<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients --> <!--X-From-R13: Qnyvona Fverfvnf Rnexybpx <pnyvonaNqnexybpx.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 03:35:19 +0000 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199802120335.WAA14742#relay,mnsinc.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 199801141147.FAA07045#helius,host4u.net --> <!--X-Reference: 199802120219.CAA59434#out4,ibm.net --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</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="msg00423.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00425.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00422.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00425.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00424">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00424">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00424">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</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] Clients</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Caliban Tiresias Darklock <<A HREF="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 22:35:43 -0500</LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> At 06:20 PM 2/11/98 +0000, coder#ibm,net wrote: > >A good and well worded point. Define by need, not feature. Its a base >rule of design, and is a common problem I face as a contractor with client >requirements. Another point which I'm facing right now in a project: We have a series of requirements for an application. These requirements dictate the functions that need to be performed. These functions map excellently to an existing concept which our main target audience understands, and which serves as a fantastically easy metaphor -- "It works just like X." In our target market, everyone knows that program, everyone uses that program, and everyone is comfortable with that program. The problem is that we are expanding the target audience, and we expect other people -- who have never seen this program and probably know jack squat about it -- to use the new application, as well. The program this system resembles is difficult to learn and use. In attempting to document the interface for these new users, we have come to the conclusion that the interface would map much better to a new concept which will provide enhanced functionality and be easier for the new user to learn and use. Needless to say, this idea is meeting resistance from the existing audience, who feels that there will be an immense amount of time saved in training if we just go ahead and use the cryptic and difficult interface they're used to. The end result we are faced with here, which I think faces MUD developers even more than it faces me on this project, is how much importance should we place on "this is the way we've always done it", and how much should we place on "this is the way it makes the most sense"? I'm reminded of the introduction of the Lisa, when the entire computing world laughed at how stupid Apple seemed to think users were. After all, who needed a picture of a file folder to know that a directory was meant to contain files, and who needed a picture to remind them of what a program did? The industry scorned the Lisa, Apple insisted it was the future, and what do you know... suddenly here we all are, regardless of our personal preferences, working on various architectures from XFree86 to NExTStep to BeOS (first Intel developer release expected next month, *jump* *jump*) to Rhapsody to the Mac to Windows variants -- which *all* enforce the use of windows and icons and meeces (plural of mouse: mice are small fuzzy animals, meeces are computer peripherals) and pointers. Those of us who still feel more comfortable in front of an 80 by 25 terminal screen running in a glorious 16 colors and an ANSI 3.64 screen interface (okay, VT-220 is acceptable, if I have to) are considered pretty much dinosaurs. The obvious conclusion would be 'ignore the users and do it right', but you can't *entirely* ignore the users or they just ignore you back (NExT q.v.); doing it right isn't always enough (AmigaDOS q.v.); and if it doesn't do the job, they'll go get something that will (can't think of a good example of this right now). Anyone have thoughts on this? It seems to relate rather well to the graphics/text argument, as well: why text? Well, we've always done it that way. Graphic MUDs? Of course not! They'd never be hostable on modern equipment, you'd need to spend years programming them, and everyone would have to relearn the whole interface! Never mind that in the infancy of MUDs, this was exactly the sort of situation we faced with respect to large worlds -- a 50,000 object database would just not work, you couldn't have more than a dozen or so people online without bogging the CPU, and MUD commands were different everywhere you went. (Not that I particularly support the idea of graphic MUDs, but I have different issues around them. Certainly we could manage a lot more now than we ever could before, but somewhere along the line someone still has to create it...) Ah, well. Just more unanswerable questions, I guess. ;) </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="00425" HREF="msg00425.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> "Jon A. Lambert" <jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00237" HREF="msg00237.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Caliban Tiresias Darklock <caliban#darklock,com></LI></UL></LI> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00422" HREF="msg00422.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</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="msg00423.html">META: Unsubscribed users dur to bounces</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00425.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00422.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00425.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00424"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00424"><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] Clients</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00404" HREF="msg00404.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Wed 11 Feb 1998, 20:05 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00421" HREF="msg00421.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Thu 12 Feb 1998, 02:19 GMT </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00403" HREF="msg00403.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Wed 11 Feb 1998, 19:23 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00422" HREF="msg00422.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Thu 12 Feb 1998, 02:17 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00424" HREF="msg00424.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Thu 12 Feb 1998, 03:35 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00425" HREF="msg00425.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong>, Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Thu 12 Feb 1998, 05:17 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00427" HREF="msg00427.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Thu 12 Feb 1998, 06:12 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00434" HREF="msg00434.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong>, Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Thu 12 Feb 1998, 15:54 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00474" HREF="msg00474.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Clients</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Mon 16 Feb 1998, 04:29 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </ul> </ul> </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>