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<H1>RE: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: "'<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>'" <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: RE: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: Caliban Tiresias Darklock <<A HREF="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 12:38:08 -0400</LI>
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<PRE>
On Wednesday, September 24, 1997 4:29 AM, clawrenc#cup,hp.com
[SMTP:clawrenc#cup,hp.com] wrote:
>
> Reese reports that being a fisherman, and thus spending ones play time
> sittting about fishing and telling stories is popular with a certain
> set of players. One could easily imagine a similar scenario for
> musicians sitting about strumming and swapping songs.
Note that you would not actually need a fishing skill or musical instrument
skill for either of the above. I agree, musicians are a nice thing, they
contribute vastly to the enjoyment of the world; but why do we actually
need game mechanics to handle it?
> >> All of us are PROGRAMMERS.
>
> Most of the active list participants are programmers, of which Marian
> (nod) is the most obvious non-programmer. She's not alone.
She's very programmer-like in her approach to things, however, and I would
hazard a guess that if she decided she *wanted* to be a programmer it
wouldn't be too difficult. Part of this is just a basic logical intellect
and problem-solving ability, as well as the associated knack for seeing the
way things should probably work. I wouldn't say she's *obviously* a
non-programmer. ;)
> I've been thinking about this over the w/e. For me the answer is
> simple: I agree, it is important, but no, I don't have diddley squat
> to say about it. I agree that current MUD interfaces suck great big
> hairy warts. I agree that they can be much improved. I have nothing
> particularly to add there. Not my main area of interest. I'm content
> to stand to the side saying, "Yup, over there is a problem! Anybody
> wanna do this other interesting thing?"
I'm very concerned with such issues, myself, because I tend to do a lot of
things at once. When I first log onto a new game, I usually have at least
two other worlds open, as well as a program I'm working on, some graphics
I'm designing, a web page or three, my mailer, generally a CD player or
MIDI sequencer to provide background, and innumerable notes plastered all
over the screen on text editors. (Needless to say, if my machine crashes,
it ruins my whole day.) When I log onto a game, there are three categories
I can place it in:
1. It's a game I know well enough to play without thinking too much about
it
(Most TinyMUSH servers, several PennMUSH servers, the SMAUG codebase)
2. It's a game I don't know very well, but which I can play easily enough
(Most MUXes, some PennMUSH servers, most Dikus and Mercs, anything based
on AD&D or WoD)
3. It's a game I don't know very well, and is time consuming and
distracting
(Almost any Cold or LP server, some heavily hardcode-hacked MUSHes and
MUXes)
Category 3, unfortunately, is where most of my recent experiences fall.
Which means I stagnate on the same old places and the same old genres, and
there's little to no change. I just can't drop everything and play a single
game to the exclusion of everything else, so it's a long and arduous
process for me to shift a level 3 game up to level 2. If I really consider
it a priority, I can sit down and learn just about any game in a weekend
given some decent documentation (hell, I can do this with most programming
languages, too... although APL took me close to a month), but decent
documentation in the MUD world is hard to come by.
> I suspect I'm not alone here in the dark.
I wouldn't really call that the dark... more like being under a different
spotlight. I'm sure a lot of people think those of us who are actually
concerned with such trivial details as the *players*, who after all tend to
be more of a nuisance than anything half the time, are the ones in the
dark. Sometimes I'll run into a player on some game or other and go 'You
know, maybe it's a GOOD idea to have an interface only the truly
intelligent and/or dedicated can comprehend'...
=+[caliban#darklock,com]=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=[<A HREF="http://www.darklock.com/]+=">http://www.darklock.com/]+=</A>
"It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more
doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a
new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by
the preservation of the old institution, and merely lukewarm defenders in
those who would gain by the new one." -- Machiavelli
=+=+=+[We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams]+=+=+=+=
</PRE>
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<li><strong><A NAME="01453" HREF="msg01453.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> clawrenc#cup,hp.com</li></ul>
<li><strong><A NAME="01441" HREF="msg01441.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is suppo</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> "Jon A. Lambert" <jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com></li></ul>
<li><strong><A NAME="01425" HREF="msg01425.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Marian Griffith <gryphon#iaehv,nl></li></ul>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
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<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01482" HREF="msg01482.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</A></strong>,
Michael Hohensee <a href="mailto:michael#sparta,mainstream.net">michael#sparta,mainstream.net</a>, Fri 26 Sep 1997, 12:59 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01493" HREF="msg01493.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</A></strong>,
Shawn Halpenny <a href="mailto:malachai#iname,com">malachai#iname,com</a>, Fri 26 Sep 1997, 17:03 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01524" HREF="msg01524.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</A></strong>,
Michael Hohensee <a href="mailto:michael#sparta,mainstream.net">michael#sparta,mainstream.net</a>, Sun 28 Sep 1997, 21:46 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01506" HREF="msg01506.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] War and language (Was: Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway?) (Was: PK Again)</A></strong>,
Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Sat 27 Sep 1997, 10:09 GMT
</LI>
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<LI><strong><A NAME="01412" HREF="msg01412.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</A></strong>,
Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Wed 24 Sep 1997, 16:36 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01425" HREF="msg01425.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</A></strong>,
Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Wed 24 Sep 1997, 21:11 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01441" HREF="msg01441.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is suppo</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Thu 25 Sep 1997, 17:18 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01465" HREF="msg01465.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is suppo</A></strong>,
Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Fri 26 Sep 1997, 00:06 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="01517" HREF="msg01517.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is suppon</A></strong>,
Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:nightfall#user2,inficad.com">nightfall#user2,inficad.com</a>, Sun 28 Sep 1997, 01:16 GMT
</LI>
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