<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud? --> <!--X-From-R13: "Rnzvba Epuhoreg" <mwvevnNgrknf.arg> --> <!--X-Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 15:08:59 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 004501bde99a$147836e0$9b03cfcf@Painland --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:zjiria#texas,net"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg01282.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01284.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg01324.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01290.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#01283">Author</A> | <A HREF="#01283">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#01283">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A>></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: "Damion Schubert" <<A HREF="mailto:zjiria#texas,net">zjiria#texas,net</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 17:07:38 -0500</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> -----Original Message----- From: Ryan Prince <jynx_ryn#mindless,com> >I would also like to add ROLE-PLAYING onto my list, however, it has not become >important enough, yet. So I tend to go with MURPEs ( Multi User Role Playing >Environments ), rather than MUDs. ( BTW, I have seen lots of >modified-but-diku-based MURPEs out there, especially RoM based stuff.) It's interesting to note that MUD is a title of mixed blessing. Go ahead and try to tell your average MUCK or MUSH wiz that he's running a MUD. He'll angrily deny it, and try to squeeze the notion that combat exists in a MUD. Their game has no combat, therefore it's not a MUD. On Meridian, our marketing department actually argued at great length as to whether or not we wanted to call M59 a MUD. It's a very nerd-oriented title. The marketing departments of computer companies like to put things in categories, and it's easy to tell the consumer about an upcoming '3D shooter', or an upcoming 'real time strategy game'. But M.U.D.? First off, Multi-User is no longer a very original trait - it can be applied to hundreds of games out there. And 'Dungeon' --- well, Meridian only had a couple of Dungeons. Like most Dikus, most of the world building time was spent on the cities and the world. There was a definite feeling that MUD was a title that would not sell to someone who didn't know about the genre already. I resisted applying 'MUD' to the game as well, for a different reason. If you stretch a label too far, then it ceases to be meaningful. When you tell someone that DOOM is a MUD and DungeonKeeper is a MUD, then MUD is a word that means 'more than one player, in some fashion'. I actually prefer to say that MUDs are 'that generation of text-only, generally free, multiplayer games I used to play in college'. Then, when someone tells me he's mudded in a job interview, I know what he means. Trying to apply or stretch the rules of a genre title, especially by using the name of the genre as the rule, is somewhat disingenious, and attempts to break the genre expectations that we have. For example, Meridian 59 and Ultima are both played in real-time. And in both, there is a great deal of necessary strategy, for example, in getting your guild to work together to take over a guild hall. However, I don't think that anyone here thinks that either of the games is a 'Real-Time Strategy' game, as we commonly think of it. Hell, my friend at work, who is a real RTS buff, thinks that MechCommander is not a RTS, due simply to the fact that there is no building/resource gathering in it. So what should we call UO, M59 and EverQuest? To be honest, I think they are different enough to merit their own title. The one that's floating around the internet right now is MMPOG, or 'Massively MultiPlayer Online Game'. Personally, I hate the term 'massively multiplayer', and 'multiplayer online' borders on redundancy. Also, the term is generic enough that Medievia could fit under the umbrella, too (after all, Medievia is probably more 'massive' than M59). I once played with the term Multiplayer Advanced Graphically Oriented Game, simply because I liked the acronym (MAGOG), but as you could tell, I couldn't think of a better word for 'A', and I really think some level of persistence to world should be mentioned. Ah, well. --damion </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01282.html">[MUD-Dev]</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01284.html">[MUD-Dev] Room descriptions</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01324.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01290.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#01283"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#01283"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="01264" HREF="msg01264.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</A></strong>, Raph & Kristen Koster <a href="mailto:koster#eden,com">koster#eden,com</a>, Sat 26 Sep 1998, 15:28 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01274" HREF="msg01274.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</A></strong>, Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Sat 26 Sep 1998, 20:13 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01279" HREF="msg01279.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</A></strong>, Kylotan <a href="mailto:kylotan#globalnet,co.uk">kylotan#globalnet,co.uk</a>, Sat 26 Sep 1998, 21:10 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01324" HREF="msg01324.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</A></strong>, Jon Leonard <a href="mailto:jleonard#divcom,slimy.com">jleonard#divcom,slimy.com</a>, Mon 28 Sep 1998, 03:00 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01283" HREF="msg01283.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</A></strong>, Damion Schubert <a href="mailto:zjiria#texas,net">zjiria#texas,net</a>, Sat 26 Sep 1998, 22:08 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01290" HREF="msg01290.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?</A></strong>, Damion Schubert <a href="mailto:zjiria#texas,net">zjiria#texas,net</a>, Sat 26 Sep 1998, 23:57 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01099" HREF="msg01099.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: META: What are you looking for in this list?</A></strong>, S. Patrick Gallaty <a href="mailto:choke#sirius,com">choke#sirius,com</a>, Tue 22 Sep 1998, 22:02 GMT <UL> <li><Possible follow-up(s)><br> <LI><strong><A NAME="01125" HREF="msg01125.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: META: What are you looking for in this list?</A></strong>, Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Wed 23 Sep 1998, 05:28 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01166" HREF="msg01166.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: META: What are you looking for in this list?</A></strong>, Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Wed 23 Sep 1998, 23:19 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>