<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion --> <!--X-From-R13: Enairna <fnairnaNtvaxn.nezntrqqba.bet> --> <!--X-Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 22:50:47 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: Pine.LNX.4.10.10004120038410.16959-100000#ginka,armageddon.org --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: Pine.GSO.4.10.10004111354230.12024-100000#nala,cs.utk.edu --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:sanvean#ginka,armageddon.org"> </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="msg00213.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00215.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00166.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00174.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00214">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00214">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00214">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: "MUD Development List (E-mail)" <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A>></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Sanvean <<A HREF="mailto:sanvean#ginka,armageddon.org">sanvean#ginka,armageddon.org</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 01:05:37 -0500 (CDT)</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Sender</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu">mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On Tue, 11 Apr 2000, Pileborg Joachim - FMT wrote: > I know that most existing MUDs don't have either a history, background > or religion. What I'm wondering is how many of you do have a (more or > less) well thought-out history for your MUD? Are you borrowing stuff from > our own history? How do you handle names (of people and places) in case > you dont? Religion and gods? Do the implemtation of it all differ from what > you first planned it to be, and why? I'll delurk for a moment to say that on Armageddon MUD we've got reams and reams of historical and cultural documentation. I came on board about fiveor six years ago, and there was already an extraordinary amount of solid stuff in place, which has only swelled to greater proportions since. We have two versions, one of which is accessible to the players via our website, which has the basics of what they'd know, an intermingling of history and folklore, and then a much more detailed one for the staff, which answers a lot of the questions players wouldn't know. But beyond that, we have the history which has been generated in game by player actions or plotlines, such as the dwarven siege of Allanak, or the destruction of Tuluk. Again, the player versions differ significantly -- they don't know the exact reason Tuluk fell, unless they happen to be the members of one of two particular clans. The clans keep their own documentation, which we host on our website, and password protect so (mostly) players don't have access to it unless they're playing in that clan. It's an imperfect system, like most, but it generally works. The majority of the clans have significant amounts of social/cultural stuff, including, for example, typical words and expressions, styles of dress, traditions, songs/stories, etc. To us, this documentation is vital. It allows us, for one, to maintain coherancy/consistency as staff come and go, or as they hand off the handling of a particular clan to someone else. For another, we're a roleplay required MUD, so if we're expecting someone to play out a role like an escaped mulish slave or a foppish Fale noble, it's unfair to not give them all the information they need. Additionally, the players know they can affect the game world, and have a lasting impact on the history. I'll note here that we differ from a lot of other muds in that our staff members are not considered ingame deities - no one's worshipping them. The staff remains behind the scenes driving plots, handling player issues, animating NPCs, etc. I recently put in, for staff benefit, a series of 'Secret History of (whatever)' docs, which are a compilation of ingame board posts, posts from the immortal boards (which helps keep those a little clearer), notes, emails, etc. They're intended to give a new immortal an indepth overview of the events surrounding a particular clan or place. Generally, I don't recruit new immortals except from within the player ranks, so anyone coming onto staff already knows a lot of the basics. The few times I've tried an immortal who hasn't been playing for a while, it's been disastrous, no matter how experienced they may be with other muds. And with new immortals, I usually give them access to the staff documentation (it's all web-based, so they can poke around at leisure) and have them read through it for a few days before even logging on to learn the immcmds. *returns to lurking* Sanvean <A HREF="http://www.armageddon.org">http://www.armageddon.org</A> Armageddon MUD. Roleplay Required. _______________________________________________ MUD-Dev mailing list MUD-Dev#kanga,nu <A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev</A> </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00166" HREF="msg00166.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Kevin Scott London <london#cs,utk.edu></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00213.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00215.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] banning the sale of items</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00166.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00174.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00214"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00214"><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] Sony to ban sale of online characters from its popular gamingsites</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00181" HREF="msg00181.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale of online characters from its popular gamingsites</A></strong>, Zak Jarvis <a href="mailto:zak#voidmonster,com">zak#voidmonster,com</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 21:26 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00178" HREF="msg00178.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale of online characters from its popular gaming sites</A></strong>, maddog <a href="mailto:maddog#best,com">maddog#best,com</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 21:26 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00160" HREF="msg00160.html">[MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</A></strong>, Pileborg Joachim - FMT <a href="mailto:joachim.pileborg#fmt,se">joachim.pileborg#fmt,se</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 17:22 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00166" HREF="msg00166.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</A></strong>, Kevin Scott London <a href="mailto:london#cs,utk.edu">london#cs,utk.edu</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 18:07 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00214" HREF="msg00214.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</A></strong>, Sanvean <a href="mailto:sanvean#ginka,armageddon.org">sanvean#ginka,armageddon.org</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 05:50 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00174" HREF="msg00174.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] History, background and religion</A></strong>, Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:the_logos#achaea,com">the_logos#achaea,com</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 18:56 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00149" HREF="msg00149.html">Gender Restrictions was Re: [MUD-Dev] Same-Sex Marriage</A></strong>, Jon Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 05:25 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00165" HREF="msg00165.html">Re: Gender Restrictions was Re: [MUD-Dev] Same-Sex Marriage</A></strong>, Nathan F Yospe <a href="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 18:07 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00150" HREF="msg00150.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Simulating Ancient Greece WAS: Same-Sex Marriage</A></strong>, Jon Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Tue 11 Apr 2000, 05:25 GMT </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>