<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface --> <!--X-From-R13: pnyvonaNqnexybpx.pbz (Qnyvona Fverfvnf Rnexybpx) --> <!--X-Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 05:28:18 +0000 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 34344198.41339541#relay,mnsinc.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 199709252348.TAA25146#polaris,net --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com"> </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="msg01472.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01474.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg01464.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01520.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#01473">Author</A> | <A HREF="#01473">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#01473">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: <A HREF="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</A> (Caliban Tiresias Darklock)</LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 05:28:35 GMT</LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On Thu, 25 Sep 1997 20:40:41 PST8PDT, "Travis Casey" <efindel#polaris,net> wrote: >Caliban Tiresias Darklock <caliban#darklock,com> >>On Wednesday, September 24, 1997 5:03 AM, Adam Wiggins >>[SMTP:nightfall#user2,inficad.com] wrote: >>> >> >>I don't want an all powerful character. I want a character capable of >>playing the game as long as *I* want to play it. Period. Not as long as >>people let me. Not as long as I haven't solved every quest. Not as long as >>I'm not level 50. As long as I want to play, be that a day, a month, a >>year, or even a decade. I always want someplace else to go, and I don't >>want any dork anywhere able to *stop* me. Slow me up, yeah; inconvenience >>me, annoy me, make my life hell? Yeah, go for it, but not *stop* me. ;) > >I hope you didn't mean what you said there... after all, in order to be able >to play the game as long as *you* want to play it, irrespective of anything >else, your character would have to only be able to die if you wanted it to. >("The dragon killed me because I'm only first level? But I still want to >play!") I think it should be rather obvious that from my preferences, I don't like permanent death. Removing permanent death as a game requirement opens up a tremendous number of things which I consider unacceptable on a permadeath MUD. >A more reasonable version might be, "I want a character that I can continue >to play as long as I'm reasonably cautious." I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect that I can be completely reckless, and still keep playing as long as I like. >Hostile can be *very* good if done right. Some of the best games I've >played >in have involved having the PCs in environments best described as hostile -- >for example, as resistance fighters behind enemy lines. Actually, that's still just something I consider 'dangerous'. Hostile and dangerous can be separated as whether the lion's share of the world is actively seeking to do you harm. While your scenario may describe the environment in a hostile fashion, the scenario is only really hostile if when you put yourself in a reasonably safe location the opposition actively hunts you down to kill you. >Something I've thought about off and on is a fantasy mud where "dead" >characters go to the celestial realms to be reincarnated -- i.e., to redo >the character with the possibility of changing race, etc. The reincarnated >characters would be better than a normal starting character, according to >how successful they'd been in previous lives. Like for example, you just cut a few points off major statistics and allow the player to reassign where they are and choose new race/class/skills/whatever? I like that... particularly if you can just hit the go button and keep all the same assignments, except for the loss of those few points. >The instructor is still holding back, however -- if he hadn't been holding >back, but had been acting like a truly hostile opponent would, you wouldn't >be around to exchange these messages with us. Further, a good teacher doesn't >try to teach advanced techniques until after the students have learned the >basics. The way things usually worked... "All right Bob, I'm going to hit you. Stop me." "Okay." *WHUMP* "OWW!" "You're too damn slow, Bob. Try it again." "Wait a min..." *WHUMP* "OWWW!" "Wait? What do you mean 'wait'?" "I wasn't ready!" "Get your ass up, you little girl..." Effective, basic, and I don't really call it holding back. You learned real fast this way; of course, the instructor was insane, and there's a good possibility he would have gotten in real trouble had we gotten together and filed a complaint. But you just don't *do* that, you know? ;) With weaponry, you just (as you said) use nonlethal weapons. (Sort of tough with archery, although that generally doesn't involve person to person exchanges.) You still get some vicious welts and bruises, though, and it still kicks in the necessary self-protection instincts. =+[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> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <ul compact><li><strong>Follow-Ups</strong>: <ul> <li><strong><A NAME="01520" HREF="msg01520.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> alexo#bigfoot,com (Alex Oren)</li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="01464" HREF="msg01464.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Travis Casey" <efindel#polaris,net></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01472.html">[MUD-Dev] OT: Usability and interface</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01474.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK Again)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01464.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01520.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#01473"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#01473"><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>Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="01532" HREF="msg01532.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong>, Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Mon 29 Sep 1997, 18:18 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01539" HREF="msg01539.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Tue 30 Sep 1997, 06:29 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="01499" HREF="msg01499.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong>, Nathan Yospe <a href="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</a>, Fri 26 Sep 1997, 19:07 GMT </LI> </ul> </ul> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="01464" HREF="msg01464.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong>, Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#polaris,net">efindel#polaris,net</a>, Thu 25 Sep 1997, 23:59 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01473" HREF="msg01473.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Fri 26 Sep 1997, 05:28 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01520" HREF="msg01520.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong>, Alex Oren <a href="mailto:alexo#bigfoot,com">alexo#bigfoot,com</a>, Sun 28 Sep 1997, 15:35 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01466" HREF="msg01466.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong>, Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#polaris,net">efindel#polaris,net</a>, Fri 26 Sep 1997, 00:10 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01483" HREF="msg01483.html">[MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong>, Maddy <a href="mailto:maddy#fysh,org">maddy#fysh,org</a>, Fri 26 Sep 1997, 13:26 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01488" HREF="msg01488.html">[MUD-Dev] Usability and interface</A></strong>, Maddy <a href="mailto:maddy#fysh,org">maddy#fysh,org</a>, Fri 26 Sep 1997, 14:08 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>