<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying. --> <!--X-From-R13: pnyvonaNqnexybpx.pbz (Qnyvona Fverfvnf Rnexybpx) --> <!--X-Date: Sun, 02 Nov 1997 00:14:39 +0000 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 3462b4e1.17416384#darklock,com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 199711012326.XAA82724#out1,ibm.net --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</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="msg00199.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00202.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00200.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00260.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00201">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00201">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00201">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</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] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: <A HREF="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</A> (Caliban Tiresias Darklock)</LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Sat, 01 Nov 1997 23:17:42 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 Sat, 1 Nov 1997 15:53:53 PST8PDT, coder#ibm,net wrote: >However the best experience one would get from playing any MUD (that has a >rank system or money system where competition is inevitable) is to forget >about the exp system and the money system and just follow your character's >instincts I'm a big fan of game systems that have no such status and money systems, viz. the WoD genre of MUSHes. My particular favorite, eating easily fifty times the amount of effort I put into other games, is Cajun Nights. While there is a rank system, that rank system is dependent mainly upon selections made during character generation, and upon the recommendations of those higher in rank than you are. Vampire society is the easiest to use as an example; you may select a high status and low generation (providing you with a higher 'rank' to begin with), but that status will decrease or increase based on the activity you indulge in within the game. Money is relegated to a simple statistic -- 0 being completely broke, 1 being poor, 2 being struggling, 3 being comfortable, 4 being independently wealthy, and 5 being fantastically rich. That's about the only way it's handled. While you can within the game increase your resources to a level as high as 3 (and rather easily -- my character has resource level 4, and can thus employ several other characters at resource level 3 without breaking a sweat), increasing it to four or five requires someone with that level of wealth to leave it to you in an IC will and testament. There is a system outlined in the rulebooks for increasing resource levels through investment, but it's tedious and annoying and no one ever follows it. It can be argued that this is in fact a system, and this is true. However, this sort of system is more or less perception -- when you create the character, you set a certain level of money and status, and from that point everything that you do with respect to that advancement is completely controlled by your actions in the game and controlled not by a program (with associated glitches and holes), but by actual human beings who I do NOT envy. Imagine a MUD where every single experience level you gained had to be specifically justified to a human being who would read your justification, confirm it with others involved in the justification, and approve or veto it! And even worse: imagine that even though you've invested a tremendous amount of effort in justifying a level increase, that level increase is purely social -- and people can completely ignore it! I sort of like this, but then a large part of that is that I tend to be good at raising my apparent status without having to spend the effort justifying it. In other words, I could sit at the MUD equivalent of level 5, and be treated like I was level 40... which in a social context is just as good. Just a perspective from the field. Take it for what it's worth... maybe it sounds like a good idea for your game, maybe it sounds like it would suck. I like this sort of thing, but then I do well at it -- and if I didn't do well at it, I'd probably hate it. Fodder for further thoughts. =+[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="00260" HREF="msg00260.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Marian Griffith <gryphon#iaehv,nl></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00200" HREF="msg00200.html">Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> coder#ibm,net</LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00199.html">Re: DESIGN: ECONOMICS: Money Supply</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00202.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Idea: Hive-mind monster</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00200.html">Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00260.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00201"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00201"><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] newbie</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00257" HREF="msg00257.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] newbie</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Sun 09 Nov 1997, 13:10 GMT </LI> </ul> </ul> </ul> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00202" HREF="msg00202.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Idea: Hive-mind monster</A></strong>, Brandon J. Rickman <a href="mailto:ashes#pc4,zennet.com">ashes#pc4,zennet.com</a>, Sun 02 Nov 1997, 01:47 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00199" HREF="msg00199.html">Re: DESIGN: ECONOMICS: Money Supply</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Sat 01 Nov 1997, 23:26 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00200" HREF="msg00200.html">Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Sat 01 Nov 1997, 23:24 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00201" HREF="msg00201.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Sun 02 Nov 1997, 00:14 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00260" HREF="msg00260.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></strong>, Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Sun 09 Nov 1997, 16:33 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00265" HREF="msg00265.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></strong>, Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:nightfall#user2,inficad.com">nightfall#user2,inficad.com</a>, Sun 09 Nov 1997, 21:01 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00301" HREF="msg00301.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Sat 15 Nov 1997, 17:56 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00371" HREF="msg00371.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Less numbers, more roleplaying.</A></strong>, Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Sun 23 Nov 1997, 16:07 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </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>