nu.kanga.list.mud-dev

3055: Re: [MUD-Dev] Graphic MUDS.

On Tue, 12 Aug 1997 clawrenc@cup.hp.com wrote:

> In <Pine.GSO.3.96.970803121452.27011I-100000@dryslwyn>, on 08/03/97 
>    at 09:50 AM, Martin Keegan <martin@cam.sri.com> said:
> 
> >BTW - there's an Australian talker (called Forest or something) which
> >is better than most of the muds out there.
> 
> Come on Martin.  You ought to know better than to drop such
> unsupported generalisations in here.  You are challenged sirrah! 
> Support your position!

Ok. Forest has extremely well written descriptions, reminiscent of
the narrative in Infocom's Trinity, and has the potential to suck a user
into its world by distracting him/her.

My favourite part is the disincentive to quit; typing quit brings up a
(assumedly) random interesting message, like

 Cannot find command 'quit'  (Y to quit):

or

 So you were the one that stole the cabbages! (Y to quit): 

this (together with similar features) is so well done that it goes well
beyond gimmickry. Discworld (David Bennett's MUD, not the books) does this
well too.

Despite being a talker, it has a "clan" system, around which the talker
basically revolves. Conversing with fellow clan members is easier than
with non-members, so clans become a social construct. They are influencing
my idea of my "house" system. The clan system generates player groupings
much more strongly than most of the mud equivalents I have seen.

In short, talkers, esp the good ones, have a lot to offer the mud design
world, esp in terms of presentation.

Mk