November 2005
- Computer Security for MMOs and Online Games Greg B
- Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation Chris Duesing
- Commentary on Recent PlayOn Blog Social Cohesion Christopher Allen
- quest engine design documents? Johnicholas Hines
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Ghilardi Filippo
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Kiztent
- Effort to produce a quest Vincent Archer
- Effort to produce a quest Damion Schubert
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Damion Schubert
- Effort to produce a quest Mike Rozak
- Effort to produce a quest Randolf Richardson
- Effort to produce a quest Lachek Butalek
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) Sarah Bonner
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- DGN: Starting with Nothing (Requests for Resources) Otis Viles
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? John Mauney
This topic is for the discussion of the current state of text MUDs,
and I am posing the question, do text MUDs need some kind of
(r)evolution? I was of the mind that, before Everquest was released,
the text MUD community had been benefiting from a kind of evolution;
many new MUDs were being released all the time, many of them with
new approaches to the genre. Of course, most of them fail, but that
has almost always been the case. However, after Everquest, and the
subsequent slew of graphical MMOs, this text MUD evolution never
seems to me to have had lasting results to breathe new life into the
genre. I am writing under the assumption that text-based games have
inherent, priceless quality to them, and that the situation they are
in right now is not because "their time has come". I think it is
possible for the text MUD genre to snatch some of its previous
players away from so many of these low quality graphical MMOs (which
are themselves in need of evolution).
A few, key ideas I have are these:
- Text MUDs must no longer be limited to Telnet based. For one
thing, the Telnet protocol has not evolved. Another reason I
believe Telnet is holding the genre back is because text MUDs
ought to be just as easy to get started on as any other game
downloadable from the net, or purchasable from the shelf. Also,
Telnet is very limiting in terms of text formatting and
presentation.
- Text MUDs should no longer require any kind of previous
knowledge with the genre. As a new player, I should be able to
start the game instantly and never feel as if I'm lost in some
arcane activity of which I have no clue where to go next. MUDs are
notorious for having poor help files, or help files that must be
read entirely out of context to the situations of which the
documentation describes.
- Text MUD creators should consider implementing gameplay concepts
he/she has seen in non text based games. For most people, the lure
of the text based game is not the total lack of color, art, or
even those nifty little text based compasses. It is simply the
world being presented in prose rather than graphics. It leaves
much up to the imagination. This does not mean that combat
systems, quest journals, mapping systems, etc. must be purely text
based. Of course, mileage will very per the creator's preference,
but I think there is a lot of unexplored territory in the realm of
melding classic textual presentation with modern graphical UIs and
tertiary systems.
So, do any of those who enjoy text based games agree? Do you see
other things the genre needs or could benefit from? I will assume it
has been discussed in this forum before the concept of including
graphical MMO concepts to the text MUD worlds, since that has been
attempted before.
-- John M. - Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Sean Howard
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Sam Pointon
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? John Mauney
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? justice@softhome.net
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Lachek Butalek
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Text MUDs; in need of an (r)evolution? Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs CHRISTOPHER LLOYD
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs cruise
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Roger Hicks
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains cruise
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lydia Leong
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Dave Mitchell
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lost
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lachek Butalek
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Lost
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains jack fredricks
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Mike Rozak
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Arnau Josep Rosselló Castelló
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains Damien Neil
- Dynamic Quests & Event Chains ceo
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs cruise
- DESIGN: Personal NPCs Jaycen Rigger
- (no subject) Koster, Raph
- Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) cruise
- Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lachek Butalek
- MMO a temporary phenomenon? John Buehler
- Sexism in design lwl@black-knight.org (Lydia Leong)
- Sexism in design Marc Bowden
- Sexism in design Louis d'Ambra
- Sexism in design Sean Kelly
- Sexism in design Amanda Walker
- Value Brian "Ayavaron" Ross
- Griefing Brian "Ayavaron" Ross
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Jean, Yannick
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Marc Bowden
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lost
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Damion Schubert
- RE : Removing the Massively from MMOG (long) Lachek Butalek
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look)
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Caliban Darklock
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Ryan S. Dancey
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Jeffrey Kesselman
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Ken Sewell
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Sean Howard
- Changing Midstream (SWG's New Look) Joe Ludwig
- Discussion of MUD system design, development, and implementation Chris Duesing