May 2002
- Random Resets John Robert Arras
- Random Resets Kwon Ekstrom
- Random Resets John Robert Arras
- [MLP] The use of ecology models Rayzam
- Interesting things to do (was: Player Accounts on a Non-Commercial MUD) John Buehler
- Apple WWDC? amanda@alfar.com
- Apple WWDC? Nathan F. Yospe
- Apple WWDC? Amanda Walker
- Apple WWDC? Sasha Hart
- Apple WWDC? amanda@alfar.com
- Apple WWDC? Brian Hook
- Apple WWDC? John A. Bertoglio
- Apple WWDC? Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Apple WWDC? Matt Mihaly
- Apple WWDC? shren
- Apple WWDC? Matt Mihaly
- Apple WWDC? John A. Bertoglio
- Apple WWDC? James Edward Gray II
- Apple WWDC? Brian Hook
- Encouraging groups without grouping Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Introduction and My solution to Powergamers, Treadmills, and Content Devaluation. Ken Raisor
- The audience is the medium. For now. John Szeder
- The audience is the medium. For now. John Buehler
- The audience is the medium. For now. Damion Schubert
- The audience is the medium. For now. Ted L. Chen
- The audience is the medium. For now. Shane Gough
- The audience is the medium. For now. Michael Tresca
- The audience is the medium. For now. Ted L. Chen
- The audience is the medium. For now. Marian Griffith
- The audience is the medium. For now. Vincent Archer
- The audience is the medium. For now. Damion Schubert
- The audience is the medium. For now. David B. Held
- The audience is the medium. For now. Ted L. Chen
- The audience is the medium. For now. Marian Griffith
- The audience is the medium. For now. F. Randall Farmer
- The audience is the medium. For now. J C Lawrence
- The audience is the medium. For now. Frank Crowell
- Ownership of characters Jasper McChesney
- Explorers? (Was: Codename Blue & Facets - Nick Yee's new studies) Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Befriending Critters (was: Random Resets) Arthaey
- Questions about server design Ben Chambers
- Questions about server design Michael Bayne
- Questions about server design Sean Middleditch
- Questions about server design Mike Shaver
- Questions about server design Kwon Ekstrom
- Questions about server design szii@sziisoft.com
- Questions about server design F. Randall Farmer
- Questions about server design James Edward Gray II
- Questions about server design Shane Gough
- Extensibility Ben Chambers
- Extensibility Ammon Lauritzen
- Extensibility Kwon Ekstrom
- Extensibility Ben Chambers
- Extensibility "Christopher {siege} " OBrien
- Extensibility Sean Middleditch
- Extensibility Sean Kelly
- Extensibility John Buehler
- Extensibility shren
- Extensibility John Buehler
- Extensibility szii@sziisoft.com
- Extensibility John Buehler
- Extensibility szii@sziisoft.com
- Extensibility Mike Shaver
- Question: Any published research on Sims type game personae? susan wu
- [MLP] Why care about levels? (was: The use of ecolo Richard Woolcock
- [MLP] Why care about levels? (was: The use of ecolo gy models) Jon Lambert
- Component Design (was: Extensibility) Scion Altera
- [BIZ] Selling Stock (formerly Blacksnow revisted ) Robert A. Rice, Jr.
- Games are Hot. Period Michael Tresca
- Games are Hot. Period Gladimir
- Games are Hot. Period Richard Aihoshi aka Jonric
- Games are Hot. Period Freeman, Jeff
- Games are Hot. Period Richard Aihoshi aka Jonric
- Games are Hot. Period Koster, Raph
- Games are Hot. Period Vincent Archer
- Games are Hot. Period Richard Aihoshi aka Jonric
- Games are Hot. Period Matt Mihaly
- fun Matt Mihaly
- [TECH] Shortest Path William Murdick
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Ted L. Chen
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction John Buehler
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Ted L. Chen
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Eli Stevens
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Jon Leonard
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Rec onstruction Robert Zubek
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Rec onstruction ceo@grexengine.com
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Ted L. Chen
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Rec onstruction Koster, Raph
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Rec onstruction lynx@lynx.purrsia.com
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Ted L. Chen
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Rudy Neeser
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Matt Mihaly
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Rec onstruction Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction John Buehler
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Ted L. Chen
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction Mike Shaver
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction John Buehler
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Reconstruction amanda@alfar.com
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Rec onstruction Koster, Raph
- [TECH] Voice in MO* - Phoneme Decomposition and Rec onstruction Steve {Bloo} Daniels
- Combat with Style (was Player Accounts on a Non-Commercial MUD) lynx@lynx.purrsia.com
