May 2004

• Thief class (was: MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 11, Issue 23) Ghilardi Filippo
• Levels, classes and choice cruise
• • Levels, classes and choice Sean Howard
• R: Playing catch-up with levels Ghilardi Filippo
• R: Levels, classes and choice Ghilardi Filippo
• • R: Levels, classes and choice Byron Ellacott
• What is an RPG? [Was: Playing catch-up with levels] Sean Middleditch
• • What is an RPG? [Was: Playing catch-up with levels] Darksuit
  • • What is an RPG? [Was: Playing catch-up with levels] Sean Middleditch
• What is an RPG? Mike Rozak
• • What is an RPG? Threshold RPG
  • What is an RPG? Byron Ellacott
  • • What is an RPG? Amanda Walker
• More on levels, was What is an RPG? rick cronan
• • More on levels, was What is an RPG? Mike Rozak
  • • More on levels, was What is an RPG? rick cronan
  • More on levels, was What is an RPG? Byron Ellacott
  • • More on levels, was What is an RPG? cruise
    • • More on levels, was What is an RPG? Jeff
• Playing catch-up with levels Freeman, Jeff
• SOC ANNOUNCE: Research project into Social Interactions in MMORPG field, need help PMooney@peddie.org
• Multiplayer Game Logic System sszretter
• • Multiplayer Game Logic System Douglas Goodall
  • Multiplayer Game Logic System Mike Rozak
• [SOC] A letter: Dear MMOG Corey Crawford
• Playing catch-up with levels Sean Howard
• • Playing catch-up with levels Freeman, Jeff
• More on levels, was What is an RPG? Mike Rozak
• • More on levels, was What is an RPG? Jeff Fuller
  • • More on levels, was What is an RPG? Mike Rozak
• Reminder: Community Work Symposium - May 21 T.L. Taylor
• DESIGN: Online adventure games Mike Rozak
• • DESIGN: Online adventure games Amanda Walker
  • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Mike Rozak
    • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Alex Chacha
  • DESIGN: Online adventure games Ola Fosheim Grøstad
  • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Mike Rozak
    • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Jason Downs
      • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Mike Rozak
      • DESIGN: Online adventure games Malcolm W. Tester II
      • • DESIGN: Online adventure games J C Lawrence
        • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Malcolm W. Tester II
  • DESIGN: Online adventure games Fred Snyder
  • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Mike Rozak
    • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Fred Snyder
  • DESIGN: Online adventure games Steven King
  • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Amanda Walker
    • DESIGN: Online adventure games Mike Rozak
  • DESIGN: Online adventure games Alex Chacha
  • DESIGN: Online adventure games Mike Rozak
  • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Malcolm W. Tester II
  • DESIGN: Online adventure games Tracy Lee
  • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Mike Rozak
  • DESIGN: Online adventure games J C Lawrence
  • • DESIGN: Online adventure games Malcolm W. Tester II
• MEDIA: Puzzle Pirates wins Webby J C Lawrence
• NEWS: Online Economies Brian Thyer
• IRC Channels for Virtual Worlds Discussion Matt Wilson
• Natural Language Generation Tiago Carita
• • Natural Language Generation Eric Rhea
  • Natural Language Generation Douglas Goodall
  • • Natural Language Generation Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
    • • Natural Language Generation mugginsm@under-the-fridge.com
      • • Natural Language Generation Michael "Flury" Chui
        • • Natural Language Generation Sean Middleditch
          • • Natural Language Generation blizzard36_2002@yahoo.com
            • • Natural Language Generation Steven King
            • Natural Language Generation Michael "Flury" Chui
• believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
  Eric Rhea wrote:
  
  > In my own view, realistic NPCs get in the way of actual
  > gameplay. NPCs armed with Natural Language like apps remind me
  > of telemarketers. They aren't your friends, they respond within
  > a scripted range, and they suck.
  
  I think maybe you're conflating a couple of different issues. One
  is natural language generation -- being able to interact with an NPC
  in a fairly natural form -- and the other is realistic (better, I
  think, is "believable") non-player characters. As the various
  chatterbots show, the ability to talk without doing so *believably*
  ruins the effect.
  
