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Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion



Title: Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion
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From: Pileborg Joachim - FMT <joachim.pileborg#fmt,se>
To: "MUD Development List (E-mail)" <mud-dev#kanga,nu>
Subject: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion
Date: Tue, Apr 11, 2000, 3:48 AM

> I know that most existing MUDs don't have either a history, background
> or religion. What I'm wondering is how many of you do have a (more or
> less) well thought-out history for your MUD?

Both of the projects I've worked on have had extensive histories which were developed before I came on board, but both had/have an "original" world as a major selling point.

In the first project, the plan was to have versions of the histories written up as in-game books that the players could read in libraries.  Unfortunately, the game never saw general release.

In the current project, the histories are available to the players, but in an unwieldy form (a single, 150+k html file).  To be honest, I'm not sure if any of our testers have read the histories.  The bits of fiction on the web site seem to have had a greater effect.

> Are you borrowing stuff from
> our own history? How do you handle names (of people and places) in case
> you dont? Religion and gods? Do the implemtation of it all differ from what
> you first planned it to be, and why?

To the best of my knowledge, little or nothing of the histories of either world was taken from real-world history.  Names in both cases were invented.  Some names turned out better than others.

Religion: the first project had an original, but relatively conventional, pantheon, again developed before I joined the project.  In the current project, each culture has its own religion (some cultures consist of more than one race).  Most of these religions haven't been very well developed yet.  The primary religion centers around the worship of saints.

You might want to check out http://www.rpghost.com/prophecy/GMHIST0.shtml for an example (documents from the first project).

Good histories and race design will catch my eye and make me more inclined to play a game, but for me, poorly-written histories and race descriptions can be worse than none at all.  I think a lot depends on the type of MUD you're developing and the type of player you're trying to attract.

   -- Sharon



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