- Playskins Koster, Raph
- People were talking about resets.. Anderson, David
- People were talking about resets.. Sasha Hart
- People were talking about resets.. Anderson, David
- People were talking about resets.. John Buehler
- People were talking about resets.. Anderson, David
- People were talking about resets.. Arnau Rossell=?US-ASCII?Q?=F3?= Castell=?US-ASCII?Q?=F3?=
- People were talking about resets.. shren
- People were talking about resets.. Anderson, David
- People were talking about resets.. David B. Held
- People were talking about resets.. shren
- People were talking about resets.. Anderson, David
- People were talking about resets.. Michael Tresca
- People were talking about resets.. Fred Clift
- People were talking about resets.. Lars Duening
- People were talking about resets.. Michael Tresca
- People were talking about resets.. Rayzam
- People were talking about resets.. Matt Mihaly
- People were talking about resets.. Tand'a-ur
- People were talking about resets.. John Buehler
- People were talking about resets.. Leland Hulbert II
- People were talking about resets.. lynx@lynx.purrsia.com
- People were talking about resets.. Jason Murdick
- People were talking about resets.. Jeff Lindsey
- People were talking about resets.. Ben Chambers
- People were talking about resets.. Sasha Hart
- People were talking about resets.. David B. Held
- People were talking about resets.. Sasha Hart
- People were talking about resets.. Anderson, David
- People were talking about resets.. David B. Held
- People were talking about resets.. Acius
- People were talking about resets.. Marian Griffith
- Question about copyovers. Anderson, David
- Question about copyovers. Tand'a-ur
- Question about copyovers. Anderson, David
- Question about copyovers. Kwon Ekstrom
- Question about copyovers. Adam
- Question about copyovers. Oliver Jowett
- Question about copyovers. Kwon Ekstrom
- Question about copyovers. Lars Duening
- Question about copyovers. Jon Lambert
- Question about copyovers. fred@clift.org
- Question about copyovers. Zach Collins {Siege}
- Question about copyovers. Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- non-violent activities (was People were talking about resets..) Ammon Lauritzen
- References on personality and emotion models Robert Zubek
- Multimodal interface conference. Rayzam
- Hyperbolies R Us shren
- Hyperbolies R Us Matt Mihaly
- TECH: Systems Administration Issues Thomas Leavitt
- Questions about ... XML as data format Adam
- Questions about ... XML as data format Anderson, David
- Questions about ... XML as data format Kwon Ekstrom
- R&D Matt Mihaly
- Conversation logs? Robert Zubek
- Conversation logs? Rudy Fink
- Conversation logs? Vincent Archer
- Conversation logs? Shane Gough
- DGN: Elastic Advancement in MUDs? Jeff Lindsey
- DGN: Elastic Advancement in MUDs? David B. Held
- Building histories off civilizations automatically adam Martin
- ADMIN: Virii and mail forgeries J C Lawrence
- Hi from the Dragon Empire's CLM Peter Tyson
- Linux gaming ( was Apple WWDC? ) Kevin Mack
- [TECH] Preferred LPC replacement? Jeff Bachtel
- [TECH] Preferred LPC replacement? Damion Schubert
- Who `owns' conversation logs? Joshua Judson Rosen
- The Online Gaming Life for Me! Michael Tresca
An amusing tale wherein game designer Jim Butler leaves EverQuest
for, of all things, a MUD.
http://www.bastionpress.com/column.htm
Mike "Talien" Tresca
RetroMUD Administrator
http://www.retromud.org/talien
<EdNote: Copy below>
--<cut>--The Online Gaming Life for Me!
by Jim Butler
Any adventurer who's had to lug the treasures of an ancient wyrm up
the sides of an extinct volcano knows its best to focus on the
basics. Jewel-encrusted weapons over those of simpler design, for
instance, and gems and jewelry over raw coins. Coins are heavy, and
they're not worth their weight when compared to a star sapphire or
fist-sized ruby.
Of course, the sight of a mountain of gold and platinum coins is
what most adventurers live for; the great rewards after a heroic
battle against evil. Sorting through and finding the true gems
amidst the pile of treasure is an act many are more than willing to
endure to find the best of the best.
Like the treasure trove of the great dragon, we're faced with a
number of decisions in our online gaming lives as well. There are
truly phenomenal spectacles of sights and sounds that await us in
games such as EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, Ultima Online, and
Asherons Call. These games have certainly changed the face of online
gaming forever.
But in the not-so-distant past, other games paved the way for the
likes of the giants of today. Multi-user dungeons (MUDs, MUCKs, and
the like) were the pioneers of online gaming, and though you don't
hear much from them these days, they're still spinning tales of
adventure and heroism.
Now, some of you might be cringing at this point at the thought of
text-based adventuring being able to compare to the majestic
spectacle of EverQuest and DAOC. But the roots of our adventuring
past have strengths in the present day.
