruce
- [sweng-gamedev] BYOND game development system (fwd) J C Lawrence
- [sweng-gamedev] BYOND game development system (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Medievia interview Koster, Raph
- Medievia interview Alex
- Medievia interview Madman Across the Water
- Medievia interview Koster, Raph
- Medievia interview Joe O'Connor
- Medievia interview pyrographer@comcast.net
- Medievia interview J C Lawrence
- FW: Article on Data Inheritance Christopher Allen
- FW: Article on Data Inheritance Kevin Littlejohn
- job opportunities Koster, Raph
- Those (in)famous EQ stories bubba@bubba.mud
- Writing articles (was: FW: Article on Data Inheritance) Bruce
- Writing articles (was: FW: Article on Data Inheritance) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Room-based vs. Coordinate based[Was semi-graphical muds] Ben Chambers
- Room-based vs. Coordinate based[Was semi-graphical muds] Warren Powell
- Room-based vs. Coordinate based[Was semi-graphical muds] the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Room-based vs. Coordinate based[Was semi-graphical muds] J C Lawrence
- Modular Design Issues RFC Ryan Rhodes
- Modular Design Issues RFC Russ Lewis
- Modular Design Issues RFC Ryan Rhodes
- Modular Design Issues RFC J C Lawrence
- Modular Design Issues RFC Bruce
- Modular Design Issues RFC J C Lawrence
- Modular Design Issues RFC Ryan Rhodes
- Modular Design Issues RFC J C Lawrence
- Modular Design Issues RFC Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Modular Design Issues RFC Greg Lewis
- Modular Design Issues RFC Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Modular Design Issues RFC Ben Chambers
- Modular Design Issues RFC Ryan Rhodes
- Modular Design Issues RFC J C Lawrence
- Modular Design Issues RFC J C Lawrence
- Modular Design Issues RFC Scion Altera
- Modular Design Issues RFC Ryan Rhodes
- Modular Design Issues RFC Kwon Ekstrom
- Modular Design Issues RFC Ryan Rhodes
- Modular Design Issues RFC Kwon Ekstrom
- Modular Design Issues RFC Ryan Rhodes
- Modular Design Issues RFC Kwon Ekstrom
- Modular Design Issues RFC Scion Altera
- Modular Design Issues RFC Jo Dillon
- Modular Design Issues RFC J C Lawrence
- Party at DundraCon Christopher Allen
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #246 - 6 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #246 - 6 msgs the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Roundtable status, changes, and future. J C Lawrence
- Roundtable status, changes, and future. J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds Ryan Rhodes
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds Hulbert, Leland
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds Travis Casey
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds Scion Altera
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds Travis Casey
- Persistent Worlds Hulbert, Leland
- Persistent Worlds Jon Lambert
- Persistent Worlds Ryan Rhodes
- Persistent Worlds Jon Lambert
- Persistent Worlds Ryan Rhodes
- Persistent Worlds Jon Lambert
- Persistent Worlds Ryan Rhodes
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds Jon Lambert
- Persistent Worlds Ryan Rhodes
- Persistent Worlds Miroslav Silovic
- Persistent Worlds Bruce
- Persistent Worlds Ryan Rhodes
- Persistent Worlds Phillip Lenhardt
- Persistent Worlds Miroslav Silovic
- Persistent Worlds Ryan Rhodes
- Persistent Worlds Jon Lambert
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds msew
- Persistent Worlds rayzam
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds rayzam
- Persistent Worlds Travis Casey
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds Tess Lowe
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds Travis Casey
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds Kevin Littlejohn
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds Tess Lowe
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds Dave Rickey
- Persistent Worlds Eli Stevens
- Persistent Worlds John Buehler
- Persistent Worlds Nathan F.Yospe
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds Nathan F.Yospe
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds Jon Lambert
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds Jon Lambert
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds rayzam
- Persistent Worlds Nathan F.Yospe
- Persistent Worlds Christopher Allen
- Persistent Worlds Travis Casey
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds Travis Casey
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds Travis Casey
- Persistent Worlds Corey Crawford
- Persistent Worlds Marian Griffith
- Persistent Worlds Travis Casey
- Persistent Worlds the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Persistent Worlds Marian Griffith
- Persistent Worlds Brandon J. Rickman
- Persistent Worlds Nathan F.Yospe
- Persistent Worlds J C Lawrence
- Persistent Worlds Ryan Rhodes
- MMORPGs: Pointers to System Specs? Lars Duening
- MMORPGs: Pointers to System Specs? Jake Song
- Shameless Plug. SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- Shameless Plug. Travis Casey
- Shameless Plug. J C Lawrence
- Shameless Plug. SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- Shameless Plug. J C Lawrence
- Shameless Plug. SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- Shameless Plug. Christopher Allen
- Shameless Plug. J C Lawrence
- Shameless Plug. SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- Shameless Plug. J C Lawrence
- enforced roleplaying the_logos@www.achaea.com
- enforced roleplaying Sanvean
- enforced roleplaying the_logos@www.achaea.com
- enforced roleplaying Christopher Allen
- enforced roleplaying Mark Watson
- enforced roleplaying Klyde Beattie
- enforced roleplaying the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Real Life Consequences Corey Crawford