  IMO, looking at this as a NLP/NLG problem is very much like
  confusing grammar with semantics. "Green ideas sleep furiously" is
  a grammatically correct sentence, but one without meaning; someone
  who utters that in conversation isn't believably intelligent. In
  the same way, NPCs that can converse freely but without significant
  semantic content are hardly believable -- and it's these that get in
  the way of gameplay, as you say; they quickly remind you that you're
  not really interacting with a world, but with a shallow stupid
  program.
  
  Believable characters OTOH -- with or without NLG -- will make
  gameplay much more immersive and consequential. Imagine asking a
  tavern keeper NPC for info on where to buy good weapons. Consider
  how his responses might differ based on whether he's seen you
  before, whether you tipped well last time, whether and how he's
  heard other NPCs (and PCs) talk about you, and, say, whether he
  heard you were flirting heavily with the blacksmith's daughter (whom
  he happens to be in love with), or were the one to save her from
  ruffians. This goes way beyond script- or knowledge-based
  responses, but provides much more interesting player-related context
  for even the simplest menu-driven interactions.
  
  Mike Sellers
  Online Alchemy
• • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Robert Zubek
  • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
  • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Malcolm W. Tester II
  • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
  • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) J C Lawrence
  • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
    • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) J C Lawrence
      • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
        • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
      • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Brian 'Psychochild' Green
      • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
        • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
        • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Freeman, Jeff
        • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Robert Zubek
        • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
    • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
    • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Samantha LeCraft
      • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
        • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Douglas Goodall
        • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Hulbert, Leland
        • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Samantha LeCraft
          • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
            • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Paolo Piselli
          • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Matt Mihaly
          • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
            • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
              • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
          • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
          • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
          • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) J C Lawrence
          • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
        • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Byron Ellacott
    • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) John Buehler
    • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) J C Lawrence
      • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) John Buehler
        • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
        • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Eli Stevens {WG.c}
        • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
    • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Sam Mason
    • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) cruise
    • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) John Arras
• DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Skane2004@aol.com
• • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Malcolm W. Tester II
  • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Otis Viles
  • • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? J C Lawrence
    • • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Nathan Yospe
      • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Mark
  • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Sarah J. Blake
  • • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Kwon J. Ekstrom
  • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Fred Snyder
  • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Zach Collins {Siege}
  • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? Sean Middleditch
  • • DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives? cruise
• MEDIA: Virtual Dopers Crave High Scores J C Lawrence
• • MEDIA: Virtual Dopers Crave High Scores David Kennerly
  • • MEDIA: Virtual Dopers Crave High Scores David Heyman
• believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Matt Mihaly
• • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Malcolm W. Tester II
• DESIGN: Crime and Punishment Matt Mihaly
• • DESIGN: Crime and Punishment J C Lawrence
  • • DESIGN: Crime and Punishment Ghilardi Filippo
• believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
• believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Freeman, Jeff
• • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
  • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Douglas Goodall
    • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
  • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) John Buehler
  • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Freeman, Jeff
    • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
      • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Freeman, Jeff
    • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Matt Mihaly
  • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
  • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Tracy Lee
    • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Matt Mihaly
    • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Michael Sellers
      • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
      • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Matt Mihaly
        • • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Amanda Walker
    • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Freeman, Jeff
    • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Mathieu Castelli
  • believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Mathieu Castelli
• China practically bans online gaming? Sulka Haro
• • China practically bans online gaming Sulka Haro
• SOCIAL MEDIA: California Law Review: The Laws of Virtual Worlds J C Lawrence
• playing the mob (was: believable NPCs) ceo
• BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Yumiko
• • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Matt Mihaly
  • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? John Buehler
    • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? vlad cole
    • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Brandon J. Van Every
      • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Matt Mihaly
      • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Matt Mihaly
  • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Brandon J. Van Every
  • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Tess Lowe
  • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Kwon J. Ekstrom
  • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Tess Snider
  • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Kwon J. Ekstrom
    • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Matt Mihaly
      • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Peter Keeler
        • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Matt Mihaly
          • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? John Arras
        • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Kwon J. Ekstrom
        • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Matt Mihaly
          • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Tess Lowe
            • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Matthew Mihaly
              • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Tess Lowe
              • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Daniel.Harman@barclayscapital.com
            • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Kwon J. Ekstrom
            • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Malcolm W. Tester II
            • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Matthew Mihaly
              • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Malcolm W. Tester II
                • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Eric Lamy
                  • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? Matt Mihaly
  • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? ghovs
  • • BIZ: Ban selling of in-game items for real cash? ren@aldermangroup.com