One of the biggest commercial MUDs in existence is Gemstone III. I
started playing GS in the mid 90s, rolling up my character and
adventuring during the days that you got to pay by the hour on
GEnie. But despite the costs to play, activity around Gemstone was
intense. Thousands of players were online at any given time, slowly
earning their way through their Lord and Lady titles and hurling
themselves at any and all challenges the folks at Simutronics could
dream up.
I tried a few other character classes before settling in on Ranger
in Gemstone. I toiled away, dying all too often, before finding a
mentor who wanted to take me under his wing and show me the
ropes. Jarleth (soon to be Lord Jarleth) took me around the various
sights and sounds and pointed me in the right directions for fame
and glory.
I quit Gemstone back in 98 and concentrated on the new challenges at
work (TSR had just been purchased by WotC, and there were plenty of
new ways to do things I needed to learn). When Ultima Online came
out, I tried that briefly but found that death by sheep wasnt a
particularly heroic way to die, and the idea that I had to be a
tailor before I could be a wizard was equally disheartening. I got
hooked on EverQuest almost immediately, pushing my character through
the world and finally getting a 53rd-level magician to my name (I
would have made 60 by now, but I've too many other distractions in
my life, like real gaming!).
Why I'm Leaving EQ
-----------------
After you've suffered through the growing pains of learning a new
system, there begins to be more and more things that you really
despise weighing heavily on you. Things like:
A Painful trade system: My carpal tunnel has suffered all its going
to for trying to master tailoring, and don't even get me started on
the availability of trade goods to advance your skill.
- Customer Service: I havent had to hound EQ customer service in
the game often, but each time I have Ive ended up being told no
(if I got an answer at all). Im a paying customer, and I dont
like being told no (too much Third Edition D&D philosophy in me
now, I guess).
- Impossible Adventures: Now that I'm in my 50s, I really need a
group of people to accomplish any tasks that I'd like to
accomplish. That's assuming I can even get into the Planes, I'm a
member of the right guild, or roll an incredibly high number to
win randomed left-overs. If you don't have a steady supply of
high-level friends to adventure with (and thats 30 or more for a
good planar raid or epic quest), you might as well go give away
low-level magic to the newbies.
- Broken Economy: Creatures fight you with armor classes that
can't possibly come from what they're wearing, powerful items
you loot from creatures only warrant a few platinum pieces from
a local merchant, and a slew of other annoyances.
- Power-leveling: I hate it. Nothing is more annoying to me than
seeing a 50th-level character who's worked his way through the
levels in two weeks. Those people generally don't know how to
play the character, they're just working their way up through the
levels because...
- End Game: Until you've managed to get into your 50s, there is
an awful lot of things that are just beyond your reach. Your
spells are all useless because higher level spells do the same
things you do more efficiently and with better results.
Now, dont get me wrong here, I'm not ticked off at Verant/Sony (the
makers of EQ) and I don't say these things to try and elicit a
response -- they've heard them all before on their own message
boards. I say them because they're weaknesses that are Driving me
back to Gemstone
A number of weeks ago, I decided to look into Gemstone again and see
how things were doing. On a lark, I contacted Customer Service at
Simutronics and told them I had this old character from the late 90s
that Id like to reactivate. A few courteous emails later and
Alshazar, giant-man ranger, reawakened in the same spot I had left
him those many years ago.
The current-day world of Gemstone (known as Elanthia to the locals)
has changed some since I first adventured there. Its still primarily
a text-based game, but graphics that represent your characters
health have replaced typing out the command to check your health all
the time. Graphics pop up from time to time, displaying some
fearsome beast youre fighting or perhaps showing you the surrounding
landscape. Available mana, known spells, and other useful
information appear as well. Its a good marriage of text and
graphics.
Why Im Back
-----------
The world of Elanthia has a number of things that I've always found
interesting and entertaining.
- Vibrant Story: The world is in a state of change, and since
its grounded in text its a lot easier for you to keep up on
whats happening in the game.
- The Unknown: Some rules elements are still unclear, and this
prevents players from building the ultimate bard, ultimate
cleric, etc. While some of the number-crunchers have managed to
lift the veil somewhat, questions remain.
- Societies: The Order of Voln allows characters to go out and
perform tasks (destroy undead) that result in the awarding of
special powers. This lets characters become unique beyond the
standard warrior, ranger, empathy, or wizard.
- Class Reliance: There isn't any single class thats required at
higher levels; all classes are viable. Thus, if you choose to
play a bard or empathy, youll find that you'll have plenty of
adventuring opportunities.
