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<H1>RE: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: RE: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd) </LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: "Joe Andrieu" <<A HREF="mailto:joe#andrieu,net">joe#andrieu,net</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Tue, 7 Dec 1999 10:40:08 -0800</LI>
<LI><em>Importance</em>: Normal</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI>
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<PRE>
Dan Shiovitz wrote:
> It's important to remember that a game is not a story. Games don't have
> plots, except in retrospect, and you won't be able to make it work out by
> anning stuff in advance. (You can, however, cheat and make it look after
> the fact like you planned stuff, but that's a different flock of seagulls
> entirely).
MUDs aren't really stories or games.
Think of MUDs (and related media formats) as experience media. Games are about fixed sets of rules. If you change the rules, you change the game. (This is true for chess, professional basketball, and Jeopardy). This is clearly not necessarily true in a good role-driven or narrative-driven MUD. Who cares what the rules of the underlying simulation are? What really matters is whether or not the user experience is truly engaging. Is it riveting? Does it grab the audience and take them on an adventure through a fantastic new world? It's not about mastering a perfect jump shot or learning the intricacies of possible opening strategies in chess (at least no more than mastering reading is what matters in good literature--it may be useful or necessary, but it's not the main thing).
Of course, MUDs aren't stories either. There is no fixed protagonist or plot or anything, except maybe for the milieu of the world. No clear beginning, middle, and end.
What we are all building are neither games nor stories. They are a new breed of consumer entertainment--one which can learn from the rich history of stories and games, but we must be careful not to let the limitations of those keep us from reinventing the media experience. And that is, IMNSHO, the necessary focal point for any successful MUD: the user experience.
-j
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<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00538" HREF="msg00538.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Dan Shiovitz <dans@drizzle.com></LI></UL></LI>
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<LI><STRONG>RE: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00534" HREF="msg00534.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></strong>,
Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:diablo@best.com">diablo@best.com</a>, Tue 07 Dec 1999, 01:29 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00547" HREF="msg00547.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></strong>,
Mik Clarke <a href="mailto:mikclrk@attglobal.net">mikclrk@attglobal.net</a>, Wed 08 Dec 1999, 21:22 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00550" HREF="msg00550.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></strong>,
Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:diablo@best.com">diablo@best.com</a>, Wed 08 Dec 1999, 21:43 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00538" HREF="msg00538.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></strong>,
Dan Shiovitz <a href="mailto:dans@drizzle.com">dans@drizzle.com</a>, Tue 07 Dec 1999, 15:44 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00542" HREF="msg00542.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></strong>,
Joe Andrieu <a href="mailto:joe@andrieu.net">joe@andrieu.net</a>, Tue 07 Dec 1999, 23:10 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00615" HREF="msg00615.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></strong>,
J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw@cp.net">claw@cp.net</a>, Thu 16 Dec 1999, 23:13 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00629" HREF="msg00629.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></strong>,
Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:adam@angel.com">adam@angel.com</a>, Fri 17 Dec 1999, 01:04 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00535" HREF="msg00535.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></strong>,
Sellers, Michael <a href="mailto:MSellers@maxis.com">MSellers@maxis.com</a>, Tue 07 Dec 1999, 02:27 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00536" HREF="msg00536.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Fair/Unfair? Scenarios (fwd)</A></strong>,
Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:diablo@best.com">diablo@best.com</a>, Tue 07 Dec 1999, 05:01 GMT
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