- Real Life Consequences the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Real Life Consequences J C Lawrence
- Real Life Consequences rayzam
- Real Life Consequences John Buehler
- Real Life Consequences the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Real Life Consequences J C Lawrence
- Real Life Consequences Christopher Allen
- Real Life Consequences Kerem HADIMLI
- Real Life Consequences the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Real Life Consequences Kevin Littlejohn
- Real Life Consequences John Buehler
- Real Life Consequences Kevin Littlejohn
- Real Life Consequences J C Lawrence
- Real Life Consequences John Buehler
- Real Life Consequences the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Real Life Consequences Jeff Freeman
- Real Life Consequences Marian Griffith
- Real Life Consequences David Loeser
- Real Life Consequences the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Real Life Consequences John Buehler
- Real Life Consequences David Loeser
- Real Life Consequences Rodney Lorrimar
- Real Life Consequences Michael Tresca
- Real Life Consequences J C Lawrence
- Real Life Consequences John Buehler
- Real Life Consequences the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Real Life Consequences Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Real Life Consequences Marc Bowden
- Real Life Consequences J C Lawrence
- Real Life Consequences Mike Niederer
- Real Life Consequences Jon Morrow
- Real Life Consequences Jeff Freeman
- Real Life Consequences John Buehler
- Real Life Consequences the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Real Life Consequences John Buehler
- Real Life Consequences Jeff Freeman
- Real Life Consequences John Buehler
- Real Life Consequences Jon Morrow
- Real Life Consequences J C Lawrence
- Real Life Consequences Jon Morrow
- Real Life Consequences J C Lawrence
- Real Life Consequences Michael Tresca
- Real Life Consequences msew
- Real Life Consequences Adam Casbarian
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #249 - 28 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #249 - 28 msgs the_logos@www.achaea.com
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #249 - 28 msgs the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Job search Dr. Cat
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Ryan Rhodes
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) J C Lawrence
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Marc Bowden
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Jeff Freeman
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Ryan Rhodes
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Dave Rickey
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Jeff Freeman
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Ananda Dawnsinger
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Dave Rickey
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Dave Rickey
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) S. Patrick Gallaty
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Jeff Freeman
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Jon Lambert
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) J C Lawrence
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Pay for Play (or Commercial Rolecall) Jon Morrow
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Adam Casbarian
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Christopher Allen
- A new MUD-standard Ben Greear
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Ben Greear
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard rayzam
- A new MUD-standard katroutt@home.com
- A new MUD-standard Frank Crowell
- A new MUD-standard Bryce Harrington
- A new MUD-standard Frank Crowell
- A new MUD-standard Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Jon Lambert
- A new MUD-standard Frank Crowell
- A new MUD-standard Ryan Rhodes
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Bruce
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Chris Jones
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard John Bertoglio
- A new MUD-standard J C Lawrence
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard J C Lawrence
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Bruce
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Kevin Littlejohn
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Bruce
- A new MUD-standard Kevin Littlejohn
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard Kevin Littlejohn
- A new MUD-standard Ben Chambers
- A new MUD-standard Kwon Ekstrom
- A new MUD-standard the_logos@www.achaea.com
- A new MUD-standard Frank Crowell
- Community (was: Semi Graphical Muds) Marian Griffith
- Defining a community Klyde Beattie
- Defining a community Dave Rickey
- Defining a community Jeff Freeman
- Defining a community Dave Rickey
- Defining a community Mark Watson
- Defining a community Koster, Raph
- Defining a community Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) msew
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) msew
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Vincent Archer
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) msew
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Brian Hook
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) John Buehler
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Brian Hook
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) John Buehler
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Travis Nixon
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Koster, Raph
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Travis Casey
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Vincent Archer
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) msew
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Brian Hook
- "Doing a dungeon" (was: Permadeath or Not?) Dave Rickey
- MUD Schools Ben Chambers
- MUD Schools David Bennett
- MUD Schools Alex
- MUD Schools David Bennett
- MUD Schools Marc Bowden
- MUD Schools Ben Chambers
- MUD Schools Michael Tresca
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") Tess Lowe
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") John Buehler
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") Ananda Dawnsinger
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") David Bennett
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") Adam Casbarian
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") J C Lawrence
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") rayzam
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") Travis Nixon
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") Marian Griffith
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") John Buehler
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") Kwon Ekstrom
- Teaching ethics in MUDs (was "An essay on d00dism and the MMORPG") the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Teaching ethics in MUDs Tess Lowe
- Teaching ethics in MUDs John Buehler
- Mozilla as a client (was: A new MUD-standard) Bruce
- Mozilla as a client (was: A new MUD-standard) Kwon Ekstrom
- GoPers are ants at RP picnics!... was Pay for Play(or commercial rolecall) Jon Lambert
- Condsiders Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Condsiders J C Lawrence
- Condsiders Jeff Freeman
- Condsiders J C Lawrence
- Condsiders Marc Bowden
- Condsiders Ryan Rhodes
- Condsiders Klyde Beattie
- Condsiders John Buehler
- Condsiders Klyde Beattie
- Condsiders rayzam
- Condsiders John Buehler
- (no subject) msew
- Phantasy Star online article Koster, Raph
- Phantasy Star online article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Phantasy Star online article Koster, Raph
- Phantasy Star online article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Phantasy Star online article msew
- Myn ynd Wymyn (was Teaching ethics in MUDs) Ananda Dawnsinger
- Myn ynd Wymyn (was Teaching ethics in MUDs) Ananda Dawnsinger
- Myn ynd Wymyn (was Teaching ethics in MUDs) Adam Casbarian
- Myn ynd Wymyn (was Teaching ethics in MUDs) Ananda Dawnsinger
- Item Distribution in Areas Jim S
- Item Distribution in Areas Brian Hook
- Item Distribution in Areas Vincent Archer
- Item Distribution in Areas rayzam
- Item Distribution in Areas Dave Rickey
- Game Developer Conference Proceedings? Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Game Developer Conference Proceedings? Koster, Raph
- Game Developer Conference Proceedings? Timothy Dang
- Game Developer Conference Proceedings? the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Koster, Raph
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Koster, Raph
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article rayzam
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
- New Bartle article Daniel James
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Freeman, Jeff
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Vincent Archer
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Vincent Archer
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Adam Martin
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Jeff Freeman
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article John Buehler
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article John Buehler
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article johnbue@msn.com
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article John Buehler
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article John Buehler
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article John Buehler
- New Bartle article Phillip Lenhardt
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article John Buehler
- New Bartle article msew
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Brian Hook
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Vincent Archer
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Jon Lambert
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Brian Hook
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Brian Hook
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Adam Martin
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
-----Original Message-----
From: Adam Martin <amsm2@cam.ac.uk>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Brian Hook" <bwh@wksoftware.com>
>> While "thinking outside the box" (a phrase that is practically
>> meaningless now) is laudable, people do happen to like things
>> they're familiar with, be it class names, archetypes or just "being
>> like that guy in that book". People know and understand elves.
>> Now move on to a universe that is far more alien -- Jorune comes to
>> mind -- and people balk because they don't necessarily want to
>> relearn all their fundamental assumptions. While part of this can
>> be attributed to their unwillingness to think outside the box, part
>> of it is just a desire to play the game without subjecting yourself
>> to a huge "unlearning" process followed by a massive reeducation
>> period, only to lose interest in the new universe after about 2
>> hours.
> Is this perhaps a large part of why LOTR starts out in a very
> recognisably pastoral England-like Shire? Why the WOT books start
> out in a plain small village, thus giving the reader a gentle
> introduction and a chance to pick things up slowly as they go along,
> rather than suddenly having to be aware and understanding of the
> important facts about an entire new world.
That's exactly why. Look at "Willow" and "Dungeons & Dragons" (the
movie that just came out). Both tell fairly similar stories,
over-all, but Willow leads you into the fanastic slowly, D&D, the
opening scene has a dragon being controlled by a wand just created by
the villain, then breaking that control and being killed, the blood
from which sets the river on fire. None of which is explained, even I
had to carefully think about what I saw to figure out what exactly had
happened, and as a reformed munchkin, I *still* have all of the D&D
source material running around in my head.
The initial reaction from the audience was "You've got to be kidding".
As it became apparent they weren't kidding (sometime around when the
river caught fire) the audience was laughing at it. It was just too
much, too soon. From then on, the drama came across as camp, the
menace as farce.
Willow, on the other hand, starts out pretty mundane, and the inital
introduction of actual *magic* is non-threatening (a little pixie, as
I recall). By the time they introduce offensive magic, people are
comfortable with the idea of magic, and the villain has already been
shown to be a "bad guy".
In DAoC, we deliberately made the Albion realm comfortable and
"generic fantasy". People come in, and there's no confusion. Simple
choice of "race" (all humans, Big [Highlander], Smart [Avalonian],
Quick [Saracen], and Average [Briton]), simple choice of "class"
(Fighter, Rogue, Mage, and Cleric). Green highlights for where you
might want to put your discretionary stat points. Name generator
button. Choice of face, hair, and overall size (+/- 10% of nominal).
A short page describing what your choices mean in simple language.
You drop into the world, your trainer is right there talking to you.
You run out into the countryside, things to kill are right there. You
don't even have to equip your weapon, we did that for you when the
character was created.
*Later*, we start adding complexity. At 2nd level, you start needing
armor, if you're hunting Skeletons they conveniently drop some. 3rd
level, level 0 NPC's stop giving xp, you need to find another hunting
place. Level 4, your newbie weapon is completely inadequate, you need
to buy a new one. Level 5, it's time to choose your "Guild"
(sub-classing, essentially). And so on, complexity is introduced
*slowly*, so that the player is not confronted with the whole
feature-set of the game at once. And the background is so instantly
familiar it's almost cliche.
Compare this to EQ, where it took me (a pretty veteran player of both
online and single-player games) an hour and a freaking half to find my
way out of South Qeynos. To this day, Kelethin (tree city) rains
newbies. I've talked to players in their teens and 20's that didn't
know where to find their Guildmaster, or that they even would want to.
Now, if Albion was our only realm, this "Simplicity above all"
approach would be pretty patronizing and annoying to veteran players
later, it would lack depth and "width" (a phrase I use to describe
providing alternate playing modes), and basicly be a rehash of what
players have seen before. But since we have 2 other realms, we have
the opportunity to do entirely different things with the other realms.
Norse have a fundamentally different class structure (all magic-users
are Clerical casters, for example), a different melee skill structure,
even their weapons groups are defined differently (Swords, Axes,
Hammers, and Spears rather than "One Handed Slash", etc.). Not to
mention, you have non-human races (Trolls and Kobolds, Dwarves are
arguably simply very small humans). And the background is familiar
enough to strike a chord with the user, but different enough (and in
many ways obscure enough) to be interesting and potentially
surprising.
And then in the Hibernian realm, we can go an entirely *different*
direction, working from an entirely different background that is
*also* familiar, inviting, and yet rarely covered with any depth. In
content-development terms, each realm is actually a different game,
little more related than two GURPS backgrounds developed by the same
person.
Each realm is also a different community, something some would fault
it for, but I'm not sure that's meaningful. Once you pass the
critical mass threshold (around 1000 players peak population) I don't
see another meaningful line to draw short of 10,000, if there, and
every *shard* of a game is just as completely cut off (more so, at
least you can fight the other two realms) from every other shard
(barring rare events like server splits and mergings). I don't think
division is a bad thing, any population subdivides, we're just
"preloading" some of the divisions.
Anyway, the point of all this is that it is possible to be *both*
familiar *and* innovative, if you finesse it.
--Dave Rickey - New Bartle article Brian Hook
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
- New Bartle article Steve {Bloo} Daniels
- New Bartle article Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
- New Bartle article Vincent Archer
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
- New Bartle article Vincent Archer
- New Bartle article Travis Casey
- New Bartle article msew
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Travis Casey
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Marc Bowden
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article rayzam
- New Bartle article Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- New Bartle article Blane Bramble
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- New Bartle article Gaffney, Jeremy
- New Bartle article Richard A. Bartle
- New Bartle article Dave Rickey
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- New Bartle article Freeman, Jeff
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- New Bartle article Trump
- New Bartle article Brian Hook
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- New Bartle article Brian Hook
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- New Bartle article Vincent Archer
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- New Bartle article Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- New Bartle article Sanvean
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Brian Hook
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Travis Casey
- New Bartle article the_logos@www.achaea.com
- New Bartle article Travis Casey
- New Bartle article Travis Casey
- New Bartle article Timothy Dang
- New Bartle article Travis Casey
- New Bartle article Marc Bowden
- New Bartle article Marc Bowden
- New Bartle article Matt Mihaly
- everquest banning sarapis@www.achaea.com
- Fallen Age (was Shameless Plug) SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- Fallen Age (was Shameless Plug) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Fallen Age (was Shameless Plug) SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- Fallen Age (was Shameless Plug) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Fallen Age (was Shameless Plug) SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- Fallen Age (was Shameless Plug) Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Fallen Age (was Shameless Plug) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Fallen Age (was Shameless Plug) SavantKnowsAll@cs.com
- Myn ynd Wymyn (was Teaching ethics in MUDs) Adam Casbarian
- Myn ynd Wymyn (was Teaching ethics in MUDs) Willowreed@aol.com
- Yamauchi Puts the Industry In Its Place msew
- Item drain was Item Distribution in Areas Brian Hook
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #255 - 27 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #255 - 27 msgs John Buehler
- realism and unrealism Travis Casey
- realism and unrealism Federico Di Gregorio
- realism and unrealism Marian Griffith
- Limiting rewards was Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Brian Hook
- Limiting rewards was Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) S. Patrick Gallaty
- Limiting rewards was Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Brian Hook
- Limiting rewards was Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Limiting rewards was Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Damaging items was New Bartle article Brian Hook
- Damaging items was New Bartle article msew
- Damaging items was New Bartle article Brian Hook
- Damaging items was New Bartle article Travis Casey
- Damaging items was New Bartle article John Buehler
- Damaging items was New Bartle article Travis Casey
- Damaging items was New Bartle article Marian Griffith
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #255 - 27 msgs Dr. Cat
- Distributed Processing John Buehler
- Distributed Processing Gaffney, Jeremy
- Distributed Processing John Buehler
- Distributed Processing Vincent Archer
- Distributed Processing Timothy Dang
- Distributed Processing Adam Martin
- Distributed Processing shren
- Distributed Processing Gaffney, Jeremy
- Quests + No Spoils (was: Interesting EQ rant) Corey Crawford
- Quests + No Spoils (was: Interesting EQ rant) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Where's The Line Drawn Kyndig
- Where's The Line Drawn KaVir@dial.pipex.com
- Where's The Line Drawn Frank Crowell
- Multiple Character Races John Buehler
- Multiple Character Races Brian Hook
- Multiple Character Races Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Multiple Character Races John Buehler
- Multiple Character Races Koster, Raph
- Multiple Character Races John Buehler
- Multiple Character Races ghovs
- Multiple Character Races the_logos@www.achaea.com
- Multiple Character Races Michael Tresca
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Vincent Archer
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Zak Jarvis
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Koster, Raph
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Koster, Raph
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Matt Mihaly
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Matt Mihaly
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Freeman, Jeff
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Jeff Freeman
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) shren
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Freeman, Jeff
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Jon Lambert
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Matt Mihaly
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Travis Nixon
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) F. Randall Farmer
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Matt Mihaly
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Nathan F.Yospe
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) J. Coleman
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Koster, Raph
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Kevin Littlejohn
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Travis Casey
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) J. Coleman
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Freeman, Jeff
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Brian Hook
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Matt Mihaly
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Travis Casey
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Matt Mihaly
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Matt Mihaly
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Travis Casey
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Matt Mihaly
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Travis Casey
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Matt Mihaly
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Travis Casey
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) shren
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Kevin Littlejohn
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Kevin Littlejohn
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) John Buehler
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Adam Martin
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) the_logos@www.achaea.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Vincent Archer
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) holding99@mindspring.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) david.l.smith@home.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) holding99@mindspring.com
- FW: Interesting EQ rant (very long quote) Nathan F.Yospe
- Balance was Damaging items was New Bartle artic le Palacio, Ryan
- License Laws was Where's The Line Drawn Èric Rhéa
- License Laws was Where's The Line Drawn Frank Crowell
- Scripting Ben Chambers