- Training Options: Each time you level, you have a number of
different choices to make regarding the kind of character you
want to be. Focusing on edged weapons, ambushing, lock picking,
and other abilities are simply a character decision; it doesnt
occur automatically when you level.
- Small Community: The Gemstone community is smaller now,
meaning your characters actions and choices have greater
meaning. It also means that your roleplaying acumen is better
noticed (and higher-level characters frequently reward such
activity).
- Just like D&D: Its all text, baby. Just like the game we love
to play, the Devil's in the details. Read up...
They're in the midst of doing lots of other things right now as well
(like allowing players to add their own magic items into the game
using wizardly enchantments, implementing long-promised spells, and
generally cleaning up stuff). They're listening to their customers,
striving to make things better. Nice concept, eh?
This flurry of activity is part of what Simutronics is calling Hot
Summer Nights. Basically, its a whole series of improvements that
will take place in weekly updates over the course of the entire
summer (Memorial Day through Labor Day). Change is the only constant
in online gaming, regardless of what game feeds your addiction.
But I like the changes I see coming, and its convinced me to give
Gemstone another look and see if I can make my mark in the
world. So, if you decide to take the plunge, let me know you've
arrived by sending a message to me in the game (Alshazar in the
regular game and Kellafar in Platinum), or drop me an email and Ill
send you an official invite to the game.
Oh, and if youre out there, Jarleth. Thanks for the lending hand
those many years ago. I hope fortune smiles upon us and we can trek
the woods of Elanthia once again
--<cut>-- - Boredom Ben Chambers
- Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility [was Boredom] Ron Gabbard
- Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility [was Boredom] Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- "MMOG" Bible Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- "MMOG" Bible David Kennerly
- TECH: Single process v.s. multi process? Philip Mak
- TECH: Single process v.s. multi process? Smith, David {Lynchburg}
- TECH: Single process v.s. multi process? Bruce Mitchener
- TECH: Single process v.s. multi process? Bruce Mitchener
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Clay
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] apollyon
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishi ng Marginal Utility] Koster, Raph
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Michael Tresca
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Paul Schwanz
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Martin C. Martin
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Dave Rickey
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Sanvean
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Matt Mihaly
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Michael Tresca
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Kwon Ekstrom
- In defense of "soloability" [was Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility] Ron Gabbard
- Game shows Peter Tyson
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Martin C. Martin
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Rudy Fink
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Martin C. Martin
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Joshua Judson Rosen
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Ron Gabbard
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Marc Bowden
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Joshua Judson Rosen
- What keeps people interested in social muds? lynx@lynx.purrsia.com
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Richard A. Bartle
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Martin C. Martin
- What keeps people interested in social muds? Richard A. Bartle
- New Beginings Drylar Levre
- New Beginings Acius
- New Beginings ceo@grexengine.com
- New Beginings Bruce Mitchener
- New Beginings David B. Held
- New Beginings Kwon Ekstrom
- New Beginings David B. Held
- New Beginings Kwon Ekstrom
- New Beginings Sean Kelly
- New Beginings Lars Duening
- New Beginings David B. Held
- New Beginings Lars Duening
- New Beginings Bruce Mitchener
- New Beginings David B. Held
- New Beginings Kwon Ekstrom
- New Beginings Paul Schwanz
- New Beginings Zach Collins {Siege}
- New Beginings Miroslav Silovic
- New Beginings David B. Held
- New Beginings Draymoor a Vin il'Rogina
- New Beginings David B. Held
- New Beginings Kwon Ekstrom
- New Beginings Bruce Mitchener
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Richard Krush
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Acius
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Edward Glowacki
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Kwon Ekstrom
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Edward Glowacki
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Fred Clift
- [DGN] Creating a MUD David Bennett
- [DGN] Creating a MUD fred@clift.org
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Damion Schubert
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Taylor
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Matt Mihaly
- [DGN] Creating a MUD Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- On the creation of constructive/social behaviours in online games! Marc Demesel
- [DGN] MUD Books James Edward Gray II
- [DGN] MUD Books Scion Altera
- [DGN] MUD Books Jeremy Noetzelman
- [DGN] MUD Books Tand'a-ur
- Positive reinforcement for socializing [was In de fense of "soloability" ] Jeff Lindsey
- Character skill distribution and trade-offs Ron Gabbard
- Character skill distribution and trade-offs Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Character skill distribution and trade-offs Vincent Archer
- Character skill distribution and trade-offs Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Character skill distribution and trade-offs John Buehler
- Character skill distribution and trade-offs Sean Kelly
- Character skill distribution and trade-offs Ron Gabbard
- Space partitioning, R-Trees? Dread Quixadhal
- Space partitioning, R-Trees? Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
- Space partitioning, R-Trees? Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Space partitioning, R-Trees? Crosbie